third sunday in lent offer the sacrifices of righteousness,third sunday in lent it is noon at...

THIRD SUNDAY IN LENT

It is noon at Jacob’s well. Tired from the journey, Jesus stops to rest. The Word of God is hungry and thirsty. He calls a woman and her fellow citizens to faith. A Samaritan woman comes to the well at the hour when the sun is burning, Perhaps this woman of bad reputation comes at this hour to avoid an en-counter. But there is someone sitting. Who is he? He is a Jew, and Jews do not associate with Samari-tans. It is an old story of schism and fear of con-tamination. In the eyes of Jesus, Samaria is like this woman who has five husbands. It has become a prostitute to the idols. But the Word of God is thirsty. He de-sires the faith of this woman. He begins playing a game of question and answer with her. By the ques-tions he raises, Jesus breaks through to the heart of this woman. She cannot avoid the question, who is this man who is greater than Jacob? Is he a prophet? Is he possibly the Messiah? Refreshed by the water of life, the Samaritan woman runs to the village, announcing the good news of the mystery of Jesus. The hunger of the Word has now been satisfied. By introducing the woman to the life of faith, by bringing to God true worshipers, Jesus has begun to fulfill his mission. The Samaritans are already on the way. Their adherence to Jesus, the Savior of the world, prefigures the fruitfulness of a gospel preached to the ends of the earth. PRICELESS A well-known priest had been invited to speak at a parish mission. The church was packed and all eyes were on him as he started his presentation. He looked around the congregation and took something out of his pocket. Everyone could see he was hold-ing up a one-hundred-dollar bill. He asked, “Who would like to have this hundred-dollar bill?” People looked at each other and wondered if this was some kind of trick, but hands started going up. He said, “I am going to give this one hundred dollars to one of you, but first, let me do this.” Holding both hands up high he crumpled the bill up into a small tight ball. He then asked, “Who still wants it?” More hands went up in the air. “Well,” he replied, “What if I do this?” And he dropped it on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe as hard as he could.

PRICELESS When he picked it up, everyone could see the money was all crumpled and dirty. “Now who wants it?” Almost every hand was in the air. “My friends, today you have all learned a very valuable lesson because, in spite of what I did to it, this bill has not lost any of its value. It is still worth one hundred dol-lars. Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the circum-stances that come our way. When you don’t live up to God’s love for you, you may even feel as if you are worthless. But no matter what has happened or what will happen in your life, you will never lose your value in God’s eyes. Whether you are dirty or clean, crumpled or finely creased, you are still price-less to God.” Copyright © 2010, World Library Publications. All rights reserved. INVALUABLE Un sacerdote renombrado fue invitado a hablar en una mi-sión parroquial. La iglesia estaba repleta y todos los ojos fijos en él al empezar su presentación. Miró a la congregación y sacó algo de su bolsillo. Todos pudieron ver que el sacerdote tenía en su mano un billete de cien dólares y preguntó: “¿A quién le gustaría tener este billete de cien dólares?” Las per-sonas se miraron unas a otras pensando tal vez que se trataba de un truco, pero las manos empezaron a alzarse. Él continuo: “Le voy a dar este billete de cien dólares a uno de ustedes, pero primero permítanme hacer algo”. Levantando ambas manos estrujó el billete e hizo una bola pequeña con el mismo. Ahora preguntó: “¿Quién lo quiere todavía?” Más manos se alzaron. Dijo entonces: “Bueno, ¿y si hago esto?” Tiró el bi-llete al suelo y empezó a machacarlo contra el piso lo más fuerte que podía. Cuando lo recogió todos podían ver que el billete estaba todo machacado y sucio. “¿Quién lo quiere aho-ra?” Casi todas las manos se alzaron. “Amigos míos, hoy us-tedes han aprendido una lección invaluable porque a pesar de todo lo que le hice a este billete no ha perdido su valor. To-davía vale cien dólares. Muchas veces por diferentes circuns-tancias de la vida, ya sea por decisiones propias o ajenas, nos caemos, nos estrujan, nos machacan y hasta pudiéramos lucir sucios. Si no estás consciente del amor que Dios te tiene, todo eso te puede hacer sentir que no vales nada. Pero ten presen-te, que no importa qué haya sucedido en tu vida ni lo que su-ceda en el futuro, tú nunca perderás tu valor con Dios. Ya estés sucio o limpio, caído o de pie, a los ojos de Dios tú vales mucho”. Copyright © 2010, World Library Publications. All rights reserved.

Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, & put your trust in the LORD.

3/12/2017 Regular Sunday Collection $ 6531.00 St. Vincent de Paul $ 1668.50 School Support $ .00 Utilities $ .00 Building Fund $ .00 Pew Cushions $ 100.00 Second Collections: 1st. Sunday of the Month St. Therese School, 2nd Sunday, St. Vincent de Paul, 3rd Sunday Building Fund, 4th Sunday Utilities, 5th Sunday Misc.

Please Join Us Tuesday, April 4, 2017, 7:00-9:00 PM

Wednesday, April, 5, 2017 7:00-9:00 PM Lenten Meditation

"From Tears -- to Lightness of Being" Lenten Meditations on Psalms 22 and 23. Summary: The psalms are infused with life and it's power over darkness, anxiety and despair. King David bar Jesse, the poet, the person, experienced these things. In this retreat you will accompany the human persons of King David and Jesus bar Joseph of Nazareth (and you will find they accompany you) on a journey through the extremes of darkness, anxiety, and despair to reach a summit of light, freedom, and a transformational "lightness of being," anticipating Easter morn-ing. Deacon Tom

LUMEN GENTIUM AWARDS Congratulations to the members of our Saint Therese Catholic Community who are receiving the Lumen Gentium Award for actively advancing diverse adult faith formation aspects in par-ishes, organizations and programs. These awards will he con-

ferred at the Annual Dominican Ecclesial Institute Gala on Sunday, 26 March at the Hotel Albuquerque by our wonderful

and most pastoral Archbishop John Charles Wester. The Awardees are: Sister Therese Rodriguez, OP, representing

Nuestra Señora de las Montañas Dominican Laity for Pastoral and Spiritual Care; Janice Schuetz, representing Saint Therese

of the Infant Jesus Parish for Pastoral Care; Chris Sandoval, representing Saint Therese of the Infant Jesus Parish for Pastoral Formation in Peace and Justice and Educational

Media; and Sister Carol Powers, SC representing Saint Vincent de Paul Society for Parochial Formation and Spiritual

Care. Congratulations to all of you and Thank You for your tremendous ministry and example of the Lord’s care and love for us all. You are all most deserving of this Lumen Gentium Honor. Lumen Gentium is the Dogmatic Constitution of the Church promulgated by Pope Paul VI at the Second Vatican Council. The document refers to our Lord as the Light to the

Nations. It is also our call to be Light for Others. Again, Congratulations Lumen Gentium Awardees for being

light to our Church.

Congratulations to Geneal Kramer OP For 60 years of Religious Commitment

Saturday March, 25, 2017

The Feast of the Annunciation of Our Lady will celebrate 60 years of religious commitment

You are invited to join her for a reception at Villa Mathias from 1:30 -3:30 PM.

Enter Villa Mathias through the Parking lot on the south east corner of 14th St and Mountain Rd

light refreshments will be served and memories shared.

At 4:00 PM she will preach the homily at Eucharist at St. Therese Infant Jesus Church

SPIRITUAL DIRECTION

Have you ever wished that someone would listen while you speak about your spiritual journey? Spiri-tual direction is the place for that to happen. It helps set a direction in life so you are focused on God and make choices that will help you to “choose life”. Sr. Geneal Kramer, OP, is available to St. Therese pa-rishioners and others on Thursday mornings to listen to you and accompany you on your journey. To make an appointment phone 505/615-3637 or e-mail [email protected]

JOIN US - FOR A LENTEN WORKSHOP

Lenten Workshop Series on Catholic Social Teach-

ings. Regardless of where you stand on the political spectrum There’s broad agreement that our country is deeply divided. What does our faith tradi-tion have to say about addressing the division in this

country? St. Therese Catholic Church is offering a Lenten Workshop Series on Catholic Social Teaching in response on Wednesday and

Thursday, March 22nd and 23rd from 7:00-9:00 in the parish rectory. This workshop will be lead by Joaquin

Sanchez, lead organizer of Albuquerque Interfaith, and Chris Sandoval of St. Therese.

MILAGRO SCC

A new Parish Prayer and Support Group at Holy Rosary Milagro members support and listen to family members who are feeling pain or hurt from

the judgment of others and/or are struggling with acceptance of LGBT sisters and brothers in their own families For more information contact call Louise at

the parish office 836-5011