-
February 25, 2022Ash Wednesday – March 2nd
Imposition of Ashes at 8am Mass or 6pm Mass
Also, at All Saints Episcopal at Noon and 7pm
I like the traditional way in which we all too human Catholics get ready for Lent. We get a little rowdy as we celebrate Mardi Gras, which literally means "Fat Tuesday" in French. My rowdiness on Tuesday will involve my normal Tuesday activity – a Farkle game at the Shrine Club’s Tuesday Night Supper Club. They are having one of my favorites this week – beef stew. And yes, the Catholic Table is known to get a little rowdy at times. And if Tuesday is Mardi Gras than Monday is Lundi Gras. Join us at the Sundae Café for a 5:30 setting on Monday for St. Michael’s Night Out. Tell them you’re with the St. Michael Group when making reservations - (912) 786-7694.
Ash Wednesday begins Lent. This period of Forty Days is a time of conversion and a time to deepen one's faith. Lent is a time to break out of that spiritual inertia that keeps us from truly living as loving disciples of Jesus Christ. The big focus this Lent will be on our Parish Mission, March 20 – 22, but I’ll have lots of other suggestions in my Tuesday Notes.
Lent no longer has the physical austerity that it once did, so I am ask all of you to take seriously today’s much easier rules of fasting and abstaining from meat. Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are obligatory days of fasting and abstinence for Catholics. In addition, Fridays during Lent are obligatory days of abstinence. The norms on fasting are obligatory from age 18 until age 59. When fasting, a person is permitted to eat one full meal. Two smaller meals may also be taken, but not to equal a full meal. The norms concerning abstinence from meat are binding upon members of the Church from age 14 onwards. Here on Tybee, it is not a real sacrifice to not eat meat on Ash Wednesday and the Fridays of Lent. So, just do it. We’ve gotten way too laid back about these practices.
February 27, 2022 | Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time | by the Faithful Disciple
Sir 27:4-7 | 1 Cor 15:54-58 | Lk 6:39-45
GROW: Parenthood can be humbling. When our children are young, we celebrate even the tiniest accomplishments: “You put on your socks!” or “Wow, good job putting your dish in the dishwasher!” And rightly so. Then come the teen years, and some of us can err on the side of criticism. “Why did you put off that project until the last minute?” “Turn off the electronics by 10 p.m. or else …” “What, another energy drink?” (We say, looking up from our own phone with a cup of tea in hand …) The same can be said of our spiritual lives. We want our children to pray and participate in the sacraments, but we may rush through Grace before meals, skip opportunities for confession, or treat holy Mass as an afterthought. Today’s Gospel reminds us why our admonitions won’t work if we don’t walk our talk: The blind can’t lead the blind. None of us is perfect, and neither are our children or the other people in our lives. But as our second reading reminds us, Jesus has won for us victory over sin. When we ask Jesus to help us remove the “wooden beam” for our own eyes, we can see his will for us more clearly and lift up those around us.
GO: We don’t have to be perfect to encourage one another in our faith. Like the “good tree” Jesus describes in the parable and the tree that bears “good fruit” in Sirach, however, we need to nourish our faith before we can share it with others. It can start with something as simple as adding prayer to our morning routine. We can bring our flaws, our doubts, our bad habits to Jesus and ask him to free us from whatever might be holding us back. As we accompany others, whether it is those with whom we live, work, or worship, we can turn to Jesus to help us be a force for good. We will stumble. But as St. Paul reminds us, “Be firm, steadfast, always fully devoted to the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.”
PRAY: Have you prayed The Examen? This Ignatian practice, often at the end of the day, encourages reflection – on God’s presence in our day and the areas where we may have fallen short. We can ask the Lord for forgiveness and the grace to do better tomorrow.
