As we work our way through the Examen prayer as a community this Lent, this third step is sort of a pivot. Having recognized God active in our day, expressing thanks for that, we transition to discerning the meaning, what is God trying to do, what is God saying to us, why did God show up in that particular instance.

When we gather together for our liturgical celebrations such as Mass, God breaks into our reality in multiple ways, but the church identifies four clear means that God is present to us. As we reflect on the second part of the Examen prayer this week, aware that God is looking at us with love and concern at each moment, let us be attentive to the presence of Christ when we gather together for liturgy.

As we work our way through our Lenten preaching series, "A Well Examen-ed Lent", each week I will take the particular stage of the Examen prayer that we are looking at, and explore how it relates to our prayer together at Mass.

Stations of the Cross Note: We will pray the Stations of the Cross each Friday during Lent at 7 pm in the Main Church. Here is a short explanation on the origins and development of this beautiful devotion. Look forward to seeing everyone this Friday for Stations!

On Wednesdays during Lent, beginning March 4, all are invited to Evening Prayer or "Vespers" in the Church at 7:00 pm. Click on the title to read this article, an introduction to the Liturgy of the Hours, of which Evening Prayer is an important part. We hope to see you at Evening Prayer on March 4th!

Some make the claim that spending too much effort focused on those who gather alongside us when we come to Mass is distracting and takes our focus off of God. Msgr. Romano Guardini would disagree. Instead, he argues that we need to understand how "deeply immersed in self we are and - for all our talk of community - what thorough egoists."

Last year I turned 40, and with that came the inevitable ponderings of the track of life and taking stock of things. That became a real desire to sort through life's priorities. Doing so has led to real changes for the better, little by little. My motto last year I stole from St. Francis de Sales about being gentle with oneself, and I think I'm going to work on that even more in 2020!

Each year my wife and I have some words when she starts putting away the Christmas decorations a bit early for my taste, but we've come to an understanding that the candles in the window can stay up until February 2, "Candlemas" or the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord. This year it falls on a Sunday so we get to celebrate it instead of the usual Ordinary Time Sunday! It's one of my favorite feasts on the calendar, here is a little background... Jeff

Yes, it is what you think. / Sí, es lo que piensas.

Not long ago, I was discussing the saints with a group of nine to twelve-year-old children. After I mentioned that each of us is called by God to be a saint, a little girl asked, “But do you want to be a saint?”

This Sunday at the 9:30 Mass we celebrated the Rite of Acceptance & Welcome, which is the first public liturgy of the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, so as we begin praying for our catechumens and candidates here at our parish, it is a good time to reflect on the entire initiation process that spans the liturgical year.

In July, the Diocese of Raleigh hosted the annual convention of the National Association of Pastoral Musicians which included the celebration of Mass with Bishop Zarama and about 1,500 pastoral musicians. The presence of the Holy Spirit at that Mass, especially in everyone's singing together, was powerful, something Bishop Zarama noted in his homily. Hearing him speak about music at that Mass made me curious to learn more.

Several weeks ago I had the opportunity to speak with our bishop, Luis Rafael Zarama, on the subject of music. Here is the third and final part. - JR

Several weeks ago I had the opportunity to speak with our bishop, Luis Rafael Zarama, on the subject of music. I shared the first part of our conversation last week, here is the second part. - JR

I had the opportunity to speak with our bishop, Luis Rafael Zarama, on the subject of music. Over the next few weeks, I will share our conversation in this space, and conclude with a few of my own reflections

Our worship and our faith can't be about big production values, celebrity saviors, or plot twists (spoiler alert, the stories have ended the same way for the last 2000 years). We can't do it all by ourselves, without God, but at the same time, we are called to take part in it.

As the summer comes to a conclusion, I hope that you enjoy a restful, long weekend together with family and friends, and maybe one last beach excursion! At the same time, let's not overlook the reason for the extra day off, to reflect on the value and meaning of work in our society, how it is meant to be something that adds value to one's life, and not something that should be exploited.

Many roles in the Liturgy are exercised by lay people who place their time and talent at the service of the liturgical assembly as altar servers, lectors, extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion, cantors, choir members, instrumentalists, leaders of song, and ushers.

Next weekend after each of the English Masses we will have an interest gathering in the Lewis Room (which is just across the plaza from the atrium) where you can learn more about the various ministries here at St. Raphael that support our weekend worship. You can also enjoy some refreshments!

One of my favorite trips was spending a few days with my dad in Barcelona, in the north of Spain about 15 years ago. He and I both like to explore when we travel, and hit a lot of different sites, so we got to see a lot of the city. What really made an impression was the work of architect Antoni Gaudí (1852-1926), especially the mosaics all around the city park, and the cathedral of the Sagrada Familia, which is still under construction almost 100 years later! Gaudí was a man of deep faith, which is evident in his colorful and unique work, as well as the devotion to his vocation by which he lived his life. His vision and work provided me and many others with a transcendent experience.