In a time of transition, it is good to remember the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Soon, we will celebrate the Solemnity of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit empowered the Apostles to live in peace and confidence as the Mystical Body of Christ present in the world. After the Ascension, they returned to Jerusalem and spent nine days in prayer with the Blessed Virgin Mary. As promised by the Lord, the Holy Spirit came on the day of Pentecost in the form of wind and fire. Then the Apostles went out and preached Jesus Christ in the city where He had been crucified only weeks before. The Holy Spirit empowers us in the same way!

As a part of the parish facilities master plan produced by the strategic planning committee, initial recommendations include restoring the Marian Center and selling the old rectory on Maymont Drive. These are both located at the southwest corner of the parish property, behind the church. The parish is moving forward on both of these recommendations, and I want to report to you on that progress.

Parishioners keep asking me if I am excited about my move to the monastery, and the answer is yes. But frankly I don't have much time to think about it -- the time will come for that -- because of all the good things happening in the parish and the preparations for a peaceful and positive transition for the new pastor. First, we don't know who that is yet, but keep praying for him anyway! One fixed point we know is that the day of transition will be Monday, June 27. We will know the new pastor before then!

I want to reiterate the invitation to stewardship of talent from last week, especially for service in the liturgy. Thank you to those of you who have volunteered! Please look here to sign up, if you have not: https://bit.ly/3vAr5zV

It has been quite some time since I have addressed stewardship of treasure with the parish. I have made appeals for the diocese and for special collections, but I have not addressed our parish stewardship needs much during the pandemic.

I apologize that this message is mainly for those who attend the English Masses at Saint Rose because most of these updates have already been implemented at the Spanish Masses thanks to the hard work of our dedicated parochial vicars! The pastor has been lagging behind. Of course, like everything else at Saint Rose, anyone in the parish is welcome!

I think that we had a glorious commemoration of Holy Week and celebration of Easter at Saint Rose this year! Beauty really can lead us to what is eternal and transcendent, especially when it is united to truth and goodness.

I have to thank an army of people who made our liturgies and devotions so beautiful, as well as so true and good. The sublime music helped us to engage more deeply with the liturgy, according to the spirit of each celebration.

As we celebrate Holy Week and Easter, I am challenged and inspired by the example of Jesus Himself. During Holy Week, He consistently refuses to use the tactics of this world. He does not do so on Palm Sunday when the crowds are enthusiastically supporting Him, and He does not do so on Good Friday when practically everyone has turned against Him. He remains obedient to the will of His Father in everything.

The liturgies of Holy Week correspond to the historical events of the passion, suffering, death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus. In that sense, it is possible to enter into these events with the Lord and with the Church in real time. The world around us does not pay much attention to Jesus during this week, but as Christians we must. If we set our hearts on Jesus and stay with Him, then we are drawn into the mystery of Holy Week. It becomes hard to imagine living during Holy Week without commemorating the events of the passion of the Lord.

The last two weeks of Lent are sometimes called "Passiontide." We begin a shift in late Lent to focus on the suffering and death of Our Lord Jesus Christ. These are powerful days of grace in preparation for Easter.

On Monday, March 28, we will have a special presentation at Saint Rose on the Sacred Relics of the Saints. There will be two opportunities for experiencing the presentation and for veneration of the relics: one during the day and one in the evening on Monday. Please see the details in the Flocknote or bulletin, and please plan to come!

I have news to share with you and so I will get to the point. I have been given permission from Bishop Spalding to enter the formation program to become a monk of St. Bernard Abbey, a Benedictine monastery in Cullman, Alabama. I will be leaving St. Rose at the time of the summer assignments to pursue this call. For over two years, I have been discerning this call to become a monk. I was surprised by it, but it has persisted and seems to be bearing good fruit. The hardest part of this decision for me is parting from the parish because I continue to love serving you at St. Rose. I will continue serving as a priest at the monastery in the works assigned to me, and I will also be living a more structured and intentional life of prayer and community.

Just as the Gospel for the First Sunday of Lent shows the temptations of Christ, the Gospel for the Second Sunday of Lent presents the Transfiguration of Jesus. The focus this Sunday is on glory!

I had a teacher in high school who would try to inspire my class when we were not working very hard by saying: "You are not here to slug it out for mediocrity but to sprint for glory!" That was a funny thing to say about learning vocabulary, but it is true about our lives. We really are made for glory!

The Gospel for the First Sunday of Lent is always about the temptations that Jesus experienced during His 40 days of prayer and fasting in the desert after His baptism. These 40 days are the main scriptural basis for the 40 days of Lent.

It is interesting that the devil kept that first "Lent" with Jesus. In his temptations of Jesus, the devil seems to be trying to figure out just who Jesus is. This might seem like strange advice, but we should imitate the devil in remaining with Jesus in the desert for Lent and in trying to find out who Jesus is. Of course, the devil was doing this for bad reasons. He was foolishly trying to tempt Jesus.