WHY GIVE ATTENTION TO LENT!

As a Seminarian, I consider the Lenten period a great opportunity to show my appreciation for Christ’s sacrifice and show that He did not die in vain.  The Lenten period allows us Christians to grow closer to God, to the church and our families.

Every Lenten period, I ask myself a question:  What strength did we receive during baptism? My first thought is the baptismal font: Whenever I pass near the baptismal font, I profess that were it not for the font, I would not be the way I am.  Had I not been washed and thus placed on the way to Eternal Salvation, I would not be a Christian or even a Seminarian.  Each year the Church uses this Lenten period to take us back to the baptismal font.  This is to remind us from where our lives in Christ started.  Therefore, during Lent we are invited to recall our relationship with Christ.  We are reminded how to walk with God.

We use the Lenten period to work on our sinful desires and do all we can to be closer to God.  During Lent, the main purpose of fasting in my view, is to deny or deprive ourselves of something tasty or delicious.  This cultivates in us the self-control that is necessary for overcoming sinful tendencies.  In short, as Christians, we deprive ourselves of something pleasurable so as to attune ourselves and bring our bodily senses under control for the sake of higher spiritual good.  This is the idea of fasting from meat! It is not a time to relish the best fish or go for costly sea foods! We should deny ourselves something we value (meat, beer, wine, sodas, sweets, lifestyles) and provide for others what they value, as a sign of love.  For fasting to be Salvific, it must hurt! The church also teaches us to set aside the proceeds from our fasting and give them out to the most vulnerable.  Look into your wardrobe and shoe rack and see what you can share with the less fortunate.

As we journey closer to God, let us thank God for granting us this Lenten period as a chance to repent and renew our lives.  May God help us as a community of OLM to align our choices to His Word through His Divine Grace.  Amen.      

Vincent

With the woman at the well, it is unclear why she has had five husbands. The detail is not included because it’s really not that important. Rather, we find her in the same situation that we all find ourselves: she is thirsting for authentic love—she is thirsting for God.

Unfortunately, we live in a fallen world without a lot of authentic love. In fact, cheapened love is all around us! One of its simplest and most prevalent forms is immodesty. Modesty keeps at the forefront that ‘I am more than my body, I am more than how attractive I am to others, I am first and most importantly a beloved child of God.’ Immodesty, on the other hand, cheapens love. For if modesty is about “protect[ing] the intimate center of the person,” then immodesty must be the opposite. (CCC 2521) This is because immodesty trains us to treat others (and ourselves!) as objects for use rather than persons to be sacrificed for. Thus, the Catechism says, “Modesty protects the mystery of persons and their love.” (CCC 2522) It is an invitation to authentic love and to seeing the full dignity of the human person.

Matthew 5:8 reads, “Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God.” Note, then, that this passage not only refers to seeing God Himself, but even seeing God in others! For, when we see others and ourselves in light of our being beloved children of God, then we can more readily treat them as such.

We can therefore see that ‘purity of heart’ extends to much more than just our sexuality. Soren Kierkegaard’s book, Purity of Heart is to Will One Thing makes just this point in an interesting way: if we want heaven, if we want peace, if we want a heart that is undivided and filled, then we must give our entire hearts to one thing and one thing alone: God.

“You shall love the Lord your God with ALL your heart!” (Deut 6:5) “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me.” (Matt 10:37) It seems harsh, it seems counterintuitive, but God needs to be number one—even before children and spouses, family and friends—not because He needs it, but because we need it.

Think about it. If God is my number one, I will love my spouse with the love of God. If God is my number one, I will be intimately acquainted with Beauty, Goodness, and Truth Himself and thus be able to lead my children to all those things. If God is my number one, I will know which path is best, which decision most efficacious, and which lifestyle the most meaningful.

Purity of heart is simplicity of heart—it is to will the one thing! It is the way to satisfy our thirst. The pure of heart will see God, and the pure of heart will find the fullness of love.

