Dear Parishioners,
 
Happy Lent !!  Lent is an Anglo-Saxon word that means "springtime."  The Latin verb lente means  "slowly."  In the early church times, Christians prepared for Easter by fasting for three days.  By the fourth century, however, it had increased to forty days to correspond with the length of Jesus' fast in the desert.  During this time, there was an intense preparation with the catechumens who would receive the Sacraments of Initiation at Easter.  Lent calls all of us back to our Baptismal commitment to be faithful to God.  We begin the season with Ash Wednesday.  Ashes are an ancient symbol of our mortality and the day when we will stand before God.  During Lent (and throughout the year!) we die to sin and rise to new life.  The cross of ashes on our foreheads indicates our willingness to ask forgiveness from God and our neighbor.  During Lent, we celebrate the Scrutinies on the third, fourth, and fifth Sundays.  This rite encourages us to reject sin and to grow in virtue.  We have one catechumen, Patrick Capps, who will be baptized at the Easter vigil and Jean Brown and Kristen Annesi, our candidates will be received into the Catholic church, receiving Confirmation and the Eucharist.
The three traditional pillars of Lenten observance are prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.  We fast (one meal only) on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.  We abstain from meat on Fridays during Lent.  Abstaining from meat traditionally links us to the poor, who could seldom afford meat for their meals.  May this Lenten season be one of prayer and peace for you.
 
Staff position available at St. Margaret's:   Last June, after many years of faithful service to our parish, Ann Marie Mooney retired from her staff position as liturgist and sacristan, and Christine Williams is planning to retire from her position as Faith Formation Director at the end of our fiscal year (June 30, 2020).  This leaves two (part-time) vacant positions on our staff.  Our Pastoral Council has been discussing this over the last three months.  We want to be pro-active about the future of our parish. As such, we will be hiring a Pastoral Associate who will primarily focus on overseeing the Faith Formation program and eventually assume the responsibility of the day to day operation of the parish. He or she will be working closely with our talented office manager, Toni Williams.  You may remember that our parish was administered by a very capable team of lay people who managed the day-to-day tasks while Fr. Dan DeLorme served primarily as a sacramental minister.  The Pastoral Associate will wear many hats and work under my leadership and eventually take over the pastoral administration when I choose to retire (priests in our diocese may retire at the age of 70).  The posting of the Pastoral Associate position will be published throughout this diocese and our neighboring dioceses. The position will be open to a layperson, religious sister or brother, and permanent deacons.  A subcommittee of the Pastoral Council will review applications and interview qualified candidates based on a job description that we have created with the help of the diocesan resources. 
 
This past week I met with Bishop Lucia to seek his approval of our proposal to hire a Pastoral Associate.  He was very much in favor of the idea.  He realizes that we have a vibrant, welcoming community and he wants to see our parish grow and progress.  After I retire, the diocese will provide weekend help from [retired] clergy who will be available.  We are hoping to fill the position by July 1, 2020.  If you have any questions about this or would like a copy of the job description, please call me at the church office.  Please pray that the Holy Spirit will send us qualified, faithful candidates as we enter into this process.

Many thanks. God Bless You,  Fr. Paul J. Alciati