The next big feast in the Church’s calendar is this Tuesday’s Presentation of the Lord, at which time the Mass allows for the blessing of candles which will be used in the sacred liturgy of the Mass during the year as well as candles that you might choose to use for prayers at home. Please feel free to bring your candles from home to the daily Mass on Tuesday.
In the next bulletin there will be an insert on Benediction and Adoration. After each of the Sunday 11 a.m. Masses, beginning at 12 noon and during the Sundays of Lent, we will have Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament as a prayer experience for our parishioners. Each Sunday’s Adoration will be theme-specific as we pray for such concerns as our families and marriages, for our youth, for our nation, etc. This bulletin insert will give some history on the theological meaning of this prayer as well as a practical guide to what actually takes place during the Adoration. The liturgy is approximately an hour long with prayers, songs and silent time. I hope you will come to experience this tradition of the Church.
Ordinary Time—4th Sunday. We are now at the half-way point of this wintery Ordinary Time between Christmas and Lent and it is a good time to consider what we hope to obtain during this Lenten Season.
Naturally, our hope is to become closer to God. To align our hearts in such a way to Christ’s generous heart that our thoughts and actions—our free will—is formed by the knowledge and truth of Christ and of the Church’s teachings—which high-light and guide us closer to the mission and ministry of Jesus Christ. How do we do that—become closer to God? It all begins and ends with knowledge, knowledge about what God truly asks of us.
We have a great deposit of this knowledge, in our faith and in our Church teachings. In fact, what the Church claims to have—the Truths of Christ, from Christ—are called just that: The Deposit of Faith. One of the greatest gifts given to us is the in-spired, or inspirited, Word of God via Sacred Scripture and the Gospels. This week I heard of a startling statement: that for the majority of practicing Catholics the main source of their faith education is the homily. A six to eight minute review (and hope-fully application) of the sacred readings on a given Sunday (remember the difference between a homily and sermon is that a homily is a talk based on the readings and texts of the day and is a Catholic term; a sermon is a talk based on a religious theme that may or may not be tied directly to the readings of the day). That six to eight minute time frame has a great deal of variables attached to it that can make or break the “educational” aspect of faith formation at any given time. Is the priest well-prepared; are his communicative and public speaking skills prac-ticed; what is the reverence of the community given to the liturgy (are people getting up-and-down for frequent bathroom trips or checking their cell phones in the atrium, or having a host of pri-vate conversations); and, are there too many things (additional rituals) going on at a given Mass that distract from the central theme of the day. Not every homily is a home run or a well-crafted explanation of why the Church teaches what it teaches. If that were only true our Sunday Masses would be like Christmas or Easter—overflowing. So what are the answers? Basically, cor-porate and individual attention to all the above—and more! The “more” part is a strong adult faith formation program (corporate) wrapped in an equally strong desire of the congregation (individual) to come to possess the accurate knowledge of what Jesus’ message is all about and what the Church’s theologi-ans have annunciated these teachings to help us better understand and apply them in our everyday lives.
Obviously, this is a general statement, much like the above mentioned one that said the majority of Catholics obtain their knowledge of faith and Church teachings during the homily. Many folks engage in bible study programs. Many folks watch religious programs or read books and periodicals on related subject matter. Many folks relive and expand family and faith traditions in the home as well as practice their faith each and every day and in so many ways—which is particularly true in our community, evidenced by the variety of ways in which you as a community and as individual “doers” do so much good.
In a nutshell, the answer to a closer relationship to God is to come to understand what it is that He asks of us, and we learn this in both corporate and individual ways by study, investigation, and practice, and also by simply being open and receptive to God’s desires for us. When all is said and done, one must not leave out prayer. A relationship cannot develop or survive without communication. And prayer is just that: dialogue with God. We speak to Him and He listens. Then, in the silence of our hearts He speaks to us in so many ways. Prayer does not “change” God’s mind or His ways, but rather it opens our hearts to be more receptive to His Will, which is, to be closer to Him in this world’s ac-tions and so to live with Him forever in the next world.
This truly is a team effort—a team effort here in the parish between the priest and the people and a team effort with God, by joining His team fully in prayer and action. It requires a commitment on my part and on yours; it requires ongoing dialogue so that our souls are joined with Him in the Eternal Kingdom. Lent is a very important season because the gift that follows is so great, the Risen Christ on Easter morn and all that that means.
In the Gospel this weekend Jesus is portrayed as a prophet whose message is despised and rejected by His own people. Yet He is also a prophet who is protected from danger as He walks among the angry crowds while He challenges His people with a message that speaks of accepting the Word of God in their lives. Is He speaking to us today? What about others—non-Christians? We are called to live in and as His goodness in the world—and to rejoice when we see “others” who are not like us doing the same. Lent is indeed a time to ask Him for a greater openness in our own lives to the Word of God and to its power in the lives of others.
Do you have last year’s blessed palms “hanging” around the house? If you do and wish to bring them to church over the next week or two, please do. A box will be in the vestibule and the atrium for their collection. We will burn them and use the ashes on Ash Wednesday.
Peace,
-Fr. Michael
