Second Week in Lent

LENT moves very quickly. This is the Second Sunday of Lent already; but more than that, the Scriptures today zoom us ahead to Easter. It’s the Church’s wisdom that Lent is not to be a time of gloom, with sacrifices for their own sake in a dark spirit. No, today we’re given a glimpse of why all the Lenten effort: The Glory of Christ! which we are meant to share in. It happened to the disciples, as they walked with Jesus on an ordinary day, and then saw Him in the glory of His future. This is a time to consciously conform ourselves more closely to Christ, to share in His victory over all sin and evil, and over death itself.

So, keep Lent real! While you may adopt some arbitrary practices to sacrifice something during Lent, to create a bit of suffering with Him, look at sacrificing any use of harsh words toward others, traces of vengeance, hatred or judgment of others. Forgiveness is a key sign of one who is dying with Christ. Keep it real! As I said Sunday, don’t confuse our “warm-up” Lenten exercises with the real thing!

Please be sure to use the online Lenten material, referred to here later in the bulletin, “Word On Fire”. It’s an easy way for you and all in your family to get some quality input. Just follow directions to the site. I’d really like to get feedback on whether this form of Adult Faith materials is useful to you. Let us know!

Tomorrow (Monday the 18th) is the day I’m having surgery on my sinuses. It revisits work I had done in ’13 while I was here, so all the same things won’t have to be redone. I’ve been diagnosed as needing more space regained in my sinuses to avoid the bad headaches I had from January on. I’ll be out of the office this week and out of the weekday Mass schedule, planning to be part of next weekend in the

usual way.