First Sunday of Lent

On the First Sunday of Lent - we always hear of the Temptation of Jesus in in the desert – this is a familiar Scripture story – we even have an ICON of this which we place at the entrance of the church during the season of Lent.

We have three traditional Lenten Practices – 

Pray / Fast / Give

These practices challenge us to leave behind whatever comes between us and our relationship with God… whatever stops us from living in the freedom of God’s Children.

Lent points us to Easter – and is all about Baptism.  For those preparing for Baptism - Lent is a season of Purification and Enlightenment.  For those of us already Baptized - this season is to help us prepare to renew our Baptismal Promises.  The first question asked at Easter when we renew these promises is: 

Do you reject sin, so as to live in the freedom of God's Children?

As a priest and as a parish team we have been thinking of ways to have a lenten "program" that embraces the entire parish. Often the stuggle with a “Lenten Program” a “Lenten Series”  is that we might be happy with 30 – 40 people - Yet ours is a vast Parish... I pray that we can connect the daily home life in the parish with Sunday.         

Pray / Fast / Give       

So we want to challenge you to see these practices in a new way – so there is an insert in the Bulletin, speaking about this... and it is available on our website: www.holyfamilybolton.ca 

We invite you – Pray / Fast / Give throughout the week - and then come to Mass and Tie a ribbon – on a tree - don’t worry about the colour. The ribbons – will represent our Praying, our Fasting, our Giving. They will represent our shedding all that binds us, and therefore prevents us from living in the freedom of God’s Children.  If you do three practices – you tie 3 ribbons

          Before mass? – after mass? – your choice!

If our Sunday worship is the most important thing which we do each week as Catholics … Then my hope is that this will connect our practices thru the week   with our Worship on Sunday!

Peace