From the Pastor’s Desk
I love the passage from Hosea, the prophet. The
My Dear People:
The two most impressive themes that permeate
the Old and New Testaments are first, God’s
great love for us, and secondly, God’s great
mercy for us. In His love for us, God picks and
chooses certain people for certain jobs. God
loves all His people but He elects to give certain
people extra love and favoritism. God is rich in
mercy and He takes people back, as seen in the
Old Testament repeatedly; and in the New
Testament; the climax of his mercy is Jesus dying
on the cross for the forgiveness of the sins of the
human race. Lent is a time to zero in on our
relationship with God, appreciating His love and
mercy.
The Lenten readings keep reminding us that we
need His mercy. He has rescued us.
The Responsorial Psalm for this past
Monday was: “I WILL PRAISE YOU, Lord,
for you have rescued me.”
Last Sunday, in the reading from first book of
.Samuel, God tells Samuel; the prophet and
“king-maker,” to go to the house of Jesse to
anoint the next king from amongst Jesse’s sons.
Samuel checked on seven sons and he thought
the right one was Eliab, but God told him that
even though Samuel had looked at seven sons
he did not find the one. So Samuel asked Jesse
if there were another son someplace. The
answer was “yes,” the youngest son, David, who
was in the field tending the sheep. God told
Samuel that this is the one. Also chosen by God
are Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Mary and the
Apostles.
Paul is another one specially chosen by God to
preach to the Gentiles. As God said, Saul is a
vessel of election. In all of our goodness, we
tend to forget that God has CHOSEN us,
FAVORED us, ELECTED us in a special way
through Baptism to be one of His chosen people
in the New Testament.
Lent means: PRAISE, GRATITUDE and
REPENTENCE because of His love and mercy.
Before the Gospel in Lent we say
“Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ, King of
endless glory.”
Lord, through the prophet, said:
Return to the Lord. You have collapsed
through your guilt. Take words with you to
God. Say to God: Forgive our iniquity.
Receive from us our offering. We will
take the best animal from the stalls and
offer it to you. Say to God, also, an
alliance with Assyria will not save us.
Fast horses will not save us and we
promise to stop making little gods of the
work of our hands.
What a meditation on repentance:
WE will stop making little gods of the
things we do, the work of our hands!
On a personal note… Christine Larussa called
this past week from the school and told me that
my virus doesn’t go away because I don’t rest…
Then she said, “But Father, I can’t find a priest for
the 8:30 student Mass. You need to rest, but
would you be able to offer the Mass on
Thursday?” “Yes, Christine. I will offer the Mass
on Thursday at 8:30.”
That Thursday morning, Jude Tombrello, with
cassock and surplice, knocks on my door.
“Father there is no priest for the 6:30 a.m. Mass
and a hundred people are waiting. Come and
offer the Mass.” “Yes, Jude.”
The goodness of our people! The goodness of
Jude. He called Fr. Booth who already had two
Masses scheduled. Jude will keep trying. So on
Thursday during Lent we have four Masses, and,
some days with funerals, even more. Show me
the parish that has this many daily masses and
such great attendance. That’s what makes this
parish great!
After I offered the 6:30 a.m. Mass I went back to
my room with a strange vision. Some day when I
take my place in my niche in the columbarium,
Jude is going to go to the columbarium and
knock on my niche and say, “Father, we don’t
have a priest… would you come and offer Mass
for us?”
With prayers and blessings,
Father Muller
 MASS INTENTIONS
Monday, Mar. 30 Thomas Sullivan
Anna Ippolito
High School Youth Group meets on
Tuesday, Mar. 31 Special Intention Wednesday nights from 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. and on
Annie Diergo Sunday mornings from 10:00 -11:15 a.m.
Wednesday, Apr. 1 Anna LaDart Come to meet friends, eat, and learn about the
Ernie Eltz faith!
Thursday, Apr. 2 Donors to OLS School Foundation Junior High Youth Group – 6th, 7th, and 8th
Harry Wallace
Friday, Apr. 3 Special Intention grade will not meet again until April
Charles Wood
Saturday, Apr. 4 Special Int. of Scott Humphrey The OLS Youth Group will be sponsoring the
Special Int. of Faye Zanaty movie The Passion of the Christ. It will be shown
Sunday Apr. 5 People of the Parish
on Wednesday, April 8th, at 6:30 p.m. in the
Special Int. of Stacy Smallwood
Parish Hall. Light refreshments will be served.
Everyone is invited.

