What follows is the cover article of this week’s bulletin.  Some of the details apply only here at Immaculate Conception but I think the ideas as something for all of us to think about for Lent.

Making a Good Lent

This Wednesday we will mark the beginning of Lent with our celebration of Ash Wednesday.  We will celebrate Masses with the distribution of ashes at 7:00 a.m., 9:00 a.m., 12:10 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.

It is day where many people will put forth the effort to make it to Mass.  During Lent, we abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday and all Fridays.  We will fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.  We will give up something for Lent.  Why?

The whole idea of doing any of this is to show what it is going on in our hearts.  Receiving ashes or abstaining from meat cannot save us.  What does save us?  It isn’t a question of what saves us but who!  We are saved by Jesus through his loving act of giving himself to be crucified.  We demonstrate our desire to be saved by making sacrifices.

We make a sacrifice by giving up something important to us.  Whatever we give up for Lent should be something important to us.  By giving us something that we value we show that our faith is more important.

I suggest you think about giving of your time in a way that can help you come to a deeper relationship with Jesus.  Are you willing to give up some time that you spend on something else to spend time with Jesus?

Here are some ideas on how you might spend some time with Jesus this Lent:

• Attend daily Mass.  If you can’t attend every day, could you make it once a week?  Masses are 12:10 p.m. on Mondays and Thursdays and 7:00 a.m. on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.  Daily Mass generally takes about 25 minutes.
• Attend Stations of the Cross on Fridays at 7 p.m.  Celebrating the Stations of the Cross reminds us of what Jesus went through for us, what he gave up for us.  Can you make time for Jesus?
• Join a Small Christian Community (SCC) for Lent (contact Pat Meyer or Mary Edsall-Golway for more information)
• Each First Friday of the month, we have Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament after the 7 a.m. Mass until Benediction at 11 a.m.  (During Lent, March 7^th and April 4^th).  You don’t have to be there the whole time.  Maybe you could come for a few minutes.  We also have a Communal Holy Hour on the First Saturday of the Month with Exposition beginning at 6 p.m.  (During Lent, April 5^th).
• If none of these are possible for you, I encourage you to find some time to pray at home or you can always stop by church.  It’s open by 8 a.m Monday – Saturday and open till 3 p.m.

Peace,

Fr. Jeff