Dear Parishioners:
This Wednesday, we begin the holy and penitential season of Lent. It is a season designed to help us remember our life's mission as a follower of Christ and recommit to serving the Lord. We begin the solemn fast and commit with fervor and zeal to pray, fast, and give alms. On Ash Wednesday, there are three Masses: 7:30 am, 12:05 pm, and 7:00 pm. Confessions on Ash Wednesday with two priests are available from 11:45 am until Noon and 6:00 pm until 6:45 pm. It is February Vacation Week, so there is no OLM School Mass on Ash Wednesday.
The Vatican has mandated a modified method for distributing ashes for this year: sprinkling them on the top of people's heads rather than using them to make a cross on people's foreheads. This change is to protect both the priest and the people from spreading COVID. The mandate directs priests to bless the ashes with holy water at the altar and then address the entire congregation with words from the Roman Missal. These words are usually said when marking an individual's forehead with ashes: "Repent and believe in the Gospel" or "Remember that you are dust and to dust, you shall return." The sprinkling of ashes on individual heads then takes place without any words said to each person. The sprinkling of ashes on the top of people's heads is not something new but is an ancient and customary practice at the Vatican and many other countries.
While we receive ashes differently this year, the message of Lent remains the same. They are a sign of penance and remind us that we are dust, and we shall return to dust. It is a stark reminder that our life in this world is transitory, and we must always prepare with lives of holiness and faith for eternal life. Indeed we are to be judged by God, so we must: "Repent and believe the Gospel."
For forty days, we take up penance asking the Lord for forgiveness for our sins so that we might celebrate Easter with joy and receive the Eucharist more worthily. St John Henry Newman wrote: "At Christmas, we are born again with Christ in baptism; at Easter, we keep the Eucharistic Feast. In Lent, by penance, we join the two great sacraments together."
To have a fruitful Lent, we should examine our hearts and consciences and be honest about the places in our lives where sinfulness abounds. We should then confess them sacramentally and offer penances and sacrifices, mortifications and fasts, to be free of those sins. We must turn to Christ with humility and honestly seek God's mercy in Confession.
In Lent, we remember that we will face divine judgment one day and that nothing in this life is worth losing eternal happiness and total union with God. As penance, we give up some of our lives' comforts so that our comforts and pleasures won't lead us into sin. St. John Henry Newman suggested that during Lent, should also pray for one another. He believed that intercessory prayer was a fundamental obligation of all Christians, especially during Lent. He kept long lists of people to pray for and committed to asking the Lord for specific things for each one of them.
The lesson of Lent is simple: we will be judged someday, and thus we should act accordingly. We should confess our sins more frequently during these forty days, do more penance, and convert more fully to Christ. We give up some comforts and take up acts of charity so that our comfortable lives don't distract us from following Christ or lead us into sin. We spend time praying for other people, asking the Lord to grace them in real and particular ways.
In Lent, we have two daily Masses, Stations of the Cross every Friday, and Confessions daily and outside Confessors on Mondays. There is a Lenten Parish Mission with the Dominican Friars of St. Pius. Archbishop Fulton Sheen reminds us: "Never forget that there are only two philosophies to rule your life: the one of the cross, which starts with the fast and ends with the feast. The other of Satan, which starts with the feast and ends with the headache." So take up the Cross this Lent with faith, hope, and charity. Pray, fast, and give alms!
Stay safe. Be well. Do good. God Bless. Make a holy and fruitful Lent!