Father James

I remember shortly after being ordained, I decided that my Lenten sacrifice was going to be giving up adult beverages.  I don’t drink all too often, but it was still a sacrifice I thought was worthy to give over to the Lord.  Ash Wednesday came and the following weekend was a big St. Patrick’s Day celebration in the town.  I went to the parade; seeing parishioners in their festive green gear and I visited houses in the midst of the all day celebration.  A simple question was asked, “Father, can I get you a drink?”  You would think that my keen memory would remember the sacrifices I was going to make 3 days ago; but I forgot and I gladly said, “Yes”.  It wasn’t until that night when I got back to the Rectory that I realized, only 3 days into Lent and I already failed in my Lenten resolve.  It was a humbling experience, but another opportunity to join the patriarchs and apostles, and ask the Lord for his unending mercy!

The story of Abram (Abraham) is a story of salvation history and example of God’s patience.  The Lord even in the midst of many of Abram’s failure never removed God’s desire to be with His people.  Abram was promised great things; a great nation, a great name (dynasty), and a worldwide blessing.  But there was a requirement that we missed; he had to leave his kin behind. If you were to read one line past our first reading, you would discover he took his nephew Lot.  Throughout Abram/Abraham’s story, he falls short many times failing to give a complete surrender to the Lord; yet the Lord is kind and merciful.

This is no different for the Apostles and those who follow the Lord.  The season of Lent is a season of repentance, turning back to the Lord.  Let us ask the Lord for that continued gift to seek his mercy without end.  No matter how many times we fall. 

“Christian holiness does not mean being sinless, but rather it means struggling not to give in and always getting up after every fall. Holiness does not stem so much from the effort of man’s will, as from the effort to never restrict the action of grace in one’s own soul, and to be, moreover, grace’s humble ‘partner.'” ~ Pope St. JPII

Father Michael

Perhaps you remember some of my subtle comments from my last Sunday homily, as well as my last article where I quoted from St. Justin Martyr, writing in AD 151: “We call this food Eucharist, and no one else is permitted to partake of it, except one who believes our teaching to be true and who has been washed in the washing which is for the remission of sins and for regeneration and is thereby living as Christ enjoined.” At every funeral and wedding I make a similar announcement: “If you are Catholic and properly prepared to receive Communion this day—which means you’ve been to confession within the last year—we’ll form two lines…If you’re not Catholic, I invite you to receive a blessing by crossing your arms like so because receiving Communion in our faith tradition is an outward profession of the Catholic faith and an acceptance of everything the Church teaches as being true. Thank you for respecting our religion!” Why say such a thing? Isn’t it exclusive?

Well, yes, yes it is, but with good reason. First of all, I don’t want anyone who doesn’t actually believe Church teaching to unconsciously outwardly profess what they don’t actually believe! For many Protestants, communion is an expression of welcoming and loving one’s neighbor no matter who they are. For Catholics, Communion is just that: a consummation of communion with Jesus and His Body, His Bride, our Mother, the Church. Thus, if one isn’t actually in communion with Jesus or his Church—whether by deed or belief—”there’s a grave contradiction between one’s life and the meaning and content of the Sacrament.” (Feingold’s The Eucharist) St. Thomas refers to this as “lying to the sacrament.” The Church calls this “sacrilege”.

Those are strong words! Why?? Secondly, because Communion isn’t just a symbolic action: it is also Jesus Himself! It contains what it signifies. Thus St. Paul tells us: “Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will have to answer for the body and blood of the Lord. A person should examine himself, and only then eat the bread and drink the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many among you are ill and infirm, and a considerable number are dying.” (1 Cor 11:27-29) St. Paul literally claims that people are getting sick and dying because they are receiving Communion when they shouldn’t! That’s a weird conclusion if Communion were just a symbol of God’s love for all people, but a perfectly understandable conclusion if Communion is our reception of Jesus Christ crucified for our sins.

Think of it this way: imagine a spouse who is discovered to be cheating on his wife, and then presumes to enter into the marital act with his wife without first apologizing. How insulting! You broke communion and seek bodily union without first owning your sin and seeking reconciliