Happy Easter!
It has been several weeks since our life-changing and amazing Rescue Project Mission Retreat with Father John Riccardo. I’m sure that many of you are still unpacking the graces received from that retreat. I know I am. I can honestly say that I have felt God’s grace in an abundant way these last weeks. Not only has my prayer life deepened, but also my confidence in sharing the Good News with others has grown. I know that I’ve been made for this and I can’t wait for what the Lord has in store for me next.
Perhaps you are feeling the same way!
The top priority, that is the singular most important task for my Leadership Team, in these past months has been to “Awaken our Apostolic Identity” most especially among our “first parishioners.” That’s you all; the attendees of the Rescue Project Mission, whom I am affectionately referring to as “The 153.”
We will know when we’ve achieved our goal of “Awakening your Apostolic Identity” when you discover your own gifts and genius, when you are comfortably sharing your personal testimony to others, when you are naturally living a life of prayer and discipleship in sharing the Good News, and when we have reinforced our mission with ongoing structure.
In these weeks of the season of Easter, the Holy Spirit has prompted my Team and I to fan into a flame the graces you received from the Rescue Project Mission. The Lord is calling us to a moment of intense reflection and further deepening as a community and as individuals. Perhaps like the disciples on the road to Emmaus, we are asked at this moment to make sense of how our hearts were burning within us as He walked with us on the way. We need to reflect, pray, and strengthen what we’ve been given so that we may be comfortable with “putting our own nets out into the deep” to rescue others.
However, we recognize that we cannot do it alone. We need heavenly assistance. We need the assistance of the most perfect disciple – Mother Mary!
Jesus gave us his Mother to be our Mother. He did so in order that she may strengthen us as we carry our own crosses. As a faithful mother, she remained close to the apostles, praying for them and encouraging them. Mary wishes to do the same with us.
Therefore, as we work to unpack and awaken our truest identity as apostles, we will do it in the company of the Blessed Mother.
Beginning on Monday, May 23, 2022 we will embark on a journey called “The 33 Days to Morning Glory.” With daily reflections and prayer, we allow Mary to give us her motherly assistance in forming us as her Son’s disciples. I believe that this journey with Mary will grant us the grace to discover our deepest identity.
Our journey will then culminate with a Solemn Mass and Consecration to the Blessed Mother on the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, June 25, 2022 at 11 a.m. in the Cathedral.
We will also celebrate the day with a special BBQ gathering after Mass on the Cathedral Plaza.
Besides the Marian Consecration, we’ve also set up a special resource page on our website called “The Upper Room.” There you will find helpful reflections, resources, and prayer ideas that will enhance and deepen your journey of awakening your own apostolic identity.
These are exciting times to be part of the Church! We are the spark that will begin the renewal of the Catholic Church. I’m amazed at what God is doing and it starts with you!
I hope that you will continue walking with us on this journey of faith. God has great plans for us and I can’t wait to unpack it with you.
JOIN US ON THE JOURNEY!