St. Alphonsus Liguori is responsible for creating the first Parish Lenten Missions through his religious order - the Redemptorists. They conducted the first missions in the 18th Century. One hundred years later, they brought the Parish Lenten Missions to the United States.
A parish mission consists of a series of preaching events, usually conducted over two or three nights. Today, parish missions may be lead by a priest from several religious orders or even lay people like Scott Hahn and Tim Staples. The focus of the mission is the Word of God, Catholic doctrine and Catholic practice. The preaching generally stresses individual development of a personal relationship with Christ. Additionally, for the parish community the emphasis is on developing a greater sense of community within the parish and a greater sense of service within that local church community.
Last year, St. Catherine hosted a Pentecostal Parish Mission. This year, the parish is returning to the more traditional Lenten Parish Mission format. Father Thomas McDermott, a priest of the Order of Dominican preachers, will be leading the mission. He will speak on the spirituality of the parish patron, St. Catherine of Siena. The mission will conducted the evenings of April 6th-8th in the main church.
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