Prayer Opportunities Besides fasting and almsgiving (giving more away to those in need), the third pillar of Lenten practices is praying. As I have preached many times, prayer takes many different forms, primarily deepening our relationship with God through a friendship with Jesus. This takes daily practice...to get to ‘that place’ where we can feel comfortable simply being silent for a long enough period of time to truly experience God’s love for us. One kind of prayer is ‘petitionary’ prayer with which we are quite familiar, asking God for help or praying for someone. Please consider these three groups of people to add to your personal prayer and added to your family meal prayer as well: ¨Our two “Elect”, Owen and Alexis, who are preparing to enter the Church at the Easter Vigil for their sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist. Please also pray for all those going through the process of Christian Initiation who will be entering the Catholic Church at a later time. ¨Our students preparing for First Holy Communion. Please also pray for their parents to be great examples of the Catholic faith. ¨Our students preparing for Confirmation. Remember their parents in prayer, as well, for the Holy Spirit to bless their families with deep faith. I truly believe in the power of prayer. Your prayers for these members of our parish are a real gift to them. God’s Peace, Fr. Jim Deiters