Dear friends in Christ
The Gospel for this Sunday's Mass tells us about the cure of a man possessed by the devil. The name Belial or Beelzebub which we find in Scripture means unclean spirit. This victory over the unclean spirit is yet another proof of the coming of the Messiah, who arrives at length to free men from their most dreaded slavery: their slavery to the devil and to sin. This tormented man from Capharnaum cried out, What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God. And Jesus strictly commanded him, Be silent and come out of him!.. And they were all amazed. We can also be amazed at the way God in Christ has saved us—from our sins and from all that keeps us from perfectly following Jesus. We are exhorted in the Responsorial Psalm of the Mass: O that today you would listen to his voice! Harden not your hearts as at Meribah. Let us ask the Holy Spirit to help us to have a heart which is ever cleaner and stronger, capable of throwing off any oppressive bonds and of opening itself to God in the way that He expects of every Christian.
We are now seventy days away from Easter! In the classical Roman Calendar this Sunday was termed Septuagesima and the two successive Sundays: Sexagesima and Quinquagesima. This was and still is a helpful reminder to us that the days of the Lenten Spring are approaching; in this way, Ash Wednesday does not creep up too unexpectedly and we have time to prepare for how we shall live those Forty Days. You will see elsewhere in the Newsletter that we have a variety of spiritual exercises planned in the programme for Lent: we should start planning our diaries now! In the meantime, let us live daily in the fullness of what God has given us, not taking time or blessings for granted, so that as the hymn says: That with Thee we may appear, at the eternal
Eastertide.
God bless you!
Msgr Kevin Hale