Want to join our STM 40 Day Lenten Prayer Challenge?

CATHOLIC FAITH AT HOME RESOURCES

FOR ST. THOMAS MORE PARISHIONERS

FEB. 27

LENTEN CHALLENGE FOR 2022

THE 7 LAST WORDS OF CHRIST

He hung there.

On the cross, tortured. Dying.

The hard metal of the nails fastening his legs and feet in place.

As he struggled for air and was barely able to breathe,

Jesus didn’t hang in silence.

He spoke to those around him,

to complete strangers and

to his family and friends.

Jesus was speaking to us in his final hours.

In his Seven Last Words,

Jesus shows us how he has fulfilled his saving mission

and sends us forth to follow in his footsteps.

Coming together to lead you deeper into this journey are:

*Jonathan Roumie, who portray Jesus

in the hit streaming series “The Chosen”

and

*Jim Caviezel, who portrayed Jesus

in the No. 1 grossing R-Rated film of all time,

“The Passion of the Christ.”

The duo will lead you through powerful daily prayers and meditations on the Seven Last Words of Christ

through the #1 Catholic App: Hallow.

Click below to watch a trailer video that

introduces this most moving, impactful, life-changing

Lenten Challenge!

40 Day Lenten Challenge Trailer

As a parish let's join together and follow these two men

as they lead us in powerful prayers and meditations for 40 days.

Use the QR Code below (or click link to access it)

for FREE access for STM parishioners

over the next 3 months,

including this 40 day Lenten Prayer challenge and so much more!

Link to get QR Code to access Hallow free

THE HALLOW APP FOR THOSE

WHO DON'T USE QR CODES

Click below for the link to join Hallow to participate for free

in this Lenten Challenge without the QR code:

GET HALLOW WITHOUT QR CODE

THE CHOSEN

COMIC BOOK SERIES!!

Do you have a skeptic in your life

who won’t watch the show?

This is a great way to show,

and not just tell, them

how different The Chosen is!

The artists’ works are truly special —

beautifully capturing the show's essence.

Issues 1-6 cover Episode One, and will be released monthly.

These comic books are a great way to introduce

teens, tweens, and in between

- and their parents and grandparents too -

to Jesus and His followers.

Click below to view the series:

THE CHOSEN COMIC BOOK SERIES

March 13th

for the next - the 5th - Chosen Watch Party

PARISH DINING HALL - AFTER 10:00 MASS, March 13

FREE DONUTS AND COFFEE!

* Feel free to bring a soft cushion to sit on *

Other Options: In-person and online Watch Parties March 16

If you haven't yet registered for a Watch Party

Click the link below:

THE CHOSEN WATCH PARTIES

QUIZ! FOR THE WEEK

HOW IS FASTING DIFFERENT FROM DIETING?

Scroll down to find the answer!

PERFECT

BIBLE STUDY FOR LENT

Are you looking to deepen your love

for the Blessed Virgin Mary?

And to grow in knowledge of Catholic teachings on the Blessed Mother

and how they are connected to Scripture?

Join others in a study of

"The Bible and the Virgin Mary."

Learn God's plan for Mary's role in salvation history,

and in our lives today.

See Mary as you've never seen her before!

In each session we review the previous week's highlights,

watch a brief video, discuss the video,

and close with prayer

- all facilitated by a bible study leader.

Begins: Saturday March 5th, 2022

10:30 AM - 12:00 PM

12 session Bible Study

every Saturday through 5/28/22

Excluding Holy Saturday, 4/16/22

$30 covers the participant workbook and streaming credentials.

Meeting in the St. Joseph Room at the

beautiful Our Lady of the Holy Spirit Center

Click below to register:

REGISTRATION FOR: THE BIBLE AND THE VIRGIN MARY LENTEN STUDY

THE PRAY MORE

LENTEN RETREAT

at YOUR convenience!

Begins March 2!

5 Speakers

20 Audio and Video Presentations

20 Reflective Study Guides

This self-paced Retreat

lets you participate

wherever you are,

whenever you have the time.

Click below to register for this retreat:

THE PRAY MORE LENTEN RETREAT

ST. TERESA

OF AVILA'S

NINE GRADES

OF PRAYER

__________________

LIVE STREAMING!

EXPERIENCE THE REAL POWER OF PRAYER

FREE STREAMING - WITH MATTHEW LEONARD

BEGINS ASH WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2

"Brilliant!" - "Blown away"

"Why didn't anyone tell me about this before?!!"

St. Teresa is the Doctor of Prayer

and you'd be hard pressed to find someone who can

teach you more about divine intimacy!

Unfortunately, many pick up her books, but put them down again

because they don't get it.

Matthew Leonard will unpack her famous

Nine Grades of Prayer

in language you can understand.

