FROM THE PASTOR’S DESK - May 12, 2023

Dear St. Martin’s Parishioners,

One of my favorite titles for Mary is Our Lady of the Rosary. In so many of her apparitions—Lourdes, Fatima, Medjugorje, Kibeho, etc.—Mary exhorts her sons and daughters to pray the rosary. She expressly says that we should offer it for the conversion of sinners. Conversion, that is, turning away from sin and to God, is an arduous and grace filled process. The rosary has been for countless people throughout history an essential part of their own conversions. Recently we have left rosary pamphlets at the exits of the church, and I’m pleased to see that they “have flown off the shelves.” My hope is that more and more of our parishioners are introduced to this powerful devotion, because it is a source of great blessings in our parish.

There was a lady who worked at my high school who used to pray the rosary four times a day. At a certain point she was tempted to stop doing this, because it was time consuming and she didn’t know if it was worth the effort. She said that just as she was considering cutting back on her praying of the rosary, she saw a bumper sticker on a car that simply stated, “4 Times the Grace.” Obviously our Lady didn’t want her to give up her practice.

There is plenty of good material on Formed.org concerning the rosary, and I encourage you to explore the website/app (free with our parish subscription!) to deepen your own devotion to this venerable prayer. Check out the documentary, The Rosary: A Prayer of Miracles.

Food banks throughout the country are seeing huge lines, and our pantry is no exception. The number of people coming currently is comparable to what we usually only see at Thanksgiving and Christmas. Please see the website or bulletin to find out what items are especially needed at this time. Thank you to all of our volunteers dedicated to receiving, sorting, packaging, and distributing food and other supplies on a weekly basis!

In Jesus and Mary,

Fr. Dave