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THIS WEEK

LENT AT ST GABRIEL
- Fish Fry & Stations of the Cross, March 7
- Service Saturday, March 8
- Lenten Mission, March 10-12
Donut Sunday, March 9 after 7:30 AM Mass
Collection for Streetside Showers, March 5-18
Hospitality Ministers Needed
Funeral for Juan Jose Fernandez, March 7, 11:00 AM

COMING UP

Stewardship Focus Group Meeting, - RESCHEDULED - April 29, 6:30 PM
Job Opening: Facilities & Safety Assistant
Pastoral Care, Mental Health Ministry, Grief Support
Message from Bishop Burns: Prayer for Pope Francis & Post-Synod Letter

FROM FR. EUGENE - LENT AT ST GABRIEL

Dear Parish Family,
I hope your Lent started well with Ash Wednesday Holy Mass and the signing with Ashes. Lent is always a special time in the life of the church. Each Lent is unique and never like the other. This Lent, I encourage all of us to engage more deeply in the Lenten practices of Prayer, Fasting, and Almsgiving. These disciplines are not just obligations but concrete ways we follow Jesus and open our hearts to His transforming love. Here are some opportunities to help you live them out this season:

Lenten Fridays

Lent invites us every year to reflect on Christ’s sacrifice, and I encourage you to join us for Lenten Fridays, an evening of fellowship and prayer. We begin with a Fish Fry, a simple meal reminding us why we fast from meat on Fridays—as an act of penance and solidarity with Christ’s sacrifice. After dinner, we pray the Stations of the Cross, walking with Jesus through His Passion and drawing closer to Him in this sacred season. Stations of the Cross is a response to Christ's call to discipleship: "If you wish to be my disciple, deny yourself, pick up your cross, and follow me" (Matt 16:21). By walking with Christ we learn to share in others' burdens especially the infirm. This opportunity to have fellowship and pray together presents itself every Friday of Lent, except Good Friday.

*Eucharistic Adoration will be suspended from 6:45-7:30 PM (during Stations of the Cross)*

Lenten Mission (March 10-12)
As we journey through Lent, I invite you to join us for a powerful three-night Lenten Mission, led by Fr. Antony Tinker and Br. Basil Kersting from the Franciscan Friars of the Holy Spirit. This mission provides us with the opportunity to encounter God’s forgiveness, mercy, healing, and love in a profound way. Each night offers a unique theme:

Night 1: Overcoming obstacles and receiving the gift of forgiveness.
Night 2: Bringing our need for Reconciliation and Restoration: healing—physical, emotional, or spiritual—to Jesus, the Divine Physician.
Night 3: A Healing Mass, where we will be strengthened in our identity as God’s beloved children and invited to receive the Lord’s healing in a special way.

Through praise and worship, inspiring talks, Adoration, and the Healing Mass, this mission will be a time of renewal and grace. Wherever you are in your faith journey, I encourage you to come and experience what God has in store for you. Please bring your family and invite your friends! You will be glad you did! You can learn more and sign up for childcare below.

Service Saturdays
As part of your almsgiving, I invite you to join us for Service Saturday, a half-day of outreach where we serve the poorest of the poor in the spirit of Mother Teresa.
We begin with fellowship, prayer, and orientation, then you can choose from various service projects, such as:

Comforting the elderly at nursing homes
Feeding the homeless on the streets
Assisting a local non-profit
Staying at the parish to make care packages for the homeless

After serving, some participants continue the fellowship by grabbing lunch together (optional). All ages are welcome, though minors must be accompanied by a parent. Check out the details on our website and RSVP so we can coordinate with the places we serve. As Mother Teresa said, “Let us do something beautiful for God.”

Sign Up for a Service Saturday

Outreach Fund: Another Way to Give
Another way to practice almsgiving this Lent is by supporting the St. Gabriel Outreach Fund, which provides financial aid to Community Collaborators—local organizations that align with our Catholic mission to serve the "least of these." Through this collaboration, our parish extends its reach by both supporting these organizations financially and encouraging parishioners to volunteer. Last year, over $50,000 was distributed to help those in need. Your generosity makes a real impact!

Donate Here

May this Lent be a season of renewal, grace, and deeper faith for all of us. I hope you’ll take part in these opportunities to pray, serve, and reflect as we prepare our hearts for Easter.

