Just a word before we go...Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time...March 2, 2025

How easy it is for us to see the fault of another, and how hard for us to recognize our own.  Jesus makes that point quite clearly with the splinter and wooden beam analogy in our gospel. 

             Most of us want to live good lives, but sometimes the world and our desires get in the way; perhaps we start out on a path and before we know it we are in the weeds.  How can we recognize that we have landed in the thornbushes?  In the past, the Church obliged us to spend the days of Lent examining and repenting our “weedy” behavior and speech; these days, it is up to us to recognize that we need Ash Wednesday and the days that follow, as a way to pay attention to how we are living, and to return to the ways that lead to the Lord. 

This Lent, the parish is offering many ways for us all to reflect and consider the our lives in the light of our faith.  In addition to two Masses on Ash Wednesday, at 10 am and 6 pm, there will be Masses on Friday mornings at 9 am, and Confession will be offered prior to the 5 pm Masses on Saturdays.  Our celebration of Taizé Prayer, with its meditative chants and provocative prayers, will return at 7 pm on Fridays. There is a retreat for Women at Fairfield University on March 12, from 6-9 pm, with the theme of “Chosen for Transformation, led by yours truly. Registration is required by March 4. There will be a Retreat for adults here at the parish on Saturday, March 29, from 9am -12:30, led by Patricia O’Connor, a board certified nurse practitioner specializing in hospice and palliative care, entitled “Navigating Life’s Final Journey,” offering conversations, choices and resources for dealing with serious illness in the family. There are also other retreat opportunities that can help us restore our balance.

The inward journey is essential, but Lent is not complete without looking outward as well, to our neighbors in need.  Our Soup Suppers return next Saturday evening following the 5 pm Mass, all the proceeds from which support the Food Pantry at the Thomas Merton Family Center; the Annual Bishop’s Appeal is back for 2025, a component of which is Catholic Charities, the largest single provider of human services in the world, and in need of our support.

As both Sirach and Jesus tell us today, the good tree produces good fruit, and our speech discloses what is in our hearts.  Lent is the time to get to the heart of things, to touch base with the goodness that lies within each of us.  Let us take this holy season of Lent as a time of reflection and renewal, that by the time of the Easter celebrations, we might more clearly represent the face of Christ to the world. 

The booklet describing our Lenten offerings is available at the doors of the church.