Lent Begins When?

In case you haven't heard, Lent begins on, of all days, St. Valentine's Day.  February14th for the non-romantics out there.

Ash Wednesday, a day of fasting and abstaining vs. St Valentine's Day, a day of chocolates and date night dinners out.

You will all have to figure it out on your own.  I'm writing to encourage you to start thinking about Lent.

What are you going to do to draw closer to Christ this year?  After all, He made a pretty big sacrifice to draw close to us.  He came down from heaven!

Just let that sink in for a minute: The God who created EVERYTHING humbled Himself to become human so that we could know Him personally.

I think that makes what we do for Lent worthy of much thought and prayer.

There is a lot of reading material out there for the season.

Magnificat puts out a Lenten booklet available here.  It's concise and easy to read.  I used to buy it, but my parish now has them available for us for a $1 donation.

I'm intrigued by this offer called "The Last Four Things".  Daily email videos and essays to read for the 40 days of Lent.  The only thing slowing me down is the $20 price tag.  It looks amazing but if I get busy and fall behind I feel like I wasted my money. Praying about it.

Of course there is always that "giving up" part of Lent.  This year I am giving up internet time, whether it is on my computer or on my phone.  I am reading two wonderful books that encourage way less internet "boredom therapy."

I actually spent one full hour in front of the Blessed Sacrament today.  If I gave up an hour of internet time wasting I could do that everyday. I can't imagine the person I would be if I spent an hour with Jesus everyday (in addition to Mass).

I know for today I had a LOT to do.  I spent the hour anyway and got so much done afterwards that the day was just wonderful.  God will never let the important stuff go undone if you give Him your time first.

So, Lent starts in 19 days.  What is your Lent going to look like so that you look more like Christ at Easter?


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Ready?

 Are you ready for Easter?

I'm not.  It's not time to be ready because Easter is still 18 days away.

We're still in Lent, preparation time.

The lovely part is, the days are getting longer, and sunnier and warmer (in some places)!

That is great motivation for me to finish Lent strong.

How do we finish strong?  If you're on the the right track, fasting, praying and almsgiving,  then keep up the good work.

If you haven't started yet, there is still time.

You can still sign up for "The Best Lent Ever" at DynamicCatholic.com.  There is a daily reading or video to watch. They are both pretty short but meaningful.

You can still open up your Bible and read the Gospel for Mass for each day that is left (USCCB)--what the heck--keep reading it after Lent is over too.

Find a good cause, and when you give up something you like for your fast, make a donation.

Not fasting?  Give it a try. It changes your perspective on a lot of things.

Spend some time in quiet.  Turn off your phone, computer, or tablet. Whatever distracts you from thinking about God, turn it off.

Find out when a nearby church is doing Stations of the Cross.  This, too, will change your perspective on a lot of things; especially your suffering.

Eighteen days is a long time.  Jump in with both feet and see what God can do in that time period.  Your Easter season will be joyous and meaningful if you put in the effort to draw closer to God during Lent.


www.thatslife12.blogspot.com

Gearing up for Lent

Lent is right around the corner!

Ash Wednesday is February 18, 2015.

So, what are you doing to get ready and what will you do during this season to prepare your heart for the greatest day on the calendar, Easter Sunday?

Here are some options:

Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist has available a Lenten Journal.  It is part of their Disciple of Christ-Education in Virtue program.  I used it last year and it is excellent. Find it here:  https://www.sistersofmary.org/our-news/news/347-a-lenten-journal.html

For those who live in the greater Detroit area:

Holy Trinity Apostolate is having their annual Lenten Symposium on Saturday March 14, 2015 at Sts. Cyril and Methodius Slovak Catholic Church at 41233 Ryan Road in Sterling Heights .  Many great speakers are on tap for the day (including Archbishop Allen Vigneron). Lunch is included in your registration fee of $55. Register at: www.holytrinityapostolate.com     I have attended this several times and have never been disappointed. This year, my Dear One and I are making a weekend of it.

Church of the Divine Child 1055 N. Silvery Lane Dearborn, MI 48128 is hosting an event titled Discovering Christ. This is a free event but registration is required.  Meetings will take place each Friday, February 13-March 27 from 7-9 p.m. in the High School All-Purpose Room. Contact Karen at ChristLifeDC@gmail.com by February 6, 2015.

Many churches have fish fries on Friday evenings along with Stations of the Cross.

For those homebodies among us, try dynamiccatholic.com.  Matthew Kelly wants you to have your "Best Lent Ever" and it will come right to your inbox.  How easy can it get?

Confession of course!!  Check out times in your area at: masstimes.org  Click on confessions and it will only show those times, which makes things a lot easier to find.

Anyone know of anything else going on in your area?  Be sure to leave a comment so others can know too!

On Confession. Part 1

As Lent approaches the topic of Confession is talked about more frequently.

During Lent we are called to repentance, hence the purple color associated with the season.  For 40 days we have the opportunity to really dig deeply into ourselves and weed out the weak areas and try harder to work on the side of us that is truly approaching life as Christ has taught us.

Confession is a sore spot for many people. Maybe you've had a bad experience; a priest who was less than kind, or was in a hurry. Maybe you've sinned big time and are too embarrassed to admit it,  or maybe it's been a while and you don't remember what to do.  Whether you've grown up with it, learned about it and experienced it when you came into the Church in adulthood, or are a Christian who has only heard it talked about by friends who are Catholic, there is so much mystery surrounding it that it becomes a scary thing.

I've heard two talks on Confession in the past two weeks.  I'm grateful that nothing in the talks was new to me.  While I may not be as eloquent as the speakers I've listen to, I'll give it a go and try to do some explaining.

The biggest question out there is "why go to confession?"  The answer is, "Jesus said so."

On the evening of that first day of the week, (Easter Sunday) when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 20After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

21Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22And with that he breathed on them and said,“Receive the Holy Spirit. 23If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” (John 20: 19-23 parentheses and coloring mine.)

Two things about these verses:  1) "He breathed on them" is a reference back to Genesis when God created man: 7the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.  (Genesis 1:7).  (A new creation.)

By breathing the Holy Spirit into the disciples, Christ is making them a new creation.  They will no longer be the scared, hide behind closed doors, guys they were. They will go into the world and teach about Christ. 

2) 23If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”  Why would Christ give the disciples this gift if He did not anticipate them using it?  He knew that people would come to the disciples and confess their sins and seek forgiveness.  That was a huge part of the ministry of Christ and it needed to be carried on in the Church Christ established. 

To be continued . . .