First Lenten Fish Fry of the season

It's the Lenten Season, and you know what that means. It's time for the Lenten Fish Fry, presented by the St. Raphael Youth Ministry. On Fridays during Lent, you'll find parishioners gathered in the Parish Center for delicious fried fish and all the sides. Proceeds go to support Youth Ministry activities. Here are some photos of the first fish fry of the season. You can see some more photos by Jane Winstead here.

Fr. Tim's Homily for the Fifth Sunday of Lent

Father Tim Sherwood's homily for the Fifth Sunday of Lent at St. Raphael Catholic Church in St. Petersburg, Florida. Video by T. Allan Smith. Additional video by Jane Winstead. Audio by Jeff Keller. Theme music: Deliberate Thoughts by Kevin MacLeod Father Tim Sherwood is pastor of St. Raphael Catholic Church. He is the author of The Preaching of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen: The Gospel Meets the Cold War (2010) and The Rhetorical Leadership of Fulton J. Sheen, Norman Vincent Peale, and Billy Graham in the Age of Extremes (2013).

Lenten Fish Fry Friday -- 03.21.14

Photos by Jane Winstead

Ash Wednesday, 8 a.m. Mass - 03.05.14

Photos by Jane Winstead

Lenten Fish Fry – March 8, 2013

Photos by Jane Winstead

Images of the final Fish Fry 2012

Photos by Jane Winstead 

Here are photos from the final Fish Fry of the Lenten season.

Don't miss the final Fish Fry

Fish Fry 3-23-12

Photos by Jane Winstead 

The final Fish Fry of the Lenten season gets under way tonight at 5:30 p.m. in the Parish Center. Here are some scenes from previous weeks.
Fish Fry 3-16-12

St. Raphael Mission: Fr. John Lipscomb

Photo by Jane Winsead

Fr. John Lipscomb shared prayers, scripture and stories at the first night of the St. Raphael Mission on Monday. He conducted a question and answer session at the end of the evening. Parishioners had questions about faith, evangelization and his personal journey in the church. The Mission continues tonight and Wednesday at 7 p.m.

St. Raphael Mission this week

Photos by Jane Winstead

Fr. John Lipscomb spoke about the St Raphael Parish Mission at the 9:30 a.m. and the 5:30 p.m. Masses on Sunday. The mission will run Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday (March 19, 20 and 21), beginning at 7 p.m. Fr. Lipscomb is spiritual director of the Bethany Retreat Center in Lutz. 

St. Raphael Lenten Fish Fry

Photos by Jane Winstead

Here are photos from the first Fish Fry Friday of the season. Don't miss the next one tonight beginning at 5:30 p.m. 

Come to the Lenten Fish Fry

Photo by Jane Winstead (2011)

Come and join the fun Fridays in Lent. The Lenten Fish Fry is sponsored by the St. Raphael Youth Ministry. All proceeds go to support Youth ministry activities. Bob Musselman, fry guy extraordinaire, is cooking! Fish Fry is 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in the Parish Center.

Overview of the Gospels of Lent

Temptation of Christ by Duccio

By Julie Musselman
Last year the rector of our Cathedral, at the beginning of Lent,  gave me an overview of Lent. He summarized each of the gospels for the six weeks. In all my life I had never looked at the whole of Lent. It really helped me see the bigger picture of this beautiful time that we can grow in holiness. And so here is my attempt to share that birds-eye view. This year we use the B Lectionary cycle for the gospels. Year B focuses on the gospel of St. Mark, but the Sundays in Lent include passages from the other gospels as well.

The first Sunday of Lent: The Temptation in the Desert. The temptation of our Lord takes place at the beginning of His 3 years of public ministry. Jesus fasted and prayed for 40 days. Then he set out to be about the business of His Father. Just as Jesus fasted and was tempted for 40 days, we share that journey on a lesser scale during Lent.

 The Transfiguration

The second Sunday of Lent: The Transfiguration. The story of the Transfiguration, Mark chapter 9, takes place towards the end of the three year public ministry before Jesus goes up to Jerusalem to be crucified. The Transfiguration was to show Jesus' closest friends and followers, Peter, John and James, a glimpse of His glory. They would sure need it during the darkness of this trial, crucifixion and burial.

The third Sunday of Lent: The Cleansing of the Temple. This event took place early in Jesus' public ministry as recorded in the gospel of St John, chapter 2. In this reading Jesus says "destroy this temple and in three days I will rebuild it." This is to foretell his death and resurrection. In this story Jesus is talking to His own people, the Jews.

