St. Richard Parish

St. Richard School is now enrolling new students for the 2010 - 2011 school year. For more information or to arrange a tour contact Julie Smith (Principal) @ 872-3152. Catholic Schools, The Gift of a Lifetime.

The St. Richard Seafood Dinner Every Friday during Lent 4:30 - 7:30 PM O'Brien Hall, eat-in or take-out available. Cost $8.00 for adults and $5.00 for children. Baked or Fried Cod, Fried Shrimp, weekly Fish Special, Pizza or Spaghetti. Dinners include All You Can Eat side dishes.

History.htm

A History of
St. Richard

 

Lent: Surrender Opens the Heart

In the movies surrender usually means defeat, followed by being made to do what one does not want to do. The hero never surrenders; the villains are forced to surrender. Our society seems convinced that surrender is not for the strong.

Most individuals approach Lent with this feeling. During Lent we plan to be strong and to do something. We are going to deny ourselves or do penance or discipline ourselves. Perhaps we are going to form a new habit. Maybe we will control ourselves more. However, alone, by ourselves, we most often fail in this well-intentioned effort.

During Lent we should give particular attention to practices that cooperate with the Holy Spirit in our own transformation. Surrender is a rather direct practice of this inner cooperation; it lessens our resistance to God and opens our hearts to his action.

Most of us probably would agree that we want to give ourselves wholly to God. There is within every human heart a center that longs only for this total gift of self to God. As human beings, many of us have lost sight of this deep longing. But even when we feel it, there are many parts of ourselves that do not agree at all. When we are honest, we already know it is not enough to say, "Yes, Lord, I'm yours," because the very next thing we do can easily be in another spirit altogether. Who has not finished with a period of fervent prayer and gone immediately to being critical or resentful?

This division in life is our reason for the practice of surrender. We learn surrender gradually; God supports our efforts until we are more able to give ourselves to him. By Easter our cooperation with God will be a little fuller than it was before Lent began.

Prayer of St. Richard