Happy Easter! 
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Thank you to all who have contributed to the Lenten Almsgiving! As of Easter Sunday, donations of food items and funds have equaled 162 food distributions. We are now directing our energy and focus to the Foodshare event, scheduled for Saturday, April 29 from 10am to 1 pm. 

The Foodshare event will be a fun, festive community event that we anticipate will reflect our Newman hospitality to the Las Cruces community. We have lined up DJ Cykloid to provide music, parishioners to provide games in a kids’ area, and the Knights Council to serve hot dogs, along with food distributions. We are also in need of some help from the parish at large. We are looking for volunteers to set up and clean up, staff a welcome/check in table, staff the food items tables to serve the folks coming to receive the groceries, stockers to keep the food tables filled with food items, and several cart pushers to walk around with the guests as they gather their food items. If you are able to help out, email either Mona or myself, or call the office. 

Thanks again for your generous support and partnership in responding to the needs of our local community! 

Peace, Sal

Dear Newman Community,

This week I offer us a different sort of column, a reflection to take to personal prayer. It is from Rev. Robert Hater, PhD Professor Emeritus: University of Dayton and Professor of Pastoral and Systematic Theology. Blessings on your Holy Week!

As Jesus traveled to Jerusalem for the last time, his time to fulfill the Father’s plan for the salvation of humankind was drawing near. Jesus’ actions in washing his disciples’ feet, giving us his Body and Blood at the Last Supper, and accepting his agony and subsequent death on the Cross give us hope in difficult times and model faithful endurance when darkness envelops us. In times of suffering, failure, family breakups, loss of friends, or a loved one’s death, Jesus’ death gives us hope for a new tomorrow.

Uniting our suffering with his helps us to see that to know ourselves we must turn our lives over to the Father. With hope, we trust that he will sustain us, thus preparing us for our eternal resurrection. Such enduring hope is the bottom line, if we are to recognize our true identity. Uniting our suffering with Jesus’ suffering during Holy Week, we ask:

• Why must we turn ourselves over to the Father, as Jesus did, to truly know ourselves?
• What do you think Pope Benedict means when he makes the following statement: “The one who has hope lives differently; the one who hopes has been granted the gift of new life” (Pope Benedict XVI, On Christian Hope [Spe Salvi] [Washington, DC: USCCB, 2007], no. 2).
• How does uniting with Jesus’ suffering and death help us maintain enduring hope during trials and tribulations?

Peace,
Mona 

Greetings!

Many thanks to all who have contributed to the Lenten Almsgiving! As of last Sunday, donations of food items and funds have equaled 98 food distributions. There are still a couple of weeks left in the Lenten season to keep working towards the goal to serve 250 families. Another component of the Lenten Almsgiving is to share information about the two food pantries we regularly support. Two weeks ago, I shared some info on La Bodega, our parish food pantry. This time, I’d like to share some information on the Aggie Cupboard, which is the emergency food pantry on campus. 

Over the Fall 2016 semester, the Aggie Cupboard served 297 clients and distributed 441 bags of food. Since Aggie Cupboard began serving the NMSU community in October of 2012, they have distributed 3,237 bags of food. The Mission of the Aggie Cupboard is to provide free emergency food assistance to the NMSU community, including Las Cruces and DACC students, faculty, and staff. We do this through the work of NMSU staff and students, and the generous food and financial contributions of NMSU and the local community. We endeavor to create an atmosphere of care, concern, and support for those in our campus community who may be struggling with a lack of food. We also work to educate the campus on the prevalence of food insecurity and hunger. (From Aggie Cupboard website). 

Thanks again for your generous support and partnership in responding to the needs of our local community! 

Peace,
Sal