Ash Wednesday Schedule
February 26
7:00 AM Liturgy of the Word in church
10:00 AM in school gym
12:00 PM in church
6:00 PM in church
8:00 PM (Spanish) 

Dear Parishioners,

Over the next few weeks, you will be hearing a lot about a special way to journey through Lent this year.  We all have felt heartbroken and, at times, outraged by the ongoing revelations of abuse by clergy in the Catholic Church over the years.  The report from Pennsylvania that was released in 2018 was an especially strong notice that there is still much to come to terms within the Church. 

Bishop Guglielmone has asked the parishes of the Diocese of Charleston to participate in a process called Healing Our Church during Lent 2020.  It is a six-week process designed to help us not only come to grips with the realities of the past but to truly make further changes to ensure healing for those who have been harmed and to ensure a safe environment for all within the Church.

This is important. 

There have been moments when I have hesitated on whether to bring in another effort to respond to the legacy of abuse by clergy in the Church.  Why stir up more difficult emotions and memories?  What can we do to address the problems in the face of which I feel so powerless?  After those brief moments of panic, I realize again that the grace of God is given room to operate when we become vulnerable and open to one another.  God’s grace is powerfully present as we meet Christ the Wounded Healer in one another.  God’s movement in the Church is discerned as we discover Christ’s story within our stories—indeed, the suffering of those who have been abused and the suffering of those who love them tell the story of our crucified savior in a powerful way.  I know I am not alone when I also long for some good news of resurrection out of this story. 

Out of the experience of this process, I hope that we will rediscover in and through our faith-sharing that there is no darkness, no pit in which He is not deeper still, to borrow a famous phrase from a concentration camp survivor of World War II.  I hope that we will find the Gospel alive and fully capable of guiding us to find healing as a Church and to bring healing to those who have suffered.  I hope we will reclaim hope itself in the face of something that seems overwhelmingly difficult and tragic. 

Very little happens in an extraordinary way without some risk, investment, and faith.  Because I long for some new life to be found out of the tragedy of abuse in the Church, we will participate in Healing Our Church at St. John Neumann.

We will be telling you more about HOC throughout February, and groups will begin to meet the week of 23 February.

In Christ,

Fr. Sandy McDonald

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