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.

The way we speak to others is so important - our words can either bless others or curse others. Fr. Dave challenges us to be mindful and intentional with our words this Lent, speaking words that encourage and build apart instead of words that accuse and tear down. 
Fr. Dave quotes the following passage from Pope Francis' encyclical Fratelli tutti (On fraternity and social friendship):
Approaching, speaking, listening, looking at, coming to know and understand one another, and to find common ground: all these things are summed up in the one word “dialogue”. . . . It involves “speaking words of comfort, strength, consolation and encouragement” and not “words that demean, sadden, anger or show scorn” [208, Amoris Laetitia]. (198, 223, Fratelli tutti)

We celebrated our Confirmation Mass this weekend, with 72 youth and adults receiving the sacrament on Saturday morning. Fr. Dave invited Chris Storm, our Director of Religious Education, to talk about confirmation and what it means for each of us.
Chris answers the question he poses - if you had to choose, Christ or Chicken Wings? - with the point that it isn't either/or; we don't have to make a choice. This is not where we are Church - this is where we come because we are Church out there. We gather here to become Church when we go out for chicken wings, or to the river, or to a movie. Don't take for granted what a beautiful thing it is to be Church together.

Our world is beset with serious problems, as are our personal lives at one time or another. But those problems don't have the last word. Every once in a while, turn off the screeching - the cable and talk radio and social media - and find a way to laugh, to play, to be delighted. This is still God's world, we are still His beloved children, and our Father's plan hasn't been derailed.