Christ instructing Nicodemus, Hendricksz 1604

The fourth Sunday of Lent: Jesus tells Nicodemus in John chapter 3 that just as the bronze serpent was lifted up, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that all who believe in Him might have eternal life. Perhaps the most well known verse in all of scripture is John 3:16 "for God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life." Here again, Jesus is predicting His crucifixion.

The fifth Sunday of Lent: The Hour has Come. John 12:20 begins with the fact that some Greeks (non-Jews) also came to worship and they wished to see Jesus. And at that request Jesus says "the hour has come." Now that people outside of the Jews are seeking Jesus, it is time for very purpose of His life, His death and resurrection, to save the entire world.

Entry into Jerusalem
by Pedro Orrente, 1620

The sixth Sunday of Lent, Palm Sunday: The Triumphant entry into Jerusalem. Mark 11:1-10 is read at the beginning of the mass. Then at the usual time of the gospel in the liturgy of the word, we read the full passion narrative from Mark 14. Jesus is received in Jerusalem for the Passover feast as the King He truly is, and less than a week later, all the tables have turned and He has been crucified.

The Church in her wisdom gives us these precious six weeks to ponder the events of Jesus' life. Consider meditating on each weeks gospel during the week to more fully to become conformed to Christ.

Ash Wednesday at St. Raphael parish

Jane Winstead 

Parishioners at St. Raphael parish marked the beginning of Lent by attending Ash Wednesday Mass at 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. and a noon Liturgy of the Word. Lent is a time of preparation for Easter. 7 p.m. Mass.

Make this the best Lent of your life

By Julie Musselman

Lent begins on Ash Wednesday. It is not a Holy Day of Obligation, but do make every effort to be at Mass and hear the call to repentance. The three pillars of Lent are prayer, fasting and almsgiving. A combination of these three helps us lose ourselves and find our Lord. Let’s take time before Lent begins to really think and pray about how we want to grow spiritually and what our Lord is calling us to do this Lent.

Many people will give up their beloved coffee or soda or chocolate. But I really want to recommend that you “take on” something and not just “give up” something. “Taking on” any or all of these things will change your life and make this the best Lent of your life. I like to think of these as "holy habits." Just imagine if you started a new holy habit every Lent, and kept it going throughout the year!

Confession — Begin the Lenten season with the best confession of your life. If you have not been to confession in a while, go! Give yourself the gift! If you go now and then, but not regularly, consider getting into a weekly or bi-weekly schedule. Precede any confession with a thorough examination of conscience and a firm purpose of amendment. Ask the Holy Spirit to illuminate your mind as to the sins that are weighting you down. St. Raphael confession times are Saturday 3:45-4:15 or call the office for an appointment.

Encourage your children and spouse get to confession but also step out in faith and invite a friend or neighbor to join you. Many parishes have a Lenten penance service and this is a great chance to bring someone home to the sacrament. Whatever your past experience with confession has been, consider starting anew.

Daily Mass — Add one or more weekday Masses into your life for Lent. The grace of the Eucharist is transforming. Most daily Masses are only 30 minutes. If the Mass time at our own parish is not convenient, go to www.masstimes.org and find a close parish with a Mass time that will work. Take your family with you, if possible, or meet a friend there to build accountability and help keep up the habit. St. Raphael has daily Mass at 8 a.m. and Wednesday evening at 7 p.m.

Adoration — Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is the practice of placing ourselves before the Lord either in the tabernacle or in the monstrance. It is a time of quiet, prayer. Often, instead of doing all the talking or repeating memorized prayers, I try to just sit and listen. A holy hour is the usual amount of time to spend in adoration, but even if you can only go for 10 minutes, Our Lord will fill you peace and joy. Wednesday 8:30 a.m. -6:30 p.m. St. Raphael has adoration and any day, the tabernacle room is open to come and sit quietly and pray.

Daily Prayer — Commit to a regular prayer time. Morning, afternoon or evening, allocate 5 to 10 minutes to pray or read spiritual material each day. The family rosary would be a marvelous practice for lent. Start out with just a decade if the children are very young. As far as spiritual reading material, I highly recommend the In Conversation with God series by Francis Fernandez, published by Sceptre. You can read each day’s meditation in about 15 minutes. St. Raphael prays the rosary daily at 8:30 a.m. in the church and on Tuesday nights at 7 p.m. in the tabernacle room

Catholicism Series — St Raphael will host 5 nights of Father Robert Barron's Catholicism series, Monday evenings 7 p.m. beginning February 27. Plan on coming and bring friends. Middle school parents, drop of the kids at Youth Group and come to the parish hall. This series is fantastic. Father Barron created it to reveal the truth, goodness and beauty of our faith. For many years now Our Story has been told by the secular press with disdain. It's our time to tell the 2000-year-old story!

