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Father Barry's February 2010 Pastor Pages
Being a disciple of Jesus Christ means being a good steward. In the Bible a steward is a person to whom the owner of the household turns over
responsibility for caring for the property, managing affairs, making resources yield as much as possible, and sharing the resources with others.
The position involves trust and accountability. In both the Old Testament and New Testament of the Bible, the image of a steward is used to describe
a faithful servant of God and a true disciple of Jesus Christ. In the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30) Jesus used the metaphor or image of
a steward to describe what it means to be his disciple.
As its core, stewardship involves a recognition that all we are and all we have comes from God's goodness toward us. God has entrusted to us certain
people, places and things in our lives and expects us to care for them responsibly. We do not own them since they come from God and ultimately
return to God. St. John of the Cross put it most succinctly when he wrote "All is gift."
Knowing all that we have and are come from God, what response are we to make to God? We respond to God in gratefulness and offer ourselves back in
thanksgiving. We show our gratitude to God by being good stewards or caretakers of what has been given to us. We show our thanksgiving to God by helping
make fruitful for God those people and things temporarily placed in our care as disciples. However, being a good and responsible steward takes
discernment and work. Various negative influences in society around us and temptations can de-rail our efforts to be good stewards. We can misuse,
waste, neglect or abuse those people, places and things entrusted to us. When we do this, we enter into sin.
Over the next few years the Diocese of Salina is placing greater emphasis on stewardship as a way of better understanding what it means to be
a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ. We will be asked to reflect on our stewardship of time, our talents/abilities, and material resources.
There is a bulletin insert this week to assist you to evaluate how you are being a steward of TIME. That is, how are you using your time to
serve God through your family, community and Church. You do not need to return this form since it is intended to be a personal help to you and
your family. Every parish in the diocese is using a similar form since we are focusing on stewardship together as a Church.
The word "lent" comes from the old Anglo-Saxon word for springtime, "lencten." This term was used to describe the gradual lengthening of
daylight in the Spring. In the 2nd century the early Church began to develop a tradition of having special days of preparation for the celebration
of Easter. Easter was considered the greatest celebration and holy day in the Church because it was the celebration of Christ's victory over sin
and death, and His promise to us that we too can share in his resurrection. From the 2nd to the 4th century the days of spiritual preparation for Easter
slowly developed into the season we call Lent. By the 4th century Lent was a forty day season of preparation.
The Church settled on 40 days for the season of Lent because of the meanings associated with this number: Jesus fasted for 40 days in the desert
before he began to publicly minister, Moses spent 40 days on Mount Sinai before receiving the ten commandments, Elijah fasted for 40 days on his
journey to Mount Horeb, and the Israelites traveled for 40 years in the desert before arriving in the Promised Land.
Lent has no meaning by itself. It is intended to prepare us for Easter and the celebration of the resurrection. From the earliest centuries of Christianity
and the Church, three themes hold together the 40 days of Lent. The three themes hold together the 40 days of Lent. The three themes of Lent are (1)
the mystery of Jesus' death and resurrection; (2) the implications of this mystery for those preparing for baptism and membership into the Church;
(3) a spiritual renewal of faith and deeper conversion on the part of those already baptized. These themes have not always received equal emphasis
over the centuries. Preparation for baptism, the original heart of Lent, had almost disappeared until it was re-emphasized by the Second Vatican
Council in 1965.
The atmosphere of Lent takes on a somber mood. At Mass, the joyous Alleluia and Glory to God are dropped or omitted, as well as colorful decorations
such as flowers. The color purple is intended to be a penitential color, inspiring us to reflect on sin and our need for greater conversion of heart.
Until recent times, it was customary to cover prominent statues and crucifixes in church with a purple cloth as a sign of sadness and mourning. Fasting
and abstinence during Lent promotes self-discipline, supports one's prayer, is an expression of sorrow for sin, and helps a person be mindful of the poor,
who have no choice but to go hungry. In the end, Lent is a season that is intended to lead us to a deeper intimacy with God and inspire us to greater
service to neighbor.
More often than not, the beginning of Lent catches people unprepared - unprepared to make the season of Lent a spiritually meaningful time.
