Dear Parishioners, During this week I will be attending an out-of-town priest conference that begins Sunday through the week. I want to thank Father Jim Harnan who will be assisting at our Masses, and also our parish staff and volunteers who will be assisting in my absence. I will keep you in my prayers. Pope Francis has asked that throughout the world that the 3rd Sunday of Ordinary Time be a Sunday dedicated to the Word of God. He instituted this with his Apostolic Letter “Aperuit Illis.” As I will not be with you this 3rd Sunday, during our Masses next weekend the 4th Sunday we will pray for our lectors who proclaim the Sacred Scriptures at our Masses and for each of us as we are led by the Word of God in our lives. In addition, I would like to invite you to bring your personal bible to Mass that we may bless them. We invite you to find a special place in your home to enthrone your bible. May we have time each day to reflect on God’s Word that is a “lamp for our lives.” In emphasizing the importance of the Bible in the life of the Church Pope Francis shared, “It is important to remember that the Holy Spirit, the Life-Giver, loves to work through Scripture. The Word brings the breath of God into the world, infuses the warmth of the Lord in the heart. The word of God is alive: it does not die nor does it age, it remains forever. It is alive and it gives life.” This invitation to share the Word of God with others in our daily lives is at the heart of our call as Christians. May we pray especially for this during this Week of Prayer for Christian Unity which is being observed this year from January 18 - 25. Together we can realize Jesus’ command as he ascended to the Father when he said, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age” (Matthew 28:18-20). During this week, I invite us together to pray for the sanctity of life from conception, through life to natural death. May this be a special intention we lift to God as we pray the Rosaries. May God bless you and our families. In prayer for you Father Phil