Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday :
9:00 am in the Chapel
Wednesday :
6:30 pm in the Church
Saturday: 4:30 pm
Sunday: 8:30 am
11:00 am
Confessions: Saturday
3:30 pm to 4:00 pm
or by appointment
Call us at 440-926-2364
Email us at: info@olqpgrafton.org
We are a Roman Catholic family centered in the Eucharist, rooted in our immigrant traditions since the 1800’s and devoted to our Blessed Mother. Humbly guided by the Holy Spirit, and with the warmth and hospitality that springs from a small community, we seek to share our faith in Jesus Christ through prayer, devotion, education, stewardship, and service to others.
It was Valentine’s Day when we started the Season of Lent this year which was earlier than normal. I don’t know about you, but it seems like it has been longer than 40 days ago! Lent officially ends at sundown on Holy Thursday so only a few more days left. At the beginning of Lent, you were invited to reflect upon what you needed to do to come in touch with who God has called you to be by writing on a heart your Lenten commitment. How have you done? The hearts that were turned in were placed over the baptismal font and in the windows of the Gathering Area. Over these weeks they have slowly been falling off the wires that held them. I want to think that they are the practices that we accomplished. That the commitment to be more patient, less judgmental, more charitable has been achieved. But I also know that while we may have had a good Lent, there is still more that needs to be done.
On the 1st Sunday of Lent, we heard the call to enter the desert with Jesus where we would be tested. That is not a comfortable place to be. We don’t like to deal with hardship, suffering or pain. And yet to let go of our sinfulness does require pain. To tame our ego and to do God’s will is a hardship. To embrace the cross in our life is suffering. This weekend as we celebrate Palm Sunday, we remember that there is no life without the cross. Without the cross our lives are stagnate, bland, and without passion. Happiness and fulfillment are empty dreams that we think we can achieve without giving of ourselves. We are reminded that our lives will know inner peace, meaning and fulfillment when we take up our cross and follow Jesus. This week as we recall the most important days of our faith, the most sacred days, we look to imitate Jesus and how he carried his cross to glory. These days are important for us in order that our lives are not a wandering existence without direction. Make time this week to join in the events of our salvation. See how celebrating these days will give your lives more passion, direction, meaning and fulfillment than you have ever known.
May we keep each other in prayer as we encounter God’s amazing grace in these Holy Week liturgies. And keep our Elect and Candidate in prayer as they enter the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil through the Initiation Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist.
--Fr. John
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