Lent begins this Wednesday so now is the time to begin thinking and reflecting on how to make the season of Lent special for yourself, your
marriage, your family, your relationships. Deepening one's trust in God and intimacy with Christ takes time and sacrifice. It doesn't happen
naturally or by accident. The Evil One is more than happy to distract and deter a person from observing the season of Lent. But if we take the
opportunity, Lent can help us to consciously focus on our communion with God which in turn fortifies our hope, strengthens our capacity for love
and deepens our faith or trust in God's power and goodness. There are various opportunities to make Lent a meaningful season. Some of these
activities can be done individually or as a family.
Daily Mass at 7:15 a.m.: There is no better way to begin the day than with prayer & consciously placing ourselves into the loving
heart of God.
Stations of the Cross: The Stations of the Cross are prayed every Friday of Lent at 7:00 p.m. in the Church. This simple and brief
time of prayer helps us to appreciate Jesus' great sacrifice and love for us.
Private Prayer: Lent prayer booklets are available in the connecting link to assist you in practicing daily prayer throughout
the season of Lent. These prayer booklets are both informative as well as inspirational.
Adult Spiritual Formation: On each Sunday evening of Lent from 7-8 p.m. in hte parish hall there will be a session addressing
some aspect of our Catholic faith and life. See bulletin announcement (or the Lent 2010 page of the parish website)
for more details.
Sacrament of Reconciliation:Specific times are arranged durign Lent for all students in our religious education program
to experience this sacrament of forgiveness and hope. For adults there are other opportunties provided for this sacrament, including every
Saturday from 4-4:30 p.m. in the church.
Eucharistic Adoration: Eucharistic Adoration occurs every Monday beginning immediately after the morning Mass and concludes at
7:00 a.m. on Tuesday morning. Many parishioners devote one hour each week to private prayer and reflection during Eucharistic Adoration. This could
be a Lenten exercise for those who don't regularly take advantage of this time to pray in the presence of Christ.
St. Augustine once wrote that "God is more anxious to bestow divine blessings on us that we are to receive them." Lent can be a season of
blessing if we but take the time and opportunity to be open to what God wants to do in us and for us during this special time.
Occasionally Catholics and visitors to our church will ask why the priest after communion places consecrated hosts, the Body of Christ,
in various pill-box like containers that are found on the corner of the altar. The consecrated hosts are placed in what is called a pyx
(pronounced "piks") for parishioners who are commissioned to serve as Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion to the homebound. They
bring the Eucharist, the Body of Christ, to those unable to join us at Mass due to age, sickness or other infirmities.
Lay ministers who bring Eucharist to the sick and those confined to their homes are participating in a practice that flourished from the 2nd
to the early 5th centuries. Around the year 150 a.d., St. Justin Martyr ntoed in his writings that in Rome, specially commissioned individuals
took the Eucharist to those Christians who were absent from the assembly because of illness or imprisonment for their Christian faith. In these
early centuries of Christianity lay persons also carried the Eucharistic bread hoem with them from the Sunday Eucharist and kept it in their homes.
There, the Body of Christ became the family's "daily bread" as they reverently consumed the Eucharist together before their regular meal.
Today the Church continues this practice of providing communion to those who are unable to join us at Sunday Mass. The Church does this by
commissioning men and women to be extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion to the homebound. These special Eucharistic ministers also share prayer
and Sacred Scripture with the homebound or hospitalized person. In a very real and powerful way these special ministers who serve our homebound
parishioners are a bridge between these individuals and the broader parish community.
It is important to appreciate how these special lay communion ministers do not simply bring communion (a consecrated host) to a parishioner
who is homebound but they also share communion with them through shared prayer, reflection, and fellowship. Through their visit these special
Eucharistic ministers are allowing a sick brother or sister in Christ to experience communion with the larger Church through a representative of the
parish community. To put it in another way, those who serve as extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion are bringing Christ to others in the
sacrament of the Eucharist as well as being a sacrament of God's love by visiting them in their home. On many different levels, God's invisible
love is being made visible. It is a sacramental moment.
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Pastor Pages Archives
Being the Body of Christ 2/7/10
The Season of Lent Begins 2/14/10
The Meaning of Lent 2/21/10
Responding to God as a Good Steward 2/28/10
January 2010 Pastor Pages
March 2010 Pastor Pages
April 2010 Pastor Pages
May 2010 Pastor Pages
June 2010 Pastor Pages
July 2010 Pastor Pages
August 2010 Pastor Pages
September 2010 Pastor Pages
October 2010 Pastor Pages
Current Pastor Pages
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