2nd Sunday in Lent

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

Tuesday we will celebrate our annual Lenten Liturgy of Reconciliation. Catholics of my generation or older remember when confession filled us with shame and fear. How blessed we are now to experience this sacrament as a celebration of God’s love! Yes, it involves acknowledging our sin; but even more, it celebrates God’s healing love. Last Sunday’s bulletin included a meditation and a guide for examination of conscience. I encourage all of you to join the community in celebrating Reconciliation this Tuesday.

On the next three Sundays we will be praying Eucharistic Prayer 2, a prayer composed after the Second Vatican Council. Eucharistic Prayer 1, which we used on the First Sunday of Lent, is the oldest eucharistic prayer in the Roman rite. However, the original prayer on which Eucharistic Prayer 2 is based is older, going back to the third century. Eucharistic Prayer 2 is brief and doesn’t ordinarily lend itself to a celebration worthy of a Sunday community. I tend to limit its use to the more subdued middle Sundays of Advent and Lent.

I trust that you have all been notified of the annual Catholic Ministries Appeal in the archdiocese. The CMA is not a specific part of our community’s Lenten program, but it does happen to occur during Lent. We are all hurting financially. I encourage you to support the ministries of the archdiocese as generously as you can. Live simply so that others can simply live.


Peace and every blessing,

Loren, OFM