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May God bless you warmly as we move through the months ahead. God is always with us and sustains us through all the difficulties we face. February is the shortest month but there are many activities for us to anticipate.
February 3 there will be confessions at St. Joseph at 3:30 pm.
The Feast of St. Blaise is February 3rd, and we will celebrate the blessing of throats at the conclusion of Mass on February 3 and 4.
Sunday, February 5, the Knights of Columbus will have a Pancake Breakfast at IHM.
Sunday, February 11, the Knights of Columbus will provide donuts after the 9:00 am Mass.
Ash Wednesday is February 14. We will celebrate the Eucharist at 9:00 am at IHM and at 6:00 pm at St. Joseph. There will be a Liturgy of the Word with Ashes at Noon at both churches.
Friday, February 16, the Fish Fry’s at IHM begin. They will serve from 4-7 pm. The Knights of Columbus at St. Joseph will have Fish Fry’s at St. Joseph. More information will follow in the bulletin.
Friday, February 16, there will be an Organ Concert at St. Joseph beginning at 7:00pm.
There is no CCD on Sunday, February 18 due to Presidents’ Day Weekend.
Saturday, February 24, the Men’s Mile Marker Event will begin at 8:00 am at St. Joseph. We will have participants from a few parishes. Please pray for a successful event.
Wednesday, February 28, there will be a Penance Service at St. Michael in Canfield beginning at 7:00pm.
Lent is the time of preparation for those who will be baptized, confirmed and admitted to the Eucharist during the Easter Vigil on April 8. For those of us who are already fully initiated, Lent is a time for us to renew our prayer, fasting, and charitable actions to model our Christian faith.
The season of Lent calls us back to the basic religious actions of prayer, fasting and giving alms. These actions, when performed in a grace-filled way, help us grow in faith, hope and love. Self-denial helps us to be emptied so that God may fill us with the Holy Spirit. Catholics in good health from the age of 18 to 59 are obliged to fast and abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. They are to abstain from meat on all other Fridays of Lent. Youth, age 13 and older, are to abstain from meat on those days. “Fasting” means no more than one main meal is eaten that day, while on the same day no more than two partial meals are eaten which together do not equal the one main meal.
Praying that God continues to bless each of you, I remain, Sincerely Yours in Christ,
