The Pastor's Pen

 

February 12, 2023, the Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick: In recognition that February 11th is the World Day of Prayer for the Sick those who are enduring any chronic or serious illnesses are invited to be anointed immediately following the !0:30 AM Mass this weekend. A registration form is available at the entrances to the church which needs to be filled out and handed to the priest as you are anointed so that the administration of the sacrament may be recoded as is required. Let us all remember those who endure afflictions of body, mind or spirit in our prayers in a special way this weekend interceding for them through Our Lady of Lourdes, their patron, that they will face their illnesses without losing faith.

 

World Marriage Sunday: All married couples are the subject of our thoughts and prayers on this weekend as we pray that they will continue to become all that they are called to be as a living sign of the unconditional love of God as revealed in Jesus Christ. The faithfulness of couples in the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony is an essential way in which the light of Christ is meant to shine in a world of broken promises, so let us express our gratitude to God for that sign shining among us through the married couples of our own parish.

 

Lent is Coming: Ash Wednesday , February 22nd, is only one week from this Wednesday so it is time to begin thinking what we might do to make it a “fruitful Lent” in that it will be one that makes an actual difference in our Christian lives. There are many ways in which we can embrace the traditional disciplines of increased prayer, fasting, and charity but ultimately the best of these is the practice of daily Mass. The desire that we will change ourselves for the better is certainly a necessary and noble one but in the end not a very realistic one! The truth is that try as we may in the end it is very difficult to make changes in ourselves that are meaningful and lasting, this can only be accomplished by the grace of God ! In the same way that we may want to get a tan in summer but it is not possible unless we expose ourselves to the sun, so too must we expose our souls to the grace of God and the most powerful means of doing so is through the celebration of word and sacrament that we call the Eucharist. So, the point of going to daily Mass is not to pat ourselves on the back that we would make the sacrifice of our time and effort to get there, but that Christ meets us more than halfway as he shares his very life with us as he nourishes us with his body and blood, the true food of conversion and the medicine of immortality. So, let us plan to pray more and do more for the poor, but if possible, let us also come to Mass on more days each week than Sunday. We might plan to be at Mass on as many days as we can of the 40 days of Lent and perhaps the 50 days of Easter as well, assured as we do that if we wish to die and rise with Christ, this is the means he offers so as to most closely accompany us ad assist us in that process we call conversion.