Did You Know

With Lent comes a number of opportunities to strengthen ourselves spiritually and to deepen our relationship with the Lord. It was St. Francis de Sales (1567-1622) who wrote: “Lent is the Autumn of the spiritual life, during which we gather the fruit to keep us fed for the rest of the year!” In fact, time set apart for spiritual reading is one of the best ways to strengthen our Faith walk. Visiting our Parish Library and choosing some Lenten reading will reward your efforts many times over! Making certain that you carve out a few minutes from your very busy day to simply sit quietly in a prayerful attitude of awareness, will, in fact, make your day much more manageable and focused! Less television and internet – more prayer! Following our Lord on the “Way of the Cross”, either as a personal act of devotion, or with the community on Friday afternoons (5:30 – English, 6:00 – Spanish) is, in Pope Benedict’s words, a ‘school for spiritual life’- in itself! Preparing for a good Sacramental Confession, is very important at any time, but especially in Lent. A ‘Celebration of Reconciliation’ is being planned for Monday, 23 March, and Communal Penance Services are being scheduled for our neighboring Parishes, and will be announced, in plenty of time for prayerful preparation for your personal Encounter with Divine Mercy! One of the greatest resources for personal spiritual growth, apart from the Mass itself, is time spent in Adoration – simply ‘being present to the Presence’. Our Divine Mercy Chapel is open 24/7 and time spent in the Eucharistic Presence ‘radiates’ the soul in ways beyond description. The Divine Mercy Chaplet is a powerful prayer at all times, but perhaps especially in Lent: “For the sake of His sorrowful Passion. . .” The Lenten Fast can become a graced opportunity to simplify our lives from much of the ‘clutter’ that accumulates from our seemingly insatiable ‘wants’ and from the inertia that often keeps us from growing and maturing. More than just “fish on Fridays” or ‘giving up candy’, the Lenten Fast invites us to find better, more simplified, healthier, patterns for daily living. The Lenten emphasis on Almsgiving invites us to live with greater generosity, in every area of our lives. “The opposite of abundance is not scarcity, it is anxiety.” Leaning to live out of the abundance of God’s goodness to us, in so many ways, ‘spills over’ in generosity – itself an imitation of God! Responding to our Annual Catholic Appeal is, in fact, a wonderful way to “give alms”!

Please consider Lent as the “Autumn of the spiritual life”. It is a graced opportunity to begin living your Faith walk with greater awareness, greater joy, greater gratitude, and greater generosity – the “essence” of true discipleship!

NOTE that the ASH WEDNESDAY Evening Mass at St. Andrew’s will be 6:00 PM this year!