We can be people of habit. This season of Lent is a time for us to change things up – to shift from our usual routine. Now I know what you’re thinking – I don’t have time to let go of anything! I have too many things on my plate as it is! But if we think about it there are certainly things we can let go of. TV, social media, the busyness and distractions that we tend to fill our lives with. Letting go of things for God’s sake, we find ourselves better off. Not less but more capable of handling the everyday and necessary things of in our lives.

Spend time in our chapel to quiet down in prayer, turn on EWTN TV or Catholic Radio, open your bible and read one of the gospels or turn to our parish-sponsored online portal Formed.org. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to get closer to God this Lent. You will find that the loss of your usual routine results in gains that you couldn’t even imagine!

Speaking of Formed.org, here is a testimony from one of our families about how Formed (available free at our parish website) has brought them blessings:

As we explore some of the programs on Formed.org as a couple or as the whole family, we truly find the treasure of our Catholic faith and deepen our understanding on the beauty of Catholicism. The 1st program that we watched together is “Who Am I to Judge” – responding to Relativism with love and logic by Dr. Edward Sri. As many Catholics confused by the very popular phrase by Pope Francis “Who Am I to Judge”, we were actually brought to a deeper understanding by making a sound moral judgement as responsible Catholics out of love. Dr. Sri also made a very eloquent reasoning regarding the danger of relativism among young people by contrasting the traditional view and the relativistic view, which made us understand better how to respond to some important issues through logic and common sense. Another interesting point is the way Dr. Sri emphasized how Catholic Church disagrees with the world view on some moral issues doesn’t mean that we hate the other party at all. Instead it’s out of God’s love and mercy that The Church keep on teaching what She teaches today. At the end of the 8 – 30 minutes series, we felt so blessed to be Catholic and love The Church even more and are eager to share this treasure with others. The program even provides the materials both for participants and leader for use in a Bible study group setting. 

There are many wonderful programs on Formed.org. Another is called, “Forgiven,” which we are sharing after Thursday Soup Suppers during Lent. This series helps explain how each human person is created with an inner longing for God and how sin in ourselves and in our world wounds us deeply. Wounds untreated get worse. But God didn’t leave us without a remedy for this wounded-ness.

Lent is the time to go to the Sacrament of Reconciliation, also known as Confession. God is right there to bring us the profound healing and forgiveness we all long for. Let’s face it, all of us are wounded and all of us wound others. Sometimes we carry these wounds and inflict wounds upon others for years. But God NEVER gives up on reaching out to us. God pricks us in our conscience when we wound ourselves and others with sin. This is God’s way of making us aware that He loves us and wants to reconcile with us. He longs for our return and has given the Church a sacrament to celebrate it. But often we remain where we are to our own detriment and that of others..

Consider this: are you more or less kind, loving and merciful than you were 2 years ago? Be realistic and take a deep look at yourself. If we find ourselves on the “lesser” side of this equation, then it’s time to come back to God in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Telling God what we’re sorry for and then hearing the God’s words of absolution from a priest, you will experience a tremendous load taken from you. And you will be more able to offer God’s kindness, love and mercy with others.

St. John Paul II once said, “The greater the misery of the penitent, the greater the gift of God’s mercy.” God awaits you to listen to you, to absolve you and to celebrate your return to Him. Come to God this Tuesday or Wednesday evening in our church at 7:00 PM, or Saturdays in Lent before Holy Saturday at 3:30pm to share in God’s great gift of mercy for you.