Lent starts this week with Ash Wednesday, but as good Catholics we celebrate Mardi Gras the day before. I hope you all have tickets for our Tolton Mardi Gras. It should be a great party. Let the good times roll from 5:30 – 7:30 PM.
Once again, our Ash Wednesday Mass will be at 6 PM.
It is often asked why do bad things happen to good people? In our first reading Sirach gives us an answer: “As the test of what the potter molds is in the furnace, so in tribulation is the test of the just.”
One of the most difficult things we face in this life is death. In our second reading St. Paul tells us “Therefore, my beloved brothers and sisters, be firm, steadfast, always fully devoted to the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” Jesus has taken the sting from death.
Today’s Gospel has a series of Jesus’ sayings. The most famous is the one about the splinter in your brother’s eye, while you have a beam in your eye. It always seems easier to see someone else’s sins. Think about this one and this other as well: “A good tree does not bear rotten fruit, nor does a rotten tree bear good fruit. For every tree is known by its own fruit.”
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. Let us also pray for those who are victims of sexual abuse and mass shootings.
A Father Tolton Prayer:Father in Heaven, Father Tolton’s suffering service sheds light upon our sorrows; we see them through the prism of your Son’s passion and death. If it be your Will, O God, glorify your servant Father Tolton, by granting the favor I now request through his intercession (mention your request) so that all may know the goodness of this priest whose memory looms large in the Church he loved. Complete what you have begun in us that we might work for the fulfillment of your kingdom. Not to us the glory, but glory to you O God, through Jesus Christ, your Son and our Lord; Father, Son and Holy Spirit, you are our God, living and reigning forever and ever. Amen.