Lent, a time to pray, fast and do penance
Tuesday 12 March 2019
Dear Parishioners,
Lent is the time to pray, fast and to do penance.
- Prayer; Mass attendance; family prayer; a visit to a Church or Chapel; reading the Bible; making the Stations of the Cross; praying the Rosary.
- Fasting; not eating meat, not eating sweets or deserts; giving up entertainment to spend time with the family; limiting food and drink so as to give to the poor of one's own country or elsewhere. Project Compassion is a major means of expressing our self-denial in Australia.
- Helping Others; special attention to someone who is poor, sick, elderly, lonely or over-burdened; or in other ways.
The Season of Lent is a time of penance. During this season the faithful are exhorted to devote themselves in a special manner to prayer, to engage in works of piety and charity, and to deny themselves.
Each of the faithful is obliged to receive Holy Communion at least once a year.
The wonderful gift of the Lord's merciful love is offered in a special way in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Lent is a most appropriate time to receive this Sacrament.
Let's also try to do the following. Fasting of:
- Negative words and saying kind words.
- Discontent and filling with gratitude.
- Anger and fill with meekness and patience.
- Pessimism and filling with hope and optimism.
- Worries and filling oneself with trust in God.
- Complaints and filling up with the simple things in life.
- Tensions and filling with prayers.
- Bitterness and sadness and filling the heart with joy.
- Selfishness and filling with compassion for others.
- Lack of forgiveness and filling of reconciliation.
- Words and filling with silence to listen to others.
Let us ask the Lord to bless our humble efforts.
Fr. Jose Joseph SAC