My sisters and brothers in Christ,

As we begin Holy Week, with our Palm Sunday procession, let us not forget that we are a pilgrim people, making our journey of faith in this life by walking together. Please join me and your sisters and brothers of All Souls, as well as Christians throughout the world, by our walking together. The most sacred three days of our faith, the Triduum, begins on Maundy (Latin – mandatum-mandate) Thursday, the commemoration of the Lord’s Supper and following the command/mandate to wash each other’s feet. Good Friday commemorates our Lord’s Passion and His death on the cross, the ultimate proof of His love despite human betrayal and treachery. Holy Saturday Vigil, beginning in stunned silence and darkness and ending in exultation that

CHRIST IS RISEN, ALLELUIA!

Do not take your journey of faith by yourself and alone. Let us all walk together!

Fr. Henry+

We would love to see our friends and All Souls Family in person. But if you can’t attend service you can watch with YouTube Live or the recording on our YouTube Channel when posted. Click on services above to download bulletin for each service.

Below are the links to each service YouTube Live:

Maundy Thursday

Good Friday

Easter Vigil

Serving this week for Holy Week – Celebrant Rev. Henry Pruski

Thursday. Rich (Lay Assistant), Donna (Reader), with Rev. Denise Robinson (Musician), Vito(Greeter)

Friday. Wendy (Lay Assistant), Kent (Reader), Kevin/John (Greeters), Wendy & Martin (The Passion)

Saturday. Joan, Wendy, & Ben (Lay Assistants), Martin (Reader), John & Tom (musicians)

Taizé Service Tonight!

Wednesday, March 25 – 7 pm

A LONG TALK UNIVERSE & CPR Protocol

Reflection from our Franciscans

We are called to be Mothers of Christ

Francis of Assisi wrote, “We are mothers of our Lord Jesus Christ when we carry him in our hearts and in our bodies… and give birth to him through the working of his grace in us.” Here, he offers us an image that is at once tender and demanding, as to be a mother is to cherish life with one’s whole being. A true parent does not love halfway, sacrificing sleep, comfort, pride, and personal preference for the sake of the child. Their well-being becomes the lens through which everything else is measured, and there is attentiveness, protectiveness, and a quiet willingness to give without counting the cost.

Francis invites us into that same posture toward Christ, for if we are “mothers” of the Lord, then we carry Him not as an idea, or a learned doctrine, but as a living presence within our hearts and our bodies. We nurture Him through prayer, silence, repentance, and through a sincere conscience. We protect this loving presence by turning away from what hardens us or diminishes our joy to express humility, charity and love.

St Francis continues in describing this spiritual parenthood by writing that we must give birth to our Lord. Whenever His grace works through us, at times when patience replaces irritation, when mercy interrupts judgment, when kindness is extended without calculation, Christ is born into the world again and again. There is such beauty in witnessing how a mother’s love is visible within her actions for her children, so too can we find beauty as the love of Christ shines forth from us. It is not from His name upon our lips alone which should initiate others’ encounter with Christ, but as well from our actions they feel His compassion, His gentleness, His welcome.

We are called to cherish him so deeply that His love cannot help but to come forth from us and flow outward to all whom we encounter. As we do not choose which of God’s children is worthy of this message of love, this outpouring includes those we find difficult, strangers, the overlooked and even those who disagree with or wound us. If we accept the reciprocal love we share with our Savior, then no one is beyond His care. This grace cannot be controlled by us, but rather works through us. Christ takes flesh once more through our actions

May we carry Him with tenderness.

 May we protect Him with sincerity.

 And may we give birth to Him in the world, again and again.

Peace.

Rich

You can spend time in prayer and meditation using the readings and prayers from yesterday’s Good News. AND the LENTEN WILDERNESS DEVOTIONAL handed out last week or Ash Wednesday. The readings, art, and reflections are very insightful.

If you were brining anything for the “HELP THE GIRL OUT” collection, we will still collect it next week.

Don’t forget to save that loose changes and bills for your special lent offering.

Its Almost here!!!! – GTFL

Lent Reflection from our Franciscans

“Lord, make me an instrument of your peace…” This is the opening line to the Prayer of Peace often attributed (though most likely simply inspired by) St Francis of Assisi. As we come into the Lent, we are in a place when as Christians the giving up of something is foremost upon our minds. Perhaps this year, instead of placing such concern upon the material, we can move to “giving up” those things within our minds and hearts which keep us from being instruments of peace.

As we enter these forty days, we are not simply stepping into a season of denial with punishment from physical pleasure being the goal. Instead we are given the opportunity to free our spirit. It is a time to clear away whatever has quietly taken root within us (resentment, suspicion, pessimism) and allowing God once more to cultivate joy.

As Franciscans living in the world, we know how loud and distracting the world can be. The pace is relentless, and the noise is constant. In our society the narratives which loom around us, from too many sources to be named, so often breed division, irritation, and distrust. Our hearts can become guarded, without us even realizing it is happening. We can all too easily begin to assume the worst and lose the softness that once made room for wonder. We can enter a desert of the heart, where we do not know how to find a wellspring to replenish that love we once carried within us. Yet the desert is not empty, as it is the place where God speaks tenderly. It is where the heart, stripped of clutter, remembers its kinship with God, with creation, and with one another.

A Soulful Fast

Our fasting can move beyond food and enter the deeper terrain of the heart. We can fast from anger and long-held grudges, not by pretending we are never wounded, but by pausing when frustration rises. In that pause, patience can take root, and reconciliation becomes possible. We remember that Christ meets us with mercy again and again; can we not extend even a fragment of that mercy to others?

We can strive to fast from suspicion and harsh judgment, keeping in mind how easily we assume motives. Our founder Francis saw brother and sister everywhere, even in those who frightened or opposed him. He did not live in a peaceful time, and like today, there was bigotry, hatred, and people in power who seemed determined to destroy all those who were different. Francis, however, chose to fast from the negativity, which was certainly waiting to take root in his heart, and trust that God’s image dwells in every person. He has shown us that when we replace judgment with kindness, we participate in God’s own way of seeing.

This is not a call to live in naivety, nor to ignore suffering or injustice. It means to tell ourselves to refuse to let cynicism have the final word, and to allow gratitude becomes our quiet resistance. We give thanks for creation, for community, for the smallest evidence of grace that persist even in troubled times. When the heart is healed of its defensiveness, it becomes spacious. It becomes capable of seeing brother and sister where once it saw threat. It becomes capable of joy again.

May this desert season soften us.

May it free us.

May it return us to the simplicity and radiance that marked Francis

and, more importantly, to the love of Christ who dwells within us all.

Ash Wednesday, 2/18/26

Lay Assistant – Ben

Music – Preston

Reader – Vito

Greeter – Robert