One of the ways I have been blessed in my experience so far at Sacred Heart, is having five wonderful permanent deacons to assist me in so many ways in the care of this wonderful parish.  One of these, Deacon Wally Gieringer, recently came to me and expressed his need to retire from active diaconal ministry because of family responsibilities.  I listened to his reasons and supported his difficult decision, though selfishly and for your sake, I expressed regrets that he felt the need to retire.  Even so, he will continue to have Benediction at the end of our First Friday devotions, and I left the door open on Thursdays for him to assist at Mass whenever he wants to.  Otherwise, there will normally not be a deacon assisting me for Thursday Masses.  This puts a little caveat on what Deacon Wally said through a bulletin announcement a few weekends ago.  I pray that Deacon Wally and his dear wife, Suzy, will enjoy not "being scheduled" for anything, while continuing to serve The Lord and this parish in some ways.  God bless you, Deacon Wally and Suzy, for your long and devoted service to The Lord in the permanent diaconate ministry.

Get ready to grow in your faith life as we prepare to enter the Lenten season on Ash Wednesday, February 22.  On this and every Wednesday of Lent, we will, once again, have our popular soup and sandwich gathering at 5:00 p.m., followed by a presentation on our Catholic faith starting with some videos by Michael Cumby, a Catholic Lay Evangelist who is a former Evangelical minister.  We will then offer Mass at 6:15 p.m. each Wednesday during Lent.  Please also mark your calendar for Saturday, March 3, as we will have a Lenten Day of Reflection by Father Herold Brock, a missionary priest who will inspire with reflections on the life of Pope John Paul II.  We will continue the tradition of the Stations of the Cross every Friday in Lent at 6:15 p.m.  I urge you to take seriously these and other opportunities that will be offered during Lent, 2012.  The blessings for your life and the lives that you touch may be many.

Those who participated in Mass this past Sunday can, I hope, testify to the passion that came from me as I talked about the terrible threat to religious liberty that is happening in our country, especially through the mandate of health care reform that demands that Catholics and Catholic institutions be forced to violate our consciences and beliefs against such practices as artificial contraception, sterilizations and abortifacients.  For those who participated in the 4:00 p.m. Mass, you did not hear my homily because I only decided to preach after reading the bishop's letter on this subject and hearing the Gospel about "authority" proclaimed during that Mass.  I strongly urge EVERY parishioner to respond actively to this threat to religious liberty in our country through ongoing prayer and action to let our elected officials know how wrong this is for Catholics and all people of faith.  Please use the help of the insert in this week's bulletin to fashion a message and send it to some or all those who are listed on the insert (and maybe others) in whatever way you wish to communicate with them.  If we don't take action to try to reverse these efforts to restrict our religious liberty, both we, and others in future generations might suffer from the results.