It's super-charged teaching of a treasure

that will leave you in awe of what God is offering you!

Click below to sign up for this free series:

R EGISTRATION FOR NINE GRADES OF PRAYER

Priest Assignments in Families of Parishes

The assignment plan for the priests in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati

is complete and available at BeaconsAOC.org.

Assignments include the pastors and parochial vicars

for the Families of Parishes that were announced in December 2021.

______________________________________________________________________________

Our Family of Parishes is:

St. Thomas More Parish, St. Bernadette,

St. Peter (New Richmond) and St. Mary (Bethel)

Pastor who oversees the Family of Parishes:

Father Timothy W. Ralston (currently at St. Bernadette)

Parochial Vicars who work with the Pastor

and/or celebrate Mass and other Sacraments:

Father Thomas E. Dorn

Father William C. Wagner

...and Fr. Dave Endres will still celebrate Mass sometimes too!

______________________________________________________________________________

The priest assignments will take effect July 1, 2022,

upon the implementation of Families of Parishes.

Click below to view all priest assignments:

PRIEST ASSIGNMENTS

GOSPEL READING REFLECTION

For FEBRUARY 27, 2022

8th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Year C

Lk 6:39-45

******************************************************************************

Form and Obey your Conscience

"How can you say to your brother,

‘Brother, let me remove that splinter in your eye,’

when you do not even notice the wooden beam in your own eye?

You hypocrite! Remove the wooden beam from your eye first;

then you will see clearly

to remove the splinter in your brother’s eye."

Everyone follows someone or something.
Who or what we follow can lead us to life or death, goodness or evil, truth or falsehood, beauty or ugliness, communion or alienation.
Christ claims he is the teacher and exemplar we should follow to come into possession of every good and to avoid every evil. We believe he really is.

We should not correct our brother’s ideas or behavior until we have first corrected our own. Once we have done this, we can help others see the light or walk on the right path.

Our goal should be to be fully trained in Christ so we can be like him and bear good fruit.
“A good person out of the store of goodness in his heart produces good . . . for from the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks.”

Conscience is one’s reason sitting in judgment on one’s actions. Conscience is reason’s reading of the moral law and judging one’s actions accordingly. Reason does not invent the moral law; rather it discovers it by looking at human nature to learn what is good and evil for a human being. The Christian also receives his or her knowledge of the moral law through the authoritative teachings of the Church contained in Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture. (see CCC 1776-1782)

Since we are born knowing nothing the conscience must be properly formed (CCC 1783). This is difficult because even though everyone who has attained the age of reason knows one ought to do good and avoid evil, one also has original sin with one’s inclination to sin. So how is the conscience properly formed?

We each need to be educated (or better) trained in virtue in order to be free to do what is right once we see what is right. The fundamental human virtues are prudence (sound decision-making), justice (giving what is owed), fortitude (courage and toughness), and temperance (self-control when it comes to pleasure). Growth in virtue is a lifelong task. (CCC 1784)

We Christians additionally form our conscience according to the Word of God (Christ Himself and what he has revealed).
This formation requires faith, prayer, and practice.
It can even require suffering.
In this task “we are assisted by the gifts of the Holy Spirit, aided by the witness or advice of others and guided by the authoritative teaching of the Church.” (CCC 1785)

Conscience is a judgment about the morality of an action you have performed, are performing, or are thinking about performing. How do you know if your choice or judgment is correct? The Church’s moral theology identifies two kinds of judgments:
“Faced with a moral choice, conscience can make either a right judgment in accordance with reason and the divine law or, on the contrary, an erroneous judgment that departs from them” (CCC 1786).

ANSWER TO QUIZ

The critical difference between fasting and dieting is intention.

Both involve limiting food intake,

but they are used and implemented differently.

Dieting is purely for physical health or vanity,

while fasting is a spiritual exercise.

Spiritual exercises are intended to ultimately bring us into a closer relationship with God.

What does this spiritual exercise do?

Key benefits of fasting:

* Tames our bodily appetites,

which can be sources of temptation for us

* Detaches us from physical comforts,

which can weaken us and impede growth in virtue

* Aids us in personal self-mastery,

so that we can resist sin and choose the good -

even when it’s difficult to do so.

Fasting also purifies and liberates our prayer.

The detachment sharpens our focus on God and

helps us to enter into prayer more freely.

It quiets the demands of the body so that we can

focus on God without hindrance.

In fact, fasting isn’t just helpful to prayer:

it must be joined to prayer.

It’s ineffective on its own.

DOES THIS ALL SOUND SO GREAT

YOU WISH THERE WAS MORE?

THERE IS!

Click the link below to find more:

FAITH FORMATION ACTIVITIES AND EVENTS

FOR EVERY MONTH AND SEASON