After a crazy winter, with wide temperature swings and some dangerous storms, I imagine you’re ready for spring; I know I am! Who knows what Mother Nature will bring us over the next few weeks but liturgically, Lent – which means “spring” – is almost here; it begins this week with Ash Wednesday. Just as the natural world is reawakened and renewed every spring, each year, the Church, in her wisdom, offers us this liturgical Season of Lent, a season for reconciliation and renewal.
This Wednesday – Ash Wednesday – begins the forty-day Lenten Season during which we are again made aware of our sinfulness and our need for salvation and then choose to accompany Jesus as he offers his life to save us. On Ash Wednesday, we receive ashes on our forehead as both a sign of repentance and a call to choose to prepare for our eternal salvation. This is why the person who imposes ashes has a choice of two formulas: “Repent and believe in the Gospel,” or “Remember that you are dust and to dust you will return.” On Wednesday, ashes will be imposed during the 6:30, 8:00, 9:00am (school Mass) 12:10pm and 7:00pm Masses, as well as during Liturgies of the Word for the Mothers of Young Children at 10:00am and the PREP at 4:30pm.
To help you throughout the Lenten season, you will find copies of the popular Lenten Little Black Book at the church entrances. This booklet offers brief, thought-provoking reflections for every day of Lent based on the Sunday Mass readings as well as interesting quotes, information and timely thoughts. Feel free to take as many as you need so you can leave one at home, and one at school or at the office for that daily moment when you can reflect on our Lord and his great sacrifice as part of your Lenten sacrifice. I also encourage you to take advantage of the healing Sacrament of Reconciliation, which is scheduled every Saturday 4:00 – 4:45pm, except on Holy Saturday (20 April). And, we will again host a regional Lenten Penance Service on Wednesday, 10 April, beginning at 7:00pm.
On Wednesday, 3 April, we will have our Lenten Evening of Reflection, beginning with a soup and bread dinner at 6:15pm. Mr. John Kinuthia, a young and energetic speaker, will offer us excellent reflections on evangelization. Mark your calendars and plan to attend!
We will also have Stations of the Cross throughout Lent at 7:00pm every Friday evening. Our school students will present their annual Living Stations on Friday, 12 April; this is a very moving way to prepare for Holy Week, which begins with Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord just two days later, on 14 April. And, in addition to the beautiful Mass of the Lord’s Supper at 7:00pm on Holy Thursday, 18 April, and the Commemoration of the Lord’s Passion at 3:00pm on Good Friday, we will carry the cross from our church to Wayne Methodist Church as part of the Wayne Ecumenical Ministerium Good Friday Service at noon that day and we’re privileged to have the VoxAmaDeus Ensemble perform Bach’s “St. John Passion” beginning at 7:00pm that same evening. All of these events will offer us very powerful occasions to close this most Holy Week of the year.
Another essential aspect of the Lenten Season is almsgiving. As we become aware of the great sacrifice our Lord, Jesus, made for us on the cross, we are called to share in his sacrifice by sharing the abundance of God’s gifts with those in need around the world. Operation Rice Bowl is an excellent way to do just that. Rice Bowls are at the church entrances for your use. Over the past few years, these Rice Bowl packets have become more interesting, with reflections on and recipes from a variety of areas in the world that Catholic Relief Services supports through your donations; this year, the places are Guatemala, Uganda, Sri Lanka, Sierra Leone and Gaza. You can even “like” Rice Bowl on Facebook, “follow” it on Twitter and get inspired on YouTube!
Yes, this is a very important time for us Christians. Let us take the opportunity, once again, to join together in turning back to God and to each other as we prepare to celebrate the new life we have received in the Risen Lord at Easter!