From the Pastor’s desk
Dear Parishioners,
This Wednesday begins the 40-day Season of Lent. It is to be a time of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving that begins on Ash Wednesday and ends with the evening Mass on Holy Thursday. It is a period of preparation to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus at Easter. There are many ways we can prepare, including read Sacred Scripture, use our Lenten Book which the parish provides, come to the Stations of the Cross, come to a weekday Mass, and give alms to a particular need beyond the Sunday gift to the parish. Perhaps fasting is the hardest—practicing self-control in eating,
drinking alcohol.
For centuries, the Church has asked us to abstain from meat on Fridays during Lent. For me, that is not much of a sacrifice since I like all types of fish. Abstaining from meat is more of a discipline. We do not like to be told not to do something.
The giving of alms is one way to share the gifts God has given to us. Alms can mean more than sharing our money. We can also share our talents and the gift of time. In our fast-paced world, time is the most precious gift we can give to another.
Penance is something that we Americans do not like to hear about. We look at it as a punishment. That is a
misconception. Penance is an action that is to be used to help us look deep within ourselves and change ourselves to
become more like Christ. In our penance, we are to pay more attention to God and the things of God. During the Lenten Season, celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
In the past, people thought of Lent as a personal retreat: forty days to get in spiritual shape by Easter. The opening prayer of the liturgy on Ash Wednesday clearly spells out the proper meaning of the Season of Lent: “O Lord, as we begin with holy fasting, may we take up battle against spiritual evils, armed with weapons of self-restraint.” If we make the Lenten journey with open hearts and minds, we will arrive at the tomb and see that it is surrounded by the light of the resurrected Christ.