Pastor's Letter -- February 27th, 2022

My beloved parishioners,

Lent begins in three days with Ash Wednesday on 03/02/2022 (Please see bulletin for schedule of Masses). All of us, except those born less than a year ago, or those who would be received into the Church at Easter, have experienced Lent in some form. Every year the Church gives us this period of renewal to focus on the most important thing – our relationship with God. It is a season of preparation for Easter, so the theme of baptism and repentance would be very common. We are also familiar with the three practices that characterize this season – fasting, prayer and almsgiving. As we begin to prepare for Lent, I want to invite us to a different way of approaching this season. Whereas we tend to think of Lent as a season to give up something, like chocolate, I want to invite us to think of it in terms of becoming someone different and better. Who do I want to become? What type of man or woman do I want to become this Lent? What kind of spouse or parent do I want to become? What kind of children do I want to become? How can I deepen my prayer life such that prayer is not a chore or an imposition but a loving relationship with a God who first loved me, and loves me into eternity? How can I become more loving and available to be Jesus to my brothers and sisters? How can I grow in solidarity with them in their experiences whether good or bad? How will I allow God, through my fast, to satisfy the deepest hunger and thirst of my heart for God?

This Lent, let us think of a God who is interested not in our suffering, but in our transformation through the acts of mercy we intentionally take on. This transformation that we must focus on is one that includes, among others, the renewal of my heart and conformity of my will to God’s, the taming of my flesh and fleshly impulses, a detachment from sin, the purification of my desires and the pursuit of holiness. God is interested in a new ME. My challenge this Lent is to strive to become different and better.

Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are obligatory days of universal fast and abstinence. Fasting is obligatory for all who have completed their 18th year of age until the beginning of their 60th year. The church’s teaching on fasting allows a person to eat one full meal as well as two smaller meals not to equal one full meal. Abstinence (from meat) is obligatory for all who have completed their 14th year of age (Canon 1252). If possible, the fast on Good Friday is continued until the Easter Vigil (on Holy Saturday night) as the “paschal fast” to honor the suffering and death of the Lord Jesus and to prepare to share more fully and celebrate more readily his Resurrection (Sacrosanctum Concilium, 109). Fridays in Lent are obligatory days of abstinence (from meat) for all who have completed their 14th year. As always, anyone for whom fasting or abstinence would pose a health risk is excused.

I intend to have Social Justice-themed reflections for our Stations of the Cross this Lent. The purpose is to call attention to this dimension of our mission in the world. We will reflect on Catholic social teachings and how we can take ownership of them and how they can inform our lives as individuals and as a parish. My gratitude to members of the Social Justice Commission who have accepted my request to write and lead the reflections for the Stations every Friday throughout Lent. Beginning next Sunday 03/06/22, before our weekend liturgies, we will pray together our Parish Mission Prayer. It can be found on the inside back cover of the hymnal in the pews. This prayer integrates our parish mission, which is to evangelize and make disciples through the proclamation of the Good News of Jesus and service to our brothers and sisters. It spells out aspects of the corporal and spiritual works of mercy and invites us to recognize the part we play in making these real in our world. We believe that the gospel, to be relevant, must address the concrete and lived experiences of our people. Hence, while we prioritize sacred worship of God in the liturgy and the ministry of preaching, we also embrace the social dimension of our witnessing through service to our brothers and sisters in need.

As a parish, we strive to be intentional about our mission and how this shapes our culture. Prayer is central to our identity, and we do not shy from opportunities for such encounters. We pray with and for one another. When we come to Mass, we offer our prayers in union with the priest, to God. The faithful are not passive spectators at the liturgy, through their responses and acclamations, their participation in the singing and in the presentation of the gifts to be offered, they, in union with the priest, offer to the Father the One true sacrifice pleasing to him. Notice that there is a brief pause when the priest, after the Gloria, invites the people with these words “Let us pray…” This is a good time to silently express those prayers and thoughts you have come to the liturgy with. The church fittingly calls this opening prayer by the priest the “Collect.” As the name goes, the priest, at this point, collects the prayers of the people and offers them up to God. So, when next you are at Mass, do not allow this moment of silence go for nothing or allow yourself be distracted.

Finally, we have observed that when we ask those attending Mass to stand and greet people around them, people tend to greet those they are familiar with, or even those with whom they came from the same household. The purpose of this greeting is to welcome everyone and to intentionally build connection. Seeing that the whole of Mass is a prayer, it is our desire to help us be more intentional about it. This time is for you to reach out to someone you do not know and introduce yourself to them. We want to ask that we take this time also to ask people what they would like you to be praying for during Mass. The intention is to help cultivate the culture of prayer that is so important to us.

May Jesus bless you, and may Our Lady protect you!