Lent

What do we do with our loved ones whose lives are out of step with the Church? We love them; listen to them; accompany them. Share with them our own struggles and convictions. We keep them connected to Jesus through our love and prayers so that His grace can work in their lives. We can support those we love without celebrating every choice they make.
As difficult and uncomfortable as it might be, our call is to receive and to trust God; to create space in which His grace can work. We're speaking here about persons, not policies; Church teaching does matter. But love obeys the law of gradualness. Few of us reach the ideal to which we’re called all at once, whatever the virtue, and our culture only makes that harder, particularly in the area of sexuality.

Fr. Dave reads a contemporary version of the Prodigal Son parable and has the choir lead a response with the song "Hosea." The Prayers of the Faithful provide the application of Fr. Dave's core point: that God never gives up on us.
 
"Hosea". Text and music, Gregory Norbet, OSB, © 1972, The Benedictine Foundation of the State of Vermont, Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission. Permission to stream the music in this service obtained from ONE LICENSE, License #A-737156. All rights reserved.

Just as the gardener encourages patience and careful cultivation for the unproductive fig tree, God is patient and always willing to meet us where we're at - warts, defects, imperfections, and all. He needs only for us to open our hearts to His tender care.

The ultimate truth of our faith is this: when we die, Jesus alone will remain. Lent is about keeping that perspective front and center. Think about the Lenten practices you're committing to and use those as a way of remembering that He will be with you as you walk through every day of your life and into eternity, because Jesus alone remains.

Jesus gave us the gift of the Sacrament of Reconciliation because he knew that we would need help at times to correct our course and regain our closeness with Him. When we've moved away from God, we need to go back - and Reconciliation is the way to do it.

Lent reminds us that we cannot build our lives on our own; we need God in our lives and are absolutely dependent on Him. On our own, we are powerless; with God, we have everything that we need.

Practice hosannas by allowing your words to be those of encouragement and support, your prayers to be of praise and surrender and humility. And be alert for any way that, instead, you are giving in to a kind of "crucify him" by your words and actions.

Embracing the cross is a "perishable skill" - you lose it if you don't use it. How do we practice, though? Deacon Brett uses "Mother Teresa's Humility List" (see image below), and challenges us to choose one or two to work on this week (and in weeks to come).