I find it interesting that towards the end of this week’s parable, the gardener asks the owner of the orchard to give the fig tree “a chance.” The gardener says that he would take care of the tree and even offers to fertilize it. Despite what is happing to the tree, the gardener remains hopeful. Who knows “it may bear fruit in the future?”

Lent is a season when we are invited to “fertilize” our spiritual lives. God knows that we need this time every year. He knows that, as human beings, we get caught up with the demands and distractions of life. The busyness of life, struggles in relationships, illness, loss of life, all the uncertainty that we experience in our world can be overwhelming. Lent is an invitation to take care of ourselves so we can renew our friendship with God and with one another.

Lent comes to us during the season of Spring – a season when new life springs forth. Lent provides the opportunity to pause and reflect on our personal lives and look at what is seemingly dead and/or hopeless and bring it back to life. In doing so, we can truly rise and celebrate the new life that Christ offers us at Easter.

In our recent Parish Renewal Initiative, I invited all of us to reflect and discern on our parish life. As we slowly emerge from the pandemic, we looked at the strengths of our parish and the things we need to work on. We asked the questions: How do we keep the Spirit alive and active in our community of faith? How do we continue to enhance our liturgy and the participation of all? How do we engage others in our different outreach programs? You see, Lent is not just a personal journey, but a communal one. The whole Church is invited into a renewal and a conversion, so that the mission of Christ will continue to flourish.

Prayer is very important for the success of our mission as Church. Without that spiritual renewal, the things we do will have no meaning. Prayer is the “fertilizer” that keeps us going and productive in our call to being disciples of the Lord. Prayer fuels and enflames our hearts to proclaim the presence of God both in word and in action.

But we also realize that there is another component to the success of our Church’s mission, and that is funding. This is the reason why I appeal to you every year to make a pledge to our Annual Diocesan Appeal. The ADA is very important to us as parish. It helps us fund the many ministries of our community. In fact, last year we received a rebate of almost 44K. Thank you! I am hoping that this year we receive, if not the same amount, maybe a little more in rebate. In addition to our on-going search for a full-time worship and music director, enhancing the faith formation of children and adults, outreach programs locally, nationally and internationally, we also need to maintain our parish buildings and grounds. Last year, we completed some of these projects. This summer, we are looking at repaving our parking lot. With the price of oil increasing, I anticipate that our parking lot project would be over 100K.

And so, I appeal to your support and generosity once again.

To date, we have pledges of $205,869 from 289 families to ADA and that is 68.6% of our goal of 300K. If you have not yet made your pledge, I am hoping you will prayerfully consider helping us (click year to make a pledge). Pledge forms are also available in the parish office and the church.

During this season of Lent, we are invited to “fertilize” – to bring to life what needs our help and encouragement, so that our journey towards the great season of new life and hope may be fruitful.