2/7/21

Dear St. Joseph Parish Family,

Easter is earlier than usual this year (April 4th) which means that Lent is almost upon us: Ash Wednesday is in a week and a half, on February 17th. I encourage you to start thinking about how you should spiritually prepare for Lent this year. Although it feels as if it’s been Lent for almost this whole past year, given the pandemic, the actual liturgical season of Lent can be a time of great grace. It’s a time when we can prepare ourselves for Easter and come closer to Jesus. In order to spiritually thrive during Lent, there are the penances the whole Church undertakes, such as fasting on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday and abstaining from meat on Ash Wednesday and Fridays in Lent; in addition, the Church also encourages us to take up personal penances. 

In this week and a half before Lent, we should all consider what penances we want to personally undertake. Consider what hinders you from hearing God’s voice and following His will; that is where you should start in your prayers about what penance to undertake this Lent. Possible penances could be giving up social media, or blogs and podcasts, or surfing the web, or using one’s phone for anything except work. The key is to use penances to open spaces in our souls so that we can hear God speaking to us. They are not meant to be as painful as possible, but ways in which we can find the spiritual space to encounter Jesus Christ more intimately. They are not ends in themselves, but means of shoring up our spiritual foundations in Christ. Just giving up chocolate will not accomplish that goal, unless of course, it’s chocolate that prevents you from hearing God more clearly. 

Taking time to spiritually prepare for Lent is time well spent– there are so many special graces God wants to give us this Lent and being prepared to receive them will help us to take advantage of those graces. May this Lent be a time of great growth in holiness for all of us!