Dear Parishioners,
          Lent is a season for us to spend more time in prayer, fasting, and giving to the poor.  During Lent we also pray for our candidates who will join us in our Catholic faith at the Easter Vigil.  Please keep Heather Griswold and Tom Moade in your thoughts and prayers.  They have been baptized in another Christian faith and will make a profession of faith at the Easter Vigil, receive Confirmation, and then they will receive the Eucharist for the first time.
          Mark your calendars... our Regional Lenten Penance Service will be on Wednesday, March 14 at 6:30 p.m. at St. Anthony's. 
          I share with you Bishop Cunningham’s Lenten Letter. This is an abridged format. The complete letters appears in the Catholic Sun or online at http://www.syracusediocese.org.  
 
My Dear Friends in Christ,
          As I sit at my desk writing my Lenten message to all of you it is snowing and the temperatures are cold. The forecast for the week promises more of the same. In the midst of the cold and snow, we begin the season of Lent.
          The days of Lent have a special quality different from the other days of the year. They keep the essentials of life before us: the great commandment to love God and our neighbor and our personal need for conversion.  They call us to attention! “Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2Cor 6:2).
          God speaks to us through the scriptures.  We need to be good listeners. This requires some quiet time to reflect on His words. Take time for prayer, listening to God’s word and responding to Him. The length of the time is less important than the consistency with which we take the time.  During Lent be still and listen to God’s word.
          In our diocese, we are celebrating the Year of the Family. I am asking you to include families and family life in your prayers during Lent. Pray that families will regularly participate in Sunday Mass and that those who have received the Sacrament of Reconciliation will avail themselves of this consoling sacrament during their Lenten journey. Of course, this would be a good practice for all of us!
          The forty days of the Lenten season point to the coming of spring and new life.  Nature teaches us that new life comes slowly. Lent invites us to slow down, to listen to the Lord, notice our brothers and sisters and “give up” what hinders our relationship with God and others.
          Every Lent takes each of us one-step closer to the spring of eternal life. Let’s not waste this precious time. May God accompany us on our Lenten journey.  I will pray for you during these blessed forty days and I ask you to pray for me. 
                                                          Devotedly yours in Christ,
                                                          Most Rev. Robert J. Cunningham
                                                          Bishop of Syracuse
Many thanks. God Bless You,  Fr. Paul J. Alciati