Easter is late this year so this weekend is week 8 of Ordinary Time. This means next week is Ash Wednesday, the start of our Lenten preparation for the great Feast of the Resurrection.
Lent asks of us some soul searching (Prayer), some real attention to our behaviors (Fasting) and at the same time that we are looking inwards we are called to look outwards (Almsgiving). These three traditional exercises are nothing unusual but in Lent we give them an extra focus. You’ve heard me before refer to Lent as a season of spiritual spring cleaning; we dust, polish and buff up our lives so that we can more fully reflect unto others the light of Easter glory when it comes.
To aid this season there will be, as usual, an English speaking mission, a Spanish speaking mission and the two celebrations of reconciliation.
Lent is also a time when we accompany more closely the members of the RCIA program as they move towards either their baptism into the Church on Easter Saturday night or reception into the Church the following Sunday. Please pray for them earnestly as they journey closer to full communion with the Church…you and me!
May God bless you, your families, and the week ahead,
Fr Aidan Peter