Dear friends in Christ
We have begun Lent, and hopefully we are still persevering! Every First Sunday of Lent we hear in the Gospel the template for living this holy season—Jesus goes into the wilderness for forty days to pray and fast. In imitation of Jesus, we enter into a spiritual combat using the weapons of prayer, mortification and works of charity. Last weekend I said that the clear challenge for Lent is that we arrive at the celebration of the Paschal Triduum—Holy Week and Easter—having become much more the person Jesus wants us to be; a better version of ourselves, as Jesus desires. The way we achieve this is our choice, and we are free to choose those weapons which will make us more prayerful, spiritually robust and more loving to one another. We should have resolved to make this the best Lent ever of our lives. An essential part of this discipline is the reception of the Sacrament of Reconciliation—Confession. Perhaps this Lent will be the time when we return to this Sacrament, or make a really well-prepared Confession, the Confession that God has perhaps been awaiting for a long time?
Please pray for the four adult candidates from our Parish Family who will be presented to the Bishop this Sunday at the Rite of Election in Brentwood Cathedral; they will be receiving the Sacraments of Initiation at Easter or later this year. Also, for our young adults who will begin their preparation for the Sacrament of Confirmation at Pentecost. May they be assisted by our prayers and inspired by the Holy Spirit to a love of Christ and His Church.
May God bless you all through this pilgrimage of Lent!
Msgr Kevin Hale