Register now for OLS

PRAY FOR VOCATIONS
Vacation Bible School
Jesus calls us forth from our graves of apathy and
passivity. How will your new life make a difference? Discovery Canyon, which
Consider ministry in the Church. (John 11:1-45) will be June 8-12 from 9
Please pray for all of our ministers of care with the a.m. to 12 p.m... This is for
sick and dying and their families. children going into K4
This ad is sponsored by the Serra Club. through 4th grade as of
August 2009. Registration
forms are located in the
Because the first Tuesday in front entrance of the Church.
April falls during Holy Week, We will continue taking money for Holy Childhood
there is a new date for V.I.P. until April 5th.
Please join us on Tuesday, April 14th, at 11:00
a.m. in the Parish Hall. There will be Mass,
followed by lunch and bingo. Children’s Eucharistic Adoration

Please join us for Children’s Eucharistic

Singles Ministry-- Due to lack of participation in
the Singles Ministry, we have temporarily
disbanded until we get some more people
interested.
The Red Cross Blood Drive will be held on
Sunday, May 17th, in the Parish Hall from 8:00
a.m. until 1:00 p.m.
Adoration, Wednesday, April 1st, from 9:00 am to
9:30 a.m. in the Church. Children of all ages are
welcome including newborns and infants. This is
a wonderful opportunity to encourage your child’s
faith and prayer life while fulfilling Christ’s
command to “let the little children come to me…”
(Mark 10:14) For more information, please call
Kim Stephens at 823-8886.

First Friday Devotions will be held on Friday,

April 3rd at 6:00 am.
First Saturday Devotions will be held on
Saturday, April 4th, at 7:15 a.m.

Join us Sunday March 29th for Adult Education in
the Parish Hall at 10:00am. Retired Catholic
journalist and OLS member John Wright, Jr., will
present “The Civil Rights Movement and Catholic
Response in the South.” Light refreshments will
be served.
The Chapel of Our Savior
The Chapel will be closed for the Holy Triduum beginning April 9th, Holy Thursday, at 3:00 p.m. until Easter
Sunday at 1:00 p.m.
NOON MASS
There will be no noon Mass on Tuesday, April 7th, as all priests will be attending the Chrism Mass at the
Cathedral of St. Paul.
Eucharistic Adoration
Sign up sheets for Eucharistic Adoration on Holy Thursday are located in the vestibule. Adoration will be
from 9:00 p.m. until midnight in the Church.
St. Joseph Day Altar-The St. Joseph Feast
was a huge success. The altar was beautifully
decorated with candles, flowers and food. Thank you
for your help in building the altar, cooking and cleanup
and for your donations. Over $1700 was collected for
the Catholic Center of Concern
Please return your Easter Flower envelopes no
later than Friday, April 3, to be published in the
Easter Bulletin.
WANTED
We need someone to take the job of Secretary –
Administrative Assistant for the P.S.R. program to
help Mrs. Elizabeth Sutton, the new Director.
Qualifications:
• Proficiency in office skills with the
computer, etc.
• A people-person (social skills)
• Dedicated practicing Catholic.
Part time:
• 20 hours per week.
• Sundays (30 weeks of the year) from 8:00
a.m. till 12:30 p.m.
• And four mornings a week from 8:30 a.m.
to 12:30 p.m.
Salary:
• Call the office for information…
• IF interested send in resume to search
committee, attention: Mrs. Elizabeth
Sutton, chair of the search committee.
Beginning Experience ministry is a support
group designed for grief recovery and personal
growth for the divorced, widowed, and separated
of this community. Beginning Experience
ministry is Christian-based, interdenominational
and all are welcome. BE is a levels program with
4 levels running simultaneously each 10 weeks.
The next session begins on Tuesday, April 14th,
2009, at 6 p.m. The meetings are held in the
Family Life Center. The cost for the 10 weeks is
$25.00. Childcare is provided at no cost.
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Chapel of Our Savior
The Chapel needs permanent Committed
Adorers for:
Monday at 11:00 AM (To Share Hour)
Monday at 11:00 PM (To Share Hour)
Thursday at 5:00 PM (To Share Hour)
Saturday Morning at 3:00 AM
Saturday at 4:00 PM
Sunday at 11:00 AM (To Share Hour)
Our goal is to have at least 2 people on each
hour. These are the hours needed, but do select
an hour that best fits your schedule.
Please call Ida Wilker at 933-2281 or Mary Claire
Brouillette at 871-2909.
"Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament has His
hands full of graces, and He is ready to
bestow them on anyone who asks for
them,” - St. Peter of Alcantara (5th
Century)

Join the fight against cancer

with Homewood Relay for Life, April 17 from 6
p.m. to 6 a.m. at Homewood Park. Money raised
by the teams goes to the American Cancer
Society for cancer research, education,
advocacy, and support programs

Come see honorary chairman, Coach Pat

Sullivan, and participate in fun family events such
as yoga, marshmallow roast and self defense
classes throughout the night. Volunteers and
teams of people will walk along a track to support
the fight against cancer. Survivors are honored
and those lost to the disease are remembered
with a luminaria ceremony.

For more information contact Michelle Galloway

at Mgallo1968@aol.com. Register a team or
individually at www.relayforlife.org/homewood.

Raising Dollars for Scholars 3rd Annual

Luncheon to benefit Holy Family Cristo Rey
Catholic High School will be held on April 17th.
This year’s Luncheon and silent auction will be at
the Harbert Center from 11 am to 1 pm.
Proceeds benefit the school. Individual tickets
are $50 per person. Corporate Sponsorships are
available. Call Scott Denton at (205) 263-0137
for more information.
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