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February 3, 2023Family Faith Formation
This Sunday after the 11am Mass
In my humble opinion Family Faith Formation is going extremely well. Madison Salzillo is doing a great job of reaching out to the parents of our children and that is a great win not only for the families themselves but also for our entire faith community. Parents truly want to be formed in the faith and empowered to share their love of God with their children. And I am so pleased that even some of the parents who make the financial sacrifice of sending their children to Catholic schools are attending the monthly sessions.
This Sunday talk about Evangelization or put more simply, what it means for all members of our faith community to tell others the Good News about Jesus Christ. We also focus on Ash Wednesday and how to get ready for the practices of Lent. All are welcome. There’s little more than two weeks until the beginning of Lent so now is a good time to start thinking about how we might become more like Jesus during this special time.
During Lent, when your friends or co-workers express curiosity about Catholic customs and symbolism, use those moments as opportunities to evangelize! Following are three common questions Catholics hear during Lent and some evangelizing answers.
Ash Wednesday: What’s with that dirt on your head?
Who hasn’t gotten that question on Ash Wednesday before? Do you feel silly when people ask you about your ashes? And is it hard to answer their questions? Having ashes on your forehead isn’t just some weird Catholic thing: it’s a tradition that finds its roots in the Old Testament. “I turned to the Lord God, to seek help, in prayer and petition, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes” (Daniel 9:3). When the ashes are placed on our foreheads in the sign of the Cross, it is a reminder of several things. First, it is a call to repentance: a physical sign that we are sinners in need of forgiveness, which is how the prophets used it in the Old Testament. Second, it is to remind us that God created us from the earth and when we die, we will return to it. But here’s the best part: As the late Pope Benedict XVI has said, “Man is dust and to dust he shall return, but dust is precious in God's eyes because God created man, destining him to immortality.” God so loves us that, even when our bodies return to the dust, our souls are meant to live forever with him. The ashes symbolize all of this.
Abstinence: So why aren’t you eating pepperoni pizza on Friday?
You love pepperoni pizza. You eat it all the time. Suddenly, you can’t have it on Fridays?! What could possibly be going on? It must be that Catholic thing, again. Absolutely! On Fridays during Lent, we particularly remember the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. In memory of this great sacrifice, we continue the tradition of penance and sacrifice – abstaining from meat on Fridays is an outward manifestation of an interior reality: the conversion of our hearts. As Pope John Paul II has said, “In fact, the external aspects of fasting, though important, do not convey the full measure of the practice. Joined to the practice should be a sincere desire for inner purification, readiness to obey the divine will and thoughtful solidarity with our brothers and sisters, especially the very poor.” Christ himself fasted and prayed in the desert. Through fasting and praying, we unite ourselves with the sacrifice of Christ. It’s a little thing to give him in the face of his ultimate sacrifice, but what a grace that our God accepts and loves little gifts!
External Sacrifice: So why exactly are you not eating candy for the next month?
This is a very popular penance during Lent, and the questions about it are just as popular. Heaven forbid you should avoid the cake at the birthday party! You LOVE cake! But it’s Lent – a time for penance and sacrifice. Christ has said, “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23). Giving up something we enjoy strengthens our love for Christ and our resilience against temptation. Through fasting and praying, we allow Christ to come and satisfy the deepest hunger that we experience in the depths of our being: the hunger and thirst for God. It unites us with Christ’s own sacrifices and gives us a deeper appreciation of the blessings in our lives.
