February 19, 2012
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
May the grace and peace ofour Lord Jesus Christ be with you! I write to you in aspirit of gratitudeand joy. Through your generosity, and His blessing, we have several wonderful projects underway. As you’ve noticed, the Columbarium is almost completed. Shortly, you will begin to see construction of our Grotto and covered drop off area. Also, we are cleaning and replacing (as necessary) the windows in our buildings.
Another blessing, which we celebrate each year, is Lent. Lent begins on February 22, with Ash Wednesday. It is a time of penance, a time of hearing the voice of our Lord, calling us into deeper relationship with Himself. “These times are particularly appropriate for spiritual exercises, penitential liturgies, and pilgrimages as a sign of penance, voluntary self-denial such as fasting and alms giving, and fraternal sharing.” (CCC1438) These beautiful words from the Catechism of the Catholic Church instruct us as to how we can grow in Virtue and walk more closely to Christ.
One beautiful spiritual exercise of Lent is the Stations of the Cross. These may be prayed privately – in your home or with community – on Fridays. The liturgies of lent are equally beautiful; from Ash Wednesday to the liturgies of the Triduum on Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday. If you have never attended any of these Triduum liturgies, please make a resolution to join the parish family as we celebrate the Paschal Mystery of the Lord’s death and resurrection.
Though we may not be able to make pilgrimages to far-off places, we can make small pilgrimages such as, making a 15 minute visit to the Church during the day, or perhaps visiting a Cemetery.
I also encourage you to take the time to re-think our most common practice of “giving something up.” As the Catechism points out, these are to be acts of self denial and alms giving. For example, if we give up fast food, we might consider donating the money we would have spent on fast food to the poor, or making a donation to our parish food pantry. We should practice acts of piety in addition to making sacrifices.
Lastly, please remember that we abstain from meat on all Fridays in lent, and we fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. The church asks everyone between the ages of 14 and 60 (excepting those pregnant or nursing mothers) to observe these acts of self denial.
Please join me in prayer, fasting, and almsgiving as we put sin to death, and experience resurrection in our own lives. You will be in my special prayers this holy season.
I wish you all a blessed lent.
Yours Sincerely,
Fr. Rakshaganathan Selvaraj