For the most part, each parish will maintain its own schedule of Lenten activities this year. However, there are several special opportunities for us to grow by new spiritual exercises as a larger community of Catholics who will be united into one parish in the future.
Lent is a special season in our spiritual lives. It is a time for us to repent from bad habits, to grow in discipline, knowledge of our faith, and love of the Lord. It is also a time for almsgiving and service to our brothers and sisters in need. This Lent is also a time for St. Bartholomew and St. Vivian parishioners to help all of our people in the S-7 Family of parishes to grow in community by praying, learning, and receiving the Sacraments together.
Members of all six parishes are invited to participate in these special activities:
12 NOON Masses at St. Vivian Church on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, & Thursdays of Lent:
Attending weekday Mass is a great way to grow in love of the Mass, your knowledge of the faith, and in the grace of Jesus Christ (by receiving His Body and Blood). Beginning on Ash Wednesday, there will be a noon weekday Mass every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of Lent at St. Vivian. There will be minimal music at these Masses, so they will usually last about 30 minutes. (Assuming that these Masses are well attended, we intend to continue these three extra Masses through the Easter Season, which ends this year on Memorial Day Weekend). This will be the first of several experiments regarding a mid-day weekday Mass in our Family of parishes.
Lenten Souper Wednesdays:
On the evenings of the 5 middle Wednesdays of Lent (this year, that is all 5 Wednesdays of March), we will have Lenten Souper Wednesdays at St. Bartholomew Church. Each of these Wednesday evenings you are invited to (your choice of one, two, or all three!):
1) 5:30PM Mass – minimal music, short homily (whole Mass finished in about 30 minutes) Location: St. Bart Church
2) 6:00-7:00PM Soup Supper – (Yes, that is why we spelled it “Souper Wednesday”— EEEEuuuuuwww!) Nothing really penitential, just fellowship and conversation with folks from our six parishes while we eat delicious soup. (Maybe YOU could sign up to make your favorite soup to be part of a homemade soup smorgasbord for one or more of the Wednesdays!). Location: St. Bart Activity Center (also known as the Krumpe Activity Center, or “KAC”—across the parking lot from church, on the high ground to the right of the school)
3) 7:00-8:30PM Faith Formation Activity – The first three Wednesdays March 1, 8, and 15), I will present my “Whirlwind Tour of the Bible”. We will get an overview of the whole Bible: some background information and then a mention of the basic contents of each book of the Bible in the context of the History of Israel and the Early Church. (We’ll move too fast for it to get boring!) Location: St. Bart Activity Center (also known as the Krumpe Activity Center, or “KAC”— across the parking lot from church, on the high ground to the right of the school).
On March 22 we will pray the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary to ether in Church at 7:00PM On March 29 we will pray the Stations of the Cross to ether in Church at 7:00PM
Lent Confession-a-thon at Assumption:
Instead of parish Lenten penance services, we will have an S-7 Family of Parishes Confession-a-thon at Assumption Church in Mt. Healthy on Tuesday March 28th 4:00-7:00PM. We will have several priests hearing confessions for three hours, with the Blessed Sacrament exposed for adoration and beautiful Lenten music playing in the background.
-Fr. Umberg