Blessings,
Fr. Eugene

LENTEN MISSION

March 10-12

Come to all three nights! We will have childcare every night, but you must RSVP for each night for childcare. Space is limited.

We will also have a special REACH Kids Night on Tuesday, March 11 for kids in grades 3-5. You must register to participate. This will be from 6:00 - 7:30 PM.

Childcare Monday

Childcare Wednesday

Childcare Tuesday

DONUT SUNDAY

March 9, 8:30 AM

COLLECTION FOR STREETSIDE SHOWERS

March 5-18

HOSPITALITY MINISTERS NEEDED

Serve at Mass

Request to Join

RESCHUEDULED! STEWARDSHIP FOCUS GROUP MEETING

April 29, 6:30 PM

All are invited to this One-Time Event to bring together parishioners to learn about giving and stewardship. This open forum will allow for communication and transparency as we provide information about the financial state of the parish, giving and our Capital Campaign. We would appreciate your help to share ideas on how to support our growth towards becoming Missionary Disciples and helping all parishioners to understand that everything we have is a gift from God and we should give of our first fruits. St. Gabriel is growing and we need your insight. Please join us for an informational evening with wine and cheese.

Sign Up Here

WE'RE HIRING

Facility and Safety Assistant

Our Facility Assistant supports our mission to make disciples by assisting our efforts to ensure our space, both indoors and outdoors, facilitates encounters with one another and with Jesus. This responsibility includes the maintenance and repair of facilities to ensure they are inviting and well-maintained for staff and parishioners.

Please send cover letters and resumes to HR@stgabriel.org.

Facility and Safety Assistant Job Description

PASTORAL CARE & MENTAL HEALTH MINISTRY

Did you know that St. Gabriel has a CARE TEAM to assist people who are going through a hard time in their life. This could be someone who is sick/homebound/or struggling through a hard time in their life and just needs someone to talk to and pray with them. The Care Team is often referred to as the “Accompany Ministry” as we walk with people through challenging times. Do you know someone who needs care, or is that person you? Please let us know. We can’t help if we don’t know. Contact Pam Criss, pcriss@stgabriel.org, 469-408-1932, or complete this form:

Find Care

Also, it is no secret that many people in our world, parish, and families struggle with mental health issues. We are going to start praying each month for the Pope's intention for this. St. Gabriel is forming a Catholic Mental Health Ministry to support families who are caring for a loved one with a mental illness.

POPE'S MONTHLY PRAYER FOR MENTAL HEALTH

Pope Francis' Prayer Intention for March: For Families in Crisis.
Pope Francis asks us to pray this month for families in crisis. Many families care for loved ones who have a serious mental illness. Families can be thrown into a crisis when irrational behavior caused by the mental illness causes chaos and misunderstandings. Pope Francis has asked that we, “remember our brothers and sisters affected by mental disorders … let us pray for them and for their families, so that they are not left alone or discriminated against but welcomed and supported."

MESSAGE FROM BISHOP BURNS

Prayer for Pope Francis and Post-Synodal Pastoral Letter

On Ash Wednesday in 2021, Most Reverend Edward J. Burns, eighth Bishop of Dallas, wrote a Letter to the Faithful, acknowledging the profound impact the COVID-19 pandemic had on the community. He shared, "A historic pandemic needed a historic response," and announced his decision to convene a synod for the Diocese of Dallas. This would be the first synod in 90 years, since the one convened by Bishop Joseph P. Lynch.

The diocesan synodal process began on December 12, 2021, the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Today, four years later, after 30 listening sessions with thousands of participants, countless pages of feedback, and a Synod Assembly with more than 300 delegates, Bishop Burns presents the Post-Synodal Pastoral Letter for the Diocese of Dallas. This is the first of a small series of letters that will highlight the work and status of the Diocesan Synod in the Diocese of Dallas.

As we begin this time of Lenten prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, we invite you today to read and reflect on the 2025 Ash Wednesday Pastoral Letter by Bishop Burns.

Read the Full Letter

Lent is finally here! We pray this year will lead us even closer to our Lord Jesus Christ than ever before! Check out all the ways you can get involved here at St. Gabriel and dive in! We look forward to seeing you at Mass.

St Gabriel the Archangel Catholic Community

972-542-7170

www.stgabriel.org

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