Lenten Services

Beloved Friends and kababayans,

Happy Lenten Season! Today, Ash Wednesday is the beginning of our Lenten Journey. Masses were celebrated this morning and there will be more celebration in many different churches. The people were marked with ashes on their foreheads to prepare their hearts to receive the grace of God during this Holy Season. At Holy Trinity, the mass will be held at 7PM tonight.

Are you wondering what is going on in our community? Well, the 2010 Calendar of Events is now posted in our blog, click this link: http://filcomevents.blogspot.com/2010/02/2010-calendar-of-events.html.

As you can see, we will hold several events during this lent and you are invited to attend.

After the 10:00 am, Sunday Mass on Feb. 21, 2010, at The Grotto, there will be a reception in the conference center for Fr. Fred Biong. Please see this link for detailed info: http://filcomevents.blogspot.com/2010/02/farewell-to-fr-biong.html. Also, are you in the mood for a good crab dinner? The Grotto will hold their Crab Fest on Saturday, February 27th, at 5:00 PM. Kindly click this website for more info: http://filcomevents.blogspot.com/2010/02/crab-fest.html.

Saturday, March 6th at 10 AM, Mass will be celebrated by Archbishop Vlasny at Our Lady of Sorrows and blessing of a relic of St. Therese. For more info: http://filcomevents.blogspot.com/2010/02/blessing-of-relic-of-st-therese.html.

Our community will host the St. Cecilia’s Soup Supper on Friday, March 12th at 6PM.

The Annual Pilgrimage for the Stations of the Cross at Mt. Angel Abbey will be held on Sunday, March 14th at 2:30 PM. We will be doing the prayer service in the St. Joseph's Chapel under the Church and a potluck reception will be followed in the St. Aquinas hall for our fellowship.

The 2nd Annual GSFAA Valentine's Party Dinner & Dance was a great success last Saturday hosted by the folks in Salem with the fine leaderships of John Alamarez and Maryann Gaviola. It was a well attended event.

And below is the Ash Wednesday reflection from Fr. John. Feel free to subscribe from his daily reflections.

May God continue to bless you and your families during this Lenten Season!

Maraming Salamat Po!
Monette

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After Carnival by Carl Spietzwig
Ash Wednesday
February 17, 2010

“Working together, then, we appeal to you to not receive the grace of God in vain.” 2 Cor. 6:1
The Infinite Blessings of God be upon you and all you met and pray for and this entire world as we begin Our 2010 Lenten journey together! I say “together” because we are on this journey to heaven together, helping each other to fully receive the grace of God, which perfects us in the image of Jesus. Imagine being one with Jesus who shines with boundless love!

May these reflections and this Holy Season in our church be a cause for valuable and specific growth in our spiritual lives. For the daily reflections, I am going with the format of a short challenge (I will try my best to be brief!!!) from the chosen Scripture verse and a prayer response. Sound good? OK, here we go…

Grace from the get-go. All of life is grace. We are made by grace, being saved by grace and grace will bring us to perfection in heaven. It is not what we do for heaven it is what heaven has done for us! This whole, Holy Season is about preparing our hearts to receive the grace of God. Jesus is the grace of God who has come to bring a broken world into the perfection of his boundless love.

Write down the grace. Name it. How is it that you are? How is it that you are forgiven? How is it that, for the Christian, death has no more sting? What has freed you from confusion, fear, selfishness and hatred and made you joyful?

Let us pray: “Lord God, you made me out of nothing so that I could live in your love forever. Help me to name and know and dance and sing your grace each moment of my life. Open the eyes of my heart to see that all of life is grace from the get-go. Amen”

We are all Blessed by the BEST- all the time,
+Fr. John
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