From the Desk of Fr. Paul - 6th Week in Ordinary Time - St. Katharine Drexel Church

On the 17th of February this year we begin the annual observance of LENT. I offer an article below for your reflection on the meaning of Lent and what we are invited to focus our atten-tion on during the days of Lent leading to the celebration of Easter.

On ASH WEDNESDAY we will have the opportunity to gather to celebrate the Eucharist and receive ashes (a sign of our willingness to enter into a time of repentance)
- Mass will be celebrated at 9:30 am that morning and at 7:00 pm that evening [7pm Mass will be live-streamed].
- We will also offer the opportunity to drive up in front of our building to receive ashes in your car (following COVID safety protocols). There will be two times - at 10:30 am and again at 6:00 pm. More details will be forthcoming.
- The LENTEN REGULATIONS are as follows:
1) Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are days of FASTING. The law of fast binds all Catholic who are 18-59 years old, unless excused for medical reasons. Fasting means having only one full meal on those days and two smaller meals (none of which can equal the one full meal).
- 2) Ash Wednesday and all Fridays of Lent (including Good Friday) are days of abstinence from meat, binding all Catholics who are 14 years old or older. The only exception this year is Friday, March 19th , the Solemnity of St. Joseph. If a Solemnity falls on a Friday in Lent abstinence is not observed.

Blessings to you all this coming Lent
~ Father Paul

Lent: A Sense of the Season
The word Lent means springtime. This word comes from the same root as lengthen. Daytime lengthens during Lent. The northern hemisphere turns toward the sun, the source of life, and winter turns into spring. In Hebrew, the word for repentance is the same as the word that means to turn, like the turning of the earth to the sun, like the turning of the soil before planting. “Even now, says the Lord, turn to me.” (Joel 2:12) The word sin means separation. We are called to turn from our separate selves, from our sin, to come together in community. Self-denial is the way we express our repentance.

In the lengthening brightness from Ash Wednesday until Holy Thursday afternoon, our holy Lent, we turn to God as our source of life. Self-denial is threefold, advises Matthew’s gospel. We pray: “Go to your room, close your door, and pray to your Fa-ther in private.” We fast: “No one must see you are fasting but your Father.” We give alms: “Keep your deeds of mercy secret, and your Father who sees in secret will repay you.” Through the Lenten exercise of prayer, fasting and almsgiving, we spring-clean our lives, sharpen our senses, put tomorrow in its place and treasure the day at hand.

Why are there forty days in Lent? It took forty days for sinfulness to drown in the flood before a new creation could inherit the earth. It took forty years for the generation of slaves to die before the freeborn could enter the promised land. For forty days Moses and Elijah and Jesus fasted and prayed to prepare themselves for a life’s work.

At the beginning of Lent, the bishop (pre-COVID) would call out the names of the catechumens who seek to be baptized at Easter. Their names are written in the book of the elect, the chosen. God has chosen them, and they have chosen to turn to God. Lent is the forty days before the baptism of the catechumens. The already baptized can share the excitement and the struggles of the elect and rediscover the meaning of baptism in their own lives. During the forty days, both catechumens and the faithful journey together to the holy font by celebrating the Scrutinies, all of us called to repentance and a deeper appreciation of God’s mercy.

We keep Lent together. We put aside our business-as-usual to support each other in prayer, fasting and almsgiving. We turn to God to enlighten us and purify us throughout the lengthening brightness of our holy season of Lent. “For now is the acceptable time! Now is the day of salvation!”

Copyright © 1997, Archdiocese of Chicago. Liturgy Training Publications, 1800 North Hermitage Avenue, Chicago IL 60622 1101; 1800 933 1800. Text by Peter Mazar. Art by Rita Corbin. [With a few additions by Rev. Paul Jaroszeski]