Just a word before we go...Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time...February 19, 2023

We hear in all our readings today that God’s Spirit dwells with in us, that we are not to pass on any evil we might receive, but we are to work for reconciliation. We are to love our neighbor as ourself, including our enemies. We are to be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect.  Phew!...a pretty tall order for us mere human beings!

But Jesus, who came into the world to show us how to live, revealed God to us as being full of forgiveness and love. And if we are made in God’s image and likeness, as we are and as indeed Jesus was, we must have the capacity to reflect that image and likeness to the world, at least as well as we are able to. 

Jesus is our preeminent model of the ways of God, and as every teacher knows, modeling is the best teacher.   So how do we begin to follow our model?

Lent is the perfect time for us to re-orient ourselves toward the ways of God, by paying more attention to our model. 

There are many opportunities this Lent to move closer to God, some of which are included in the Lenten Booklet at the doors of the church.  To name a few: This Wednesday is Ash Wednesday...Masses are t 9 am and 6 pm. Mass will be celebrated on the Fridays of Lent at 9 am; the sacrament of Reconciliation will be offered each Saturday in Lent at 4 pm; the SAVE group (St. Anthony’s Values the Environment) is offering presentations on sustainable living, as we work toward preserving God’s creation by following Pope Francis’ call in Laudato Si;  Taize’ Prayer returns on the Friday evenings of Lent at 7 pm here in the church (and if you haven’t experienced Taizé at our parish before, you owe it to yourself to do so this Lent).

Following the 5 pm Mass on the first five Saturdays of Lent is our annual Soup Supper, in the parish hall, where a simple meal of soup, bread and water (maybe some wine!) allows us to gather to support the Thomas Merton Center by contributing at the door whatever you might have spent on dinner that evening. There are retreat opportunities available and other offerings as well. (And while not a true Lenten offering, Cardinal Robert McElroy of San Diego will be speaking at Fairfield University this coming Thursday at 5 pm on Synodality...it promises to be an enlightening evening. Details can be found in the bulletin.)

We invite you to consider these opportunities to grow closer to God this Lent.  We may not be candidates for perfection, but we can certainly follow our model, Jesus, as closely as possible, as we journey together this Lent.