More than half of Lent 2023 is officially in the books, so perhaps it’s time for a
metaphorical locker room speech to get us fired up for finishing strong. Maybe you’ve had the best few Lenten weeks of your life, and you are getting more than usual out of our traditional practices of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. If that’s the case, good for you, keep up the good work, and imagine me giving a rousing discourse that encourages you to finish strong. The more likely scenario is that you have trailed off from your Lenten resolutions, and you are headed for a Lent where you went in like a lion but come out like a lamb, and not even a Paschal Lamb at that. If that’s the case, know that you are in good company, and there is still time to pick yourself up, embrace your Cross, and follow Jesus more closely. Our Lord is not to be outdone in generosity, and any efforts we make at renewing our commitment to loving Him more this Lent will not go unnoticed. Easter is on the line, and the more we commit to preparing our hearts for it now, the greater our joy will be at the Savior’s Resurrection. Go get ‘em in the second half.

A few things I would invite you to, towards this goal of strengthening your Lenten outcomes, are John Leyendecker’s Lenten talk on Wednesday, March 29 at Our Lady of the Valley church at 7:00 pm and to participate fully in the Triduum in our family of parishes. John Leyendecker from Holy Family School of Faith will be here this week to give a talk entitled, “The Gospel: What It Is, Isn’t, and How It Changes Everything.” Sometimes we fall into a complexity bias, wherein we trick ourselves into thinking that the more complex and intricate something  is, the more truth and value it contains. But the kerygma of the Church, its most basic teachings, are shocking in their simplicity, but also profound enough that we can always delve more deeply into them. We look forward to hosting John and entering into a deeper  understanding of the Gospel.

Along these same lines, the foundational feast of the Church’s calendar is Easter, and Holy Week is filled with celebrations that help us enter into that relatively simple concept: Jesus Christ is God become man who died for us. In Palm Sunday, we relive His entry into Jerusalem to begin final preparations for His saving work. In Holy Thursday, we commemorate His Last Supper that defines
our worship and what defines us as His disciples. In Good Friday, we gather in memory of His ultimate sacrifice, and in the Easter Vigil, we celebrate the mystery of our creation, fall, and redemption in Christ. Christmas might get more of the limelight, but Easter is the story of who we are. There are few things I love more as a priest than gathering in the darkness of the church on the evening of the Easter vigil, singing the praises of the Light of Christ sent into the world, and then glorying in the story of the Resurrection. I would love to pack the Church and see a great many of you there, so we can pray together in thanksgiving for the redemption offered to us by Jesus’ perfect love.
 
Prayers always,
Fr. McC