The greatest prayer we can make is the “prayer of offering.” A prayer of offering is a sacrifice made to the Father in union with the One Sacrificial Offering of Christ on the Cross. We do not offer ourselves by ourselves; we offer ourselves in union with Christ Jesus. Specifically, we must offer our prayers, fasting, mortification, and daily work to God. Pray every day. Mortify your fleshly desires regularly through fasting and other forms of self-denial.

A long-treasured value of our Church, dating back to its earliest days, has been the care for those who are most vulnerable. As Catholics we are called to love one another and accompany one another in moments of blessing and in moments of challenge. When facing any difficulty, we quickly discover our dependency, not only upon God, but upon each other in the exercise of charity and concern for our neighbor. It is with this in mind that our archdiocese will take up the Catholic Relief Services (CRS) Collection on May 3rd and 4th.

On this Divine Mercy Sunday, a fitting last day of the octave of Easter, we reflect on the 20th chapter of John’s gospel, where the risen Christ appears to His disciples. This gospel, featuring Doubting Thomas and the institution of confession, reveals God’s boundless mercy, flowing from the wounds of Jesus.

On April 3, 2025, the Most Reverend Robert G. Casey was installed as the tenth Metropolitan Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Peter in Chains, succeeding the Most Reverend Dennis M. Schnurr.

Without a doubt, we can—and should—love the world because everything beautiful is directly or indirectly a work of God. But given that eternity and heaven exist, our short life needs to gain its proper perspective and true meaning with this in mind.

There is a temptation in modern society to believe that Satan does not exist. To give in to this temptation could keep a person from growing in the Christian life. They would not see the need to guard against evil in their lives. The following article appeared in the Catholic Telegraph this past October by Father David Endres. It explains the Catholic teaching on the existence of Satan. To believe that Satan does not exist could be a roadblock to one’s own evangelization. This belief could keep a person from answering God’s call and responding to God’s grace by evangelizing others. The following is the article from Father Andres.

Lent is an especially good time to ask ourselves, “When was the last time I made an effort to evangelize and share the good news of Jesus with someone that I encountered in my everyday life?” “Who may God be calling me to proclaim the Good News, the Gospel, so that I need to hear it and experience God’s grace.” When we prayerfully answer God’s call to evangelize we witness Jesus’ transformative power and amazing things happen. That’s why we call it amazing grace! There is so much to be done and Jesus is calling us to participate! Will we say “Yes” to God and do our part?

For many parents whose children attend Our Lady of Victory school in Balan, Haiti, "the school feeding program brings a level of comfort that their children will have at least one healthy meal each day". Your donations will go towards feeding these children and ensuring they receive a nutritious, healthy meal. Read more about this program and donate to any church in Our Family of Parishes during Lent to help these sweet kiddos.

Congratulations to the six people who were presented at the Rite of Election from Northwest-V. They are Glenda Fear and her daughter Addyson, from St. Denis, who attended along with their sponsors Alex Wendel and Grace Davis. From St. Nicholas Parish, Shannon Circle and her daughter Madison Vantine were presented along with their sponsors Nick Borchers and Renee Borchers. In addition, Ian and Josefina Riffel, along with their sponsors Josh and Kerri Burns attended the Spanish Rite of Election.

God may be calling us to help organize new ministry opportunities such as Bible studies, or adult faith formation experience. Or, perhaps God is calling us to step out and go to a Catholic retreat. Though we have so much, there are so many opportunities for spiritual growth and evangelization. Lent is such a good time to prayerfully reflect on what we can do to help build the kingdom of God at Northwest-V.

The world that surrounds us, along with our challenging, personal life experiences, can leave us feeling empty and unfulfilled, as if we are wandering around in the desert, searching for some life. We often try to fill in the void with the things of this world, living out the lie that if we seek out the things that life has to offer us, whether it would be material goods, career, power, recognition, or popularity, living life completely focusing on ourselves, then happiness and fulfillment will be elusive, lost, and unable to attain.

The Catholic church is well known for her stance on abortion and pro-life teachings, but what about In Vitro Fertilization (IVF)? This has been in the news recently as the issue has become political, with both major parties and our president very supportive of it and seeking to enshrine it into law.

In a few short weeks it will be Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent. I look forward to Lent every year because it offers me the challenge to make some new prayerful commitments of self-denial which have the potential to help me grow closer the Jesus and to live out the Paschal Mystery more fully than I have in the past.

We are now accepting registrations for Catholic Heart Work Camp. We will be attending at Nashville, Tennessee. The dates are June 22-28. Any student who wants to attend must turn in $135.00 down payment money as soon as possible. There are a limited amount of reservations and they will be honored on a first come first serve basis. If interested you can contact your youth minister or email Deacon Mike at [email protected] or text at (937)638-0969.

Pope Francis announced that he has accepted the resignation of Archbishop Schnurr from pastoral governance of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati and has appointed Most Reverend Robert G. Casey, Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Chicago, to be the 11th archbishop of our archdiocese.