I hope you notice something new in the church this morning besides the color rose. At the choir’s suggestion, we have bought new song books as part of our 90th Anniversary Celebration. We tried to supplement our old ones but they were out of print. So, we bought the new second edition of “Lead Me, Guide Me”. Each book with our name on it costs $17.00, so please use them and treat them well.
Save this date: April 24, the Father Tolton Play will be at St. Joe High School at 7 PM.
Lent is half over. It is a long standing custom to give up something for Lent. Some common things are: giving up smoking, drinking of alcohol, candy, etc. We give up something in Lent as a penance, since it is the penitential season preparing for Easter. It is a reminder of God’s love for us, as we give up something to show our love for God. This becomes clear in our Ash Wednesday liturgy when we are asked to do three things: pray more, fast, and give to the poor. So then pray, fast, and give alms for the forty days of Lent. As Jesus spent 40 days in the desert, we spend 40 days in Lent with prayer, fasting and almsgiving.
Today is Laetare (Rejoice) Sunday. We are not rejoicing because Lent is half over but because we are almost to Easter. Our first reading from the 2nd Book of Chronicles gives us a brief history of the Babylonian Captivity and the liberation. It points out that God moves history through us who live it. His message comes from prophets, both religious and secular.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus talks about his own death and being lifted up on the cross as Moses lifted up a bronze serpent to save his people from snake bites. We rejoice that Jesus died for our sins, but also in his resurrection and in “For God so loved the world that he gave us his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.”
Saint Paul in today’s second reading tells the Ephesians and us that God loves us “even when we were dead in out transgressions (he) brought us to life with Christ.”
Saturday, March 17 is a great day for the Irish as the Church celebrate St. Patrick, the former slave who brought Christianity to Ireland.
Let us continue to pray for peace in the world. Let us also pray for vocations to the church. Let us pray for the sick of the parish. Let us pray that all will come to respect life. Let us pray for one another and for the canonization of Father Tolton.