If your child will be absent for Sunday PSR class please: email: [email protected] or
on Sunday morning, call: 513-753-2548
The First Reading explains how lepers came to live apart from the community - not as a punishment but to protect the community from this then-deadly disease. Note that the lepers, although sick, still had a responsibility to protect their community, not just by removing themselves, but by actively ensuring that no one approached too close.

Not by accident, the Responsorial Psalm focuseson trust in God - an affirmation that He will care for us - a difficult attitude for one who endures long-term suffering without a worldly cure! Still, the psalmist affirms that in turning to God with our tribulations, we can feel joy.

In the very brief Second Reading, St. Paul simply states, "Do all for the glory of God." Our eating and drinking, talking and thinking, every thought and action should be that which would encourage others to seek the wonder of our God. And our actions should not be those that turn others away from the attractiveness of God's Love and Truth!
A tall order! But one worth considering as Lent draws near.

In the Gospel Jesus is moved by a leper's plea for healing.
Even though Jesus restores the leper's chance for a good life,
saving him from a long, painful death, the leper disobeys the one directive Jesus gave him - how is that for gratitude?
The leper's feelings of overwhelming joy,
or perhaps a desire for respect after having been rejected as "unclean," resulted in him spreading news of this miracle.
Unfortunately, by acting on his emotions rather than following the Will of God, the leper made Jesus' mission more difficult.
What were the consequences? Jesus no longer entered the towns.
Were there people in those towns He would have healed
physically and spiritually, but who did not come to Him
and thus remained apart from God?
Our emotions are not as wise as God's Loving Will.
JOIN THE St. Thomas More Parish
LENTEN MOVEMENT!
For one hour each week, gather with
family, friends, or parents of your children's teams or classes,
via Zoom to watch
an energetic, visually engaging, and inspiring 30 minute SEARCH video

Then share your thoughts on what it poses
and enjoy each other's company!
ALSO! Come to (re)discover the infinite reality in the Eucharist:

The Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist
Our greatest gift!!!
Learn lesser known AMAZING riches of the Eucharist!!!
LIVE Presentation! Have those nagging questions answered!

When? Saturdays after Mass: 2/27, 3/6, 3/13 

Where? 2 Options!
In-Person! STM Parish Dining Hall
Virtual! Watch for details

Leader? STM's own Kelly Mocahbee 
Newsy Notes
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First Communion
Return your Registration and Feedback from Presentation

Current 8th grade Confirmation
Continue with Decision Point Lessons - Retreat is Holy Thursday, April 1st!
12:30 - 8:30pm - watch for more details!

Current 7th grade Confirmation
Follow instructions in the initial Confirmation Preparation email.
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Fridays in Lent
  • 5:00 - 8:00 pm Boy Scout Fish Fry
New! Drive-Through Only & Option to Pre-Order
  • 7:30 pm Stations of the Cross -
"Way of the Cross" and Benediction

February
17th - Ash Wednesday - Lent begins!
19th - Stations of the Cross and Boy Scout Fish Fry
Choose your day! - Parish-wide Lenten retreat: SEARCH begins
Click here to learn more: https://sttmformation.org/the-search

March
28th - Palm Sunday

April
3rd - Easter Vigil - RCIA candidates become Catholic!
4th - Easter Sunday
11th -Divine Mercy Sunday
Meditations
"Nothing is more practical than finding God, that is,
than falling in a love in a quite absolute, final way.
What you are in love with,
what seizes your imagination
will affect everything.
It will decide what will get you out of bed in the mornings, what you will do with your evenings, how you spend your weekends, what you read, who you know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude.
Fall in love, stay in love, and it will decide everything."
– Fr. Pedro Arrupe
Greetings Parents!

"If a job is worth doing, it's worth doing right." How often we heard that from our parents who heard it from their parents, and on back, likely to Adam and Eve. Over the years my boys, like me in younger days, tried the "good enough" approach, at least for the drudgery items like dusting and straightening their room. It crept into their less-favorite schoolwork unless parental pressure was applied. And like so many other things, my expectations of them are tossed back at me when our boys see an opening.

As parents, we need to set rules, including those about ethics. "Thou shalt not steal" or hit, or say mean things about others. Then they hear us venting our struggles with a person and accuse, "You're gossiping!" Sigh. For my child to continue respecting our rules, I feel the need to clarify. "Yes, I shouldn't have done that and need to go to confession" or "Actually, I wasn't trying to make the person look bad, just speaking with someone I believe can give advice on how to handle this situation in a good way." In that case, clarifying makes sense.

The harder scenarios are when we know we should improve but we struggle to get it right. Rooms being cleaned are one of our battles. They toss back that our clothes is not always put away immediately. They are right that we need to set the right example, but are our situations identical? After a full work day, making dinner, running a child to the doctor, nagging them to complete chores, straightening up the family room and kitchen, answering additional emails related to work, getting them to extracurriculars, and completing paperwork for insurance or taxes - just brushing my teeth before going to bed feels like a victory. Newly cleaned clothes can be put away tomorrow.

Somehow their minds equate their schoolwork, practices, and "video game time" with all of our work -"we're busy too!" Quelling the surge of "Are you really comparing your game time to all the serious work I do?" I try to say what I'm thinking in a way that helps them see my perspective. Unfortunately, this is a reality they don't want to hear - so it just doesn't register. And we fall back to, "Do it because you should obey your parents and if you don't you'll lose..." and insert favorite activity. I do hate threats! But if they choose not to hear reason, or act from charity, sometimes a consequence is needed.

Like my sweet children, I at times look for an out for myself by analyzing what God seems to be doing, or not doing. We hear the phrase, "If God were so loving, why would He allow..." Given how powerful and all-knowing is our God, believing that my view of events gives me the right to judge Him is infinitely more crazy than my children thinking their "level of necessary busyness" equates to mine. When seeking to understand what happens in our lives, it is not unreasonable that our mind applies God-given ethics to what we perceive are His actions in our life and the world, but a reality check is needed to remember that my perception of reality is a pin-point in comparison to His universal view of all time and space.

Between the spiritual warfare (normally perceived only through serious reflection), our free will, and granting every person all that is needed for their entry to heaven, God has given Himself a tall order to fill - and He does it with infinite love, justice, and mercy. Jesus promised a cross - and actually God made it clear that there would be suffering when Adam and Eve gave up the grace of their intimate relationship with Him. In such a relationship,we are better enabled to recognize the pure good and avoid our self-made regrettable suffering. Living in community, however, makes us subject to the consequences of others' actions.

So we can blame God for ills in our world, or we can see the human actions that led to the ills and recognize the multitude of ways God acts to both ease the suffering and open paths to heaven while respecting our free will. Who am I to presume to know all the workings of the universe and of the hearts and minds of all people sufficiently to be qualified as a judge over God? Whenever my children challenge me, it is a reminder for me to reflect on whether I have been challenging God.

Hug your children tight and remind them everyday of how much God does for them because He loves them! Help them see the daily God-incidences that reveal His involvement in our daily lives, having in place what will answer our prayers long before we offer the prayer.

-- Linda Bader, Coordinator of Religious Education

P.S. Did you know... St. Valentine might have been one of 3 people - or who we think of as St.Valentine might be a combination of all 3. It is certain that he/they were devout Catholics and recognized as saints, but one particular St. Valentine is recorded in ancient historical texts as dying a martyr because he secretly married couples in Christian marriage - defying the emperor's prohibition against it. Learn more at: https://catholicgentleman.net/2014/02/gentleman-saint-saint-valentine/