March 15, 2026

Dear Friends, Reflecting upon, and examining our lives, we are now into our third week of Lent addressing where a change of heart is being invited of us. Two Sundays ago, we encountered the devil tempting Jesus in the desert. Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert. The Spirit of God remained with Jesus for these forty days. The devil tempts Jesus, but the Lord will let anything come between him and his father. Last Sunday we had the passage close to our hearts of the Transfiguration of Jesus. This “mountain top” vision was a powerful prayer experience for Peter, James, and John. These invited men coming to this moment have now seen Jesus for who He really is! It makes me recall what “mountain top” experiences have I seen? How has my vision been able to see the Lord for who he really is and bring it to the depths of my existence? This Sunday, our first reading from the Old Testament has the Israelites in their desert complaining because they do not have water to drink. Grumbling to Moses they question, where is God in all this? Moses calls out to God and God provides. He instructs Moses to go strike the rock and water will be provided. Indeed, it comes forth, God is ever present to the people. Their hearts will change for the time being. And on this very weekend we meet the Samaritan woman at the well. There Jesus sits and waits for this individual. Jesus speaks to her with kindness and patience. She listens to him, asks questions, and responds to his invitation to drink the water he’ll provide that will never make her thirsty again. She was ready to move from material needs to spiritual (Change of Heart). The third week of Lent is before us. How have you been doing with temptations, prayer on mountaintops and knowing God is present to you providing what is lasting, Have you been seeing changes in your heart for the good? Are you feeling and recognizing a deeper invitation to be closer to Jesus? Moses struck a rock and water came forth. How is God striking our hearts this lent. What is coming forth from ourselves? Is there life giving water that satisfies our spiritual thirsts? Is there still any hardness of our hearts attached to material temptations that we really need to address and be honest about with God? We still have weeks ahead of us before Holy Week. Let us pray together that we will make the most of this time for a blessed Easter. I ask you in your prayer to also remember our sisters and brothers who will become one, holy, catholic, and apostolic among us at the Easter Vigil! They are a beautiful group of people. How blessed we are to have them share faith among us and for us to do the same for them. To a “Change of Heart” and continued blessings, Father Rob

Dear Friends, This weekend presents to us, in our Gospel, the Transfiguration. Matthew 17 is particularly poignant as one of our parishes is named after this event. It is also important for all of the faithful to reflect upon as we go forth seeking hopefully a “Change of Heart” this Lenten season. The custom of reading this gospel passage near the beginning of Lent may have come from the ancient tradition which held that the transfiguration of Jesus took place forty days before Good Friday. The response of “It is good for us to be here” carries right to this present moment for you and me. It is good that we gather together to reflect on the word of the Lord and be nourished with the Bread of Life, Jesus Himself. As Saint Augustine said, “may we become what we receive.” How is your Lenten journey going so far? What is happening in the interior of your lives and within your heart? Jesus often referred to individuals with “hardened hearts.” He cited scribes, pharisees, and even His own disciples. Some of these moments occurred when He healed on the Sabbath (Mark 3:5), after walking on the water (Mark 6:52), and His post-resurrection appearances (Mark 6:14) Are we possibly discovering any hardness of hearts in relationship to belonging to Jesus? After all, if we belong to Jesus, we are to love as He loves. How are we doing with loving as Him? Are there any issues we need to address honestly? Is He telling us something we need to address in the interior, depth of our very self, soul, and heart? Jesus is addressed in the New Testament as the rock, our spiritual foundation. Like in the Old Testament when Moses addressed the grumbling Israelites thirst in the desert, striking the rock as directed by God to satisfy their thirst, so too we read in 1 Corinthians 10:4, that the people ”…drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ.” Jesus is the spiritual life and foundation of faith. Jesus as our “rock” is a prominent metaphor for His strength and protection. When we accept Jesus as our secure refuge and foundation, we better understand and address where we need changes of our own hearts. May we take time to in our personal prayer and communal prayer these remaining weeks of lent to prepare well what it means to belong to Jesus. May we drink from the “spiritual rock”, our foundation in Him, and continue journey alongside our brother to Jerusalem. Let us know indeed it is good for us to be here with one another and prepare for the eternal life that lies ahead. With faith and blessings, Father Rob