Stations of the Cross — Tuesdays at 2 p.m. with the school children. Friday evenings at 7 p.m. This is a traditional Catholic practice that is a short but powerful way to walk with our Lord from the moment He is condemned to death until He is crucified, died and is buried. When we enter into the passion of our Lord and see all that He suffered for us, we cannot but grow in our love for Him.

Almsgiving — Giving alms is giving of money in addition to the amount you tithe. During Lent a powerful way to give alms would be to support our Annual Pastoral Appeal. The larger church, the Diocese, needs our support. Deacon Peter Burns did a great job last week outlining just a few of the ministries that depend on our support. Father Tim told us Sunday that he needs each family to participate in some way. It is easy to say “I have too many bills” or “I sure hope other people give.” But have we asked ourselves a different question: “What if I give a big gift?” “How much could I give?” “What if I gave sacrificially, meaning out of my want, not out of my excess?” I really want to challenge all of us to think up a number we could give, and then ask, could I double that? Could I add another zero on the end of that? Let's think Big! This is our church, our diocese, our friends and families and neighbors that the local church serves. God can never be outdone in generosity. When we give cheerfully, we know that all our needs will be met and the great good will be served. The APA can be paid in installments and that can really give us a chance to make some impact. Maybe we can’t write a big check today, but could we write 12 monthly checks or four quarterly checks?

Fish Fry Fridays — No meat on Friday during Lent can be fun at the Fish Fry Fridays. Beginning the second Friday of Lent, March 2, let the Youth Group and KOC cook for you. Beginning at 5:30 p.m., come and eat, kids can play and adults have fellowship, Then at 7 p.m. we can head over for stations of the cross.

Parish Mission — Evenings, March 19-21 by Father John Lipscomb, former Anglican Bishop and convert to the Roman Catholic faith.

Even with taking on a new holy habit for Lent, we are still called to Fast & Abstinence — On Ash Wednesday and all the Fridays through Good Friday during Lent, we are asked to abstain or not eat meat. There are two days of fasting: Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. Fasting means one main meal, with two smaller meals, no meals in between and all the water you can drink. Some people fast on just bread and water for the day. No meat is eaten as these are also days of abstinence.

Fasting and Abstinence is for adults 18-59. But children under 18 can certainly participate too. Just to give up the snacks might be a way for children to fast, or have smaller portions. If ever a person has health reasons and cannot fast, other mortifications can be substituted.

Then throughout Lent, Holy Mother Church invites us to grow in personal holiness by fasting from things we like. Some ideas can be fasting for eating out or fast food. How about giving up sugar or salt in your food. Sometimes smaller portions or giving up second helpings can be a fast, or eating more foods like fruits and vegetables and giving up the fats and sweets.

In addition to fasting from foods, there are other forms of fasting. For instance, have you ever fasted from having the last word? How about fasting from shopping? My children like to fast from vegetables, but I generally encourage them to fast from electronics (TV, video games, texting, computer games.)

Another idea is to fast from clutter. Detach yourself from all those clothes that you ‘might wear someday’ and give them to the poor. Clean out a closet or the garage and share the things you really don’t use. If it is hard for you to de-clutter, start very small with just one drawer or one shelf in a closet. Five minutes each day is doable and will create a habit. Consider cleaning out one kitchen drawer every time the phone rings. Have pleasant phone conversation while you organize one little area.

Whatever you decide to do, offer all your sacrifices and any failings to our Lord. May we all grow in holiness this Lent.

It’s our Catholic Faith ~ Let’s live it in Lent!

Lenten Fish Fry – 4.15.11

Last Lenten Fish Fry of the season

This is the last Friday for the Lenten Fish Fry. After this, no more Lenten Fish Fry until next year.

It is also the last chance you'll have to enter the raffle for a mini-vacation at the Trade Winds Resort on St. Pete Beach. Your $5 ticket could be the winner. It's worth a shot, right? Besides all proceeds go to help support the Youth ministry at St. Raphael so even if you don't win the resort prize you still win, right?

Play the video above and see just why it is worth your while to buy a chance to win this prize.

The festivities begin at 5:30 p.m. with the famous St. Raphael fish dinner, beer and wine and other beverages, desserts galore. Everything continues on until 8 p.m. in the Parish Center so if you can't get there right at 5:30, don't worry about it. There will be plenty of food left later. Don't be too late, though. It does end at 8 p.m.

Father Tim's homily – 5th Sunday of Lent

Children's Mass - Ash Wednesday 2011

Photos by Jane Winstead

Every Friday in Lent

If it's Friday in Lent, it must be the St. Raphael Fish Fry. Videographer Louise Barrett created this music video from scenes from a recent fish fry and the music of the St. Raphael Praise Band.