A word from Pope Francis ~ “We need to avoid the spiritual sickness of a church that is wrapped up in its own world: when a church becomes like this, it grows sick.”
It doesn’t seem possible that we are already observing the Fourth Sunday of Lent today. We are now past the halfway point of this season. During these middle weeks of Lent, we continue to focus our attention on the call to conversion and the ways God helps us to respond to his call to be disciples of the Lord Jesus. The main image in the Scripture readings of this week is the image of light – Jesus is the light of the world! We are called to see as God sees. As we heard in today’s Gospel, Jesus opened the eyes of the man born blind so that he could live in the light of faith and see God’s presence all around him. He leads him from darkness into light. He can see himself, others and ultimately God in a totally new way. God sent his son Jesus into our world to be a light that leads us to the Father. We pray for the grace to see ourselves and our world as God sees us.
As our Lenten Penitential Rite at Mass reminds us, Lent is the primary season of reconciliation within the church year. One of the best ways for us to prepare for the renewal of our Baptism commitment at Easter is by celebrating the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Lenten times for the Sacrament of Reconciliation are on Saturdays following the 8:15 am Mass until 10:00 am. We have added additional times on the Fridays of Lent, following the 7:00 am Mass until 8:30 am and again following the 12:05 pm Mass until 1:30 pm. Our School students (Grades 5-8) will celebrate the Sacrament on Wednesday, March 22, following the 8:15 am School Mass. Additional times are scheduled during Holy Week. This season is an ideal time for each of us to celebrate this powerful sacrament of God’s healing.
We remember in our Lenten prayer all those who spend this Lent in preparation for their initiation into the church community at the Easter Vigil. We do this in a public and formal way with the celebration of the Scrutinies, or Rites of Inner Healing, with our Elect during the middle weeks of Lent. Today, we celebrate the Second Scrutiny at the 10:00 am Mass. Our Cycle A Readings lead us in our celebration of the Scrutinies. For the Second Scrutiny, we are guided by today’s Gospel of the man born blind. His story is really the story of those who are preparing for their Baptism. Next week, we will celebrate the third and final Scrutiny at the 10:00 am Mass. Photos of the Elect and the Candidates for Full Communion are now displayed in the Narthex.
Many of us have been using Bishop Ken Untener’s “The Little Black Book” during these past few weeks of Lent. The Lenten “Little Books” have given us daily six-minute reflections on the Passion according to John. We will have copies of “The Little White Book” for the Easter Season available next weekend. “The Little White Book” begins on April 10, Easter Monday, and provides us with daily six-minute reflections on the resurrection narrative according to Luke. Easter season will conclude on Pentecost Sunday and these books are an excellent guide for us “to spend some quite time with the Lord.”
This weekend, we have the opportunity to join with Catholic parishes throughout our diocese in responding to the annual Catholic Relief Services Collection. Funds raised through this annual collection go directly to Catholic Relief Services and are used to make an immediate response to natural disasters as they occur throughout the world. Envelopes for this collection were included in the packets mailed to our homes. Additional contributions may be made by writing “CRS” on the white pew envelopes or through our parish website. Thank you for your generous response to this annual appeal.
Join us today for the 60th Annual St. Joseph’s Table from 2:00 to 5:00pm in the Ministry Center.
We welcome spring tomorrow, Monday, March 20 at 4:24 pm CDT. As Lent progresses, let us continue to pray for and support each other in our Lenten practices. Know that your priests pray for you each day. May God continue to bless us with everything that we need, and more.
Father Jim Murphy