March 15, 2026 - Pastor Message
March 14, 2026THE WORKS OF MERCY
THE WORKS OF MERCY
“When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne, and all the nations will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave me food. I was thirsty, and you gave me drink. A stranger, and you welcomed me. Naked, and you clothed me. Ill, and you cared for me. In prison, and you visited me…And the king will say, ‘Amen I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me” (Matthew 25:31-36, 40).
Having reflected on the Precepts of the Church, the essential minimum for our spiritual and moral lives, we expand our view now to look at other benchmarks of our Christian faith. As we journey through the spring training of Lent, we seek to not only achieve the minimum, but to be the best disciples of Christ we can possibly be. The works of mercy give us a guideline to accomplish that, goals of Christlike lives toward which to strive. This takes on special significance as we join Catholics around the country in celebrating our nation’s 250th anniversary. As part of that celebration, we join Catholic parishes around the country in committing to 250 hours of Eucharistic adoration and 250 hours of works of mercy before July 4th of this year.
We can fulfill our 250 hours of adoration as a parish by spending time in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament, either exposed or in the tabernacle. Our church is open every day until 6:00 PM, so please stop in and spend some time with the Lord or join us for Euahristic adoration the last Thursday of every month at 6:00 PM. There is also 24-hour adoration at St. Joseph church every day. Any time before the Blessed Sacrament in any Catholic church or chapel works, so please make that commitment and record your personal holy hours on the board in the gathering space, especially during Lent.
The works of mercy require a bit more effort. We will reflect together over the next several weeks on specifically what the works of mercy are and how we can accomplish them, but, in essence, they simply mean doing good for others. So, if you see someone in need, and you work to meet that need in the name of Christ, you have done a work of mercy. Please record that on the board in the gathering space too. Knowing the generosity of our parish, I have no doubt we will meet this requirement as well and join parishes from around our country in a fitting celebration of our nation’s 250th anniversary on July 4th.
Fr. Marc Stockton
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