Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Today we celebrate a saint who had such FERVOR and zeal to share Jesus Christ and the good news with all the people of Ireland. With this FERVOR, St. Patrick was able to plant such deep seeds of faith that continue to bear great fruit for the whole church worldwide. He teaches us that with FERVOR in our faith, we can get through seemingly impossible challenges and that God will always be with us until the very end. To honor the Secondary Patron of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles this day, may we strive to live out our faith with great FERVOR and to trust the Lord in all things!

As we experience depression, despair, and isolation in our world, God invites us to be a soul FRIEND, an “Anam Cara”, a FRIEND in Christ for one another.  So many people are quietly suffering and we just are not aware of their loneliness at times.  May we support one another in our journey of faith by being a soul FRIEND for one another.  Please reach out to others whom you have not talked to in a while just to let them know they are not alone or forgotten— and that in you, they have a FRIEND indeed!  We were reminded by Sister Regina last Wednesday at Cabernet + Catholicism that we are all in this together.

God will provide us with many OPPORTUNITIES this Lenten Season to grow in grace so that we may truly build God’s Kingdom here on earth. Everyday we have OPPORTUNITIES to share the love of Christ with one another, especially to those most in need. Bishop Dave O’Connell whose funeral Mass was celebrated at the Cathedral earlier this morning took every OPPORTUNITY to meet Christ in all the people he encountered. To honor this memory, and taking our Lenten journeys seriously, may we too always be on the look out for OPPORTUNITIES to share the heart of Christ with one another.