Year 2 Confirmation Requirements
This is to remind our Confirmation Year 2 Candidates to submit their Saint or Confirmation Name Report, Completed & Signed Sponsor Forms, Sponsor Commitment Form, and all other requirements i.e. (Baptismal Certificates, First Communion Certificates & Stole Order Form). Please turn them in the Youth Office as soon as possible.
PARENT & SPONSOR FORMATION CLASS
Parent & Sponsor Formation Class is scheduled for March 16 from
7pm to 8pm via Zoom.
Zoom ID can be found in our calendar.
Thank you for making yourself available for this opportunity to advance your faith.
Confirmation Zoom Classes - 2021
Our next Zoom Confirmation Faith Sharing Class is on the week of March 21-25, 2021.
Make sure you log in 5 minutes before your class begins. All mics and cameras should be turned on.
PARENT & SPONSOR RETREAT
Youth Ministry will be offering a Parent & Sponsor Retreat on April 10, 2021, Saturday from 9am to 12nn via Zoom. This yearly retreat is offered to our Year 2 Candidates ONLY. We are asking you to reserve the date and plan to attend this Retreat. As your Teens are preparing for their Sacraments, we invite you to prepare yourself as well. More info will be posted on the website.
Spring Retreat 2021
We are now accepting registration for Spring Retreat 2021. Please sign up in the Youth Office and more information will be posted on the website.
Challenge
4th Sunday of Lent – The fourth Sunday of Lent is sometimes called Laetare Sunday. Laetare is a Latin word that means “rejoice.” Traditionally, Sundays are named after the first word of the liturgy’s opening antiphon. On this Sunday, the antiphon is taken from the book of the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 66:10-11). Even as we observe our Lenten sacrifices, we rejoice in anticipation of the joy that will be ours at Easter.
Today’s Gospel reading is taken from John’s Gospel. It consists of two parts. The first part is the final sentence of Jesus’ reply to Nicodemus, the Pharisee who approached Jesus at night. Nicodemus acknowledged Jesus as someone who had come from God and seemed to want to be a follower of Jesus. Jesus greeted Nicodemus with the observation that one must be born from above to see the Kingdom of God. The dialogue between Jesus and Nicodemus that followed was about the meaning of this phrase. Nicodemus misunderstood Jesus at every point, but there was no animosity in the questions he posed to Jesus.
In the part of the conversation with Nicodemus in today’s Gospel, Jesus referred to an incident reported in the Old Testament. When the Israelites grumbled against the Lord during their sojourn in the desert, God sent venomous serpents to punish them for their complaints. The Israelites repented and asked Moses to pray for them. The Lord heard Moses’ prayer and instructed him to make a bronze serpent and mount it on a pole. All who had been bitten by a serpent and then looked upon the bronze serpent were cured. By recalling this story, Jesus alludes to the salvation that would be accomplished through his death and Resurrection.
The second part of today’s Gospel is a theological reflection on Jesus’ words to Nicodemus. The Gospel of John is known for this kind of reflection offered within the narrative. The words of the Evangelist are in continuity with the words of the prologue to John’s Gospel. In these reflections, John elaborates on several themes that are found in his Gospel: light and darkness, belief and unbelief, good and evil, salvation and condemnation.
In John’s reflection, we find an observation about human sinfulness. Jesus is the light that has come into the world, but people preferred the darkness. We wish to keep our sins hidden, even from God. Jesus has come into the world to reveal our sins so that they may be forgiven. This is the Good News; it is the reason for our rejoicing in this season of Lent and throughout our lives.
John 3:14-21
If you can attend Mass in person and you are longing for Him in the Eucharist, then Jesus wants to see you. Come to Mass this Sunday and be transformed by His Word and by the Eucharist.
“Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give,
Not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”
2 Corinthians 9:7