7th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

Ninety-six days! That is the span of time which begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Pentecost Sunday. We divide it into three segments—forty-three days of Lent, three days of the Paschal Triduum, and fifty days of Easter—but it is really one continuous event prepared for in Lent, highlighted in the Triduum, and celebrated in Easter.

Our Community celebration begins with Mass on Ash Wednesday evening. Besides Mass on the Sundays of Lent and Easter, it will include: a Liturgy of Reconciliation on Tuesday, March 10; a community supper on Wednesday, March 4; simple suppers in members’ homes on the next four Wednesdays; a community supper on Holy Thursday, April 9; and the Liturgies of the Triduum, April 9, 10, and 11. Those events are not ritual paces that we go through in order to maintain the façade of a quasi-parish. They are opportunities for us as individuals and as a community to grow in God’s plan for us. None of those events is for a select few. They are for the whole People of God. I encourage all of you to participate as fully as you can.

God is not confined to any calendar, but a calendar can help us focus on signs of God’s presence. Do you want the Holy Spirit to touch you on Pentecost? Begin preparing for that touch on Ash Wednesday.


Peace and every blessing,

Loren, OFM