PRAYER – FOR EVERYDAY AND EVERYBODY
Lenten Blessing
Bless us in Your mercy, Lord, as we enter these 40 Days of Lent.
Use this time to call, anoint, bind, strengthen, and inspire us anew.
Like a good shepherd, teach us Your voice, and give us the strength to follow.
Amen.
GOSPEL MEDITATION - ENCOURAGE DEEPER UNDERSTANDING OF SCRIPTURE
February 22, 2026
1st Sunday of Lent
Matthew 4:1-11
In my second-to-last year of seminary, I woke up one September morning to devastating news: two beloved classmates had died in a car crash. I was overwhelmed with grief and anger like I had never known. I entered therapy for the first time and had intense conversations with my spiritual director. For months I felt lost in a spiritual wilderness. But something unexpected happened: I encountered Christ there. The fear and sorrow didn’t destroy me. In fact, that spiritual desert was a time of intense growth in faith.
Today’s Gospel begins: “Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil” (Matthew 4:1). The word “led” denotes a gentle, humble submission to the Spirit. Jesus does not send himself into this desolate place where wild beasts roam and Satan tempts. Who wants to be around roaming, wild beasts? The Church Fathers saw them as symbols of our inner chaos: fears, temptations, wounds. The Spirit leads us there, sometimes against our wishes. But those same Fathers also saw that this deserted place is also where angels ministered to Jesus, amidst his great trial and temptation.
Lenten Challenge: This Lent and throughout life’s struggles, the Spirit leads you and me into the wilderness. Name one “desert” into which the Spirit has led you: perhaps grief, fear, silence, change, disappointment. Ask for the grace to go there willingly. The beasts may be real, but they will not harm you. There, the angels are waiting to minister to the Christ living in you, who always goes where the Spirit leads.
— Father John Muir
(PRACTICING) CATHOLIC - RECOGNIZE GOD IN YOUR ORDINARY MOMENTS
By Colleen Jurkiewicz Dorman
Into the Desert
When we first got married, I wanted to know everything my husband was thinking, exactly when he was thinking it.
Thirteen years later, I still want to know it all. But I want to know it after he’s had a snack.
I think he still wants to know what I’m thinking, too. But he wants to know it after I’ve had 10 minutes without hearing the word, “Mommy!”
Life has taught us, you see, that it’s hard to be a good person, a nice person, a gentle person, when your body doesn’t feel good or nice or gentle. When you’re hungry. When you’re exhausted. When you’re anxious.
It’s not impossible, of course. It’s just … hard.
We’re entering a penitential season, a time in which we purposefully deprive ourselves in certain ways. During Lent, we intentionally enter into the desert of physical hunger and weakness. Why, in preparation for Easter and in an effort to spiritually purify ourselves, do we go to this place where it’s so hard to be good? Why do we go to the desert?
Because Christ has shown us that the desert is where decisions are made.
There are many reasons why the Word became flesh to accomplish God’s plan for our salvation. But I think one of the most important reasons must have been that God wanted to show us that He knows, intimately, how easily the devil exploits our physical experience of this world. We see it in today’s Gospel: Jesus, hungry and weary. Jesus, taunted and tempted.
We see him. We recognize him. We are him.
And we hear his voice, even though it trembles with fatigue: “Get away, Satan!”
Today, we enter the desert. Because the desert is where decisions are made.
St. Polycarp of Smyrna |
February 23
As a disciple of St. John, the Evangelist, St. Polycarp was able to hear about Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection directly from those who witnessed it. Because Polycarp was ordained as Bishop of Smyrna by St. John, he is one of three chief Apostolic Fathers, along with Clement of Rome and Ignatius of Antioch.
During his life Polycarp defended the Church against heresies. His important writing, the Letter to the Philippians, quoted the Gospels and Acts of the Apostles, stressing Paul’s authority in the Church and setting out clear arguments against the gnostic heresy that denied Christ’s divinity.
The early period of the Church was a dangerous time to be a Christian and like many, St. Polycarp was martyred. He was captured by Romans and sentenced to burn at the stake. However, the fire did not touch him, instead rising up like sails around him. Seeing that the flames would not injure Polycarp, the Romans stabbed him instead. The Martyrdom of Polycarp is perhaps the earliest fully preserved account of a Christian martyr.
Mass Times
St. Albert
Saturday Vigil:
4:30 PM
St. Pius
Sunday:
NO MASS
St. Brendan
Sunday:
10:00 AM
9 AM MASS
ON MONDAY
FEB 23
St Albert
9AM MASS
ON TUESDAY
FEB 24
St Brendan
Office Hours
Monday: 8-3
Tuesday: Closed
Wednesday: 10-2
Thursday: 10-2
Friday: Closed
CLOSED ON HOLIDAYS
WELCOME ONE AND ALL TO NORTH AMERICAN MARTYRS PARISH
Our Mission Statement:
We, the North American Martyrs Parish, a strong community of faith, Nourished by the Holy Eucharist, Guided by the Holy Spirit and Trusting in the grace of God, Dedicate ourselves to live God’s Word and Let the light of Christ shine through our Community. We strive to provide sound religious formation for people of all ages; To care for the spiritual, social well-being of one another With particular attention to the stranger and the poor in our midst.
“As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’ John 20:21
Upcoming Events
Remember
Ash Wednesday
is a day of
FASTING AND ABSTAINING FROM MEAT
Ash Wednesday Mass Schedule
12Noon at St Albert
6PM at St Brendan
Remember
Ash Wednesday
is a day of
FASTING AND ABSTAINING FROM MEAT
ATTENTION ALL WHO WILL BE SINGING IN THE CHOIR FOR EASTER
CHOIR PRACTICE IS AT ST. ALBERT CHURCH NOT AT ST BRENDAN