Lent
We are in the penitential season of Lent. We distributed ashes on Wed. last and the readings of Sunday's Masses deal with the theme of penance and repentance.

Last Sunday's Gospel from Luke, is the account of the three temptations of Christ: "Jesus filled with the Holy Spirit returned from the river Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the desert for forty days to be tempted by the devil". Jesus fasted for the full time and so was hungry and weak. Food, Power, and Fame- were the temptations of Jesus. "Feed yourself, you're starving", Satan said. After forty days of daily heat followed by nightly cold, Jesus was physically weak, but he had the strength of the spirit. the Holy Spirit had come upon him at his baptism, had led him into the desert, and did not abandon him now. Jesus found his inner strength in the Word of God. In the second temptation: Jesus was offered Power over all the kingdoms of the world, if he would bend the knee and worship Satan. The "Will to Power" for many people is the ultimate aphrodisiac. People will sell their souls to get power and domination over others. Jesus' answer to Satan was : "You shall worship the Lord,your God, and him alone shall you serve". Only God deserves worship; the only kingdom worth having is God's. The Christian is to serve people not to dominate them. The Kingdom of God is a world which we aspire to create, where people live as human beings should, in justice peace , harmony and tolerance , and love each other as Christians should.. The third temptation was Satan taking Jesus to the parapet of the temple in Jerusalem, where he asked him to test God: " If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here", for God would protect and save him. Jesus answered ; You don't test God; you trust God. The Israelites were also tested in the desert, to turn from the God who delivered them from Egypt. Jesus, the beloved Son trusts his Father. The Holy Spirit who was with Jesus during his time of testing is also in the Church today, guiding it. Today is a challenging time for Christians. Materialism is rampant in today's society. Yet "Man does not live on bread alone". Material things alone do not satisfy the human spirit. The first temptation was asking Jesus to turn stones into bread, in other words to give the people all the material things they could possibly want. Media Advertising today is so geared to selling to people all that they crave or "should"want to crave. Jesus knew that material things alone will never satisfy people.His task was to nourish their minds and hearts with the Word of God. The temptation was to give people what they want rather than what they need. People have deeper hungers and greater needs. Of course this is a difficult message to preach, as society today rejects this message. During Lent people are encouraged to do acts of penance and fasting, which help remind them of these greater needs in society. We try to help poor people by our donations and charity. We try to help people in need. We try to be more generous and caring to the weak and needy. To sum up all three temptations of Christ come down to the same thing in the end: Jesus was tempted to put material things and his own glory first, and spiritual things and God second. Jesus rejected these three things. These are also the major temptations of the Church as a whole today, and of each of us who are its members. We all need to pay more attention to prayer and penance. That is why we have the seasons of Lent and Advent each year to remind us of our Christian duties.

St. Patrick's Festival
I was asked to mention to you that a St. Patrick's Festival and Boxing Event willl be held at Resorts World Casino New York City, 110-00 Rockaway Blvd., Jamaica, NY 11420 on Saturday, March 2, 2013. The irish festival will be held from Noon - 6PM. Admission is $20 at Door/ $15 if purchased in advance. The event will be indoors. The Festival will feature, "The Tommy Mulvihill Band", "Celtic Cross". The Innnisfree Irish School of Dancing and the New York Bagpipe Band will also perform.

For more information please call 718-765-1860/ 718-487-4474. E-Mail : IRISHFESTIVALRWC@AOL.COM
Following the Festival AN IRISH AMATEUR FIGHT NIGHT will follow at the same venue. Doors open immediately following the Irish Festival at 6,45pm. First Bout is @ 7.30pm. The Boxing will feature the St. John's Boxing club direct from County Cork, Ireland as they take on some of the finest amateur boxers in the New York metropolitan area. For the Boxing General admission at door is $25/ $20 if purchased in advance. VIPRingside Seating is $50 at door/ 445 if purchased in advance. For additional information or tickets, Please visit: www.new legendsboxing.com Call :- 718-487-4474 or 718-765-1860. For additional travel information to venue, please visit www.rwnewyork.com. We hope you all enjoy both the Festival and/or Boxing.

On Sunday march 17, 2013 the 38th Annual Brooklyn St. Patrick's Day Parade, will be in Park Slope. A big crowd is expected for this important event. The Pre-Parade Mass will be held at Holy Name Church at 9.00am. At 12.00(Noon) assembly on Prospect Park West, between 9th and 15th Streets. After Parade completion, a reception will be held at Holy Name Shepherd's Hall, with food, refreshments and live music.

The Parade is dedicated to the Rememberance or the many Irish Korean War Veterans, some of whom died while serving, and a special rememberance of John McDonagh RIP, former Parade flag bearer, hurler and musician. The Parade Themes for 2013 are :- "THE GATHERING -- IRELAND 2013" and "THE YEAR OF FAITH 2012/13".

The Parade Grand Marshal : ROBERT O' HARE, Pipe Major, Clann Eireann Pipers. Aides to the Grand Marshal:- Michael McMahon (Business), Bridie Tully, Irish Culture, Noreen O'Donnell-Mills, Education, Mary Lennon, Gaelic sports/Camogie, Frank Thompson, AOH-Div.12 Kings County, Rosemarie Coulson, LAOH Div. 19 Kings County, John Houlihan, Aide-at-Large, and Michael Carolan, Grand Council, Emerald Societies (NYC SD). We thank Kathleen McDonagh and all the hard working Committee Members who put in so much time and effort each year, to make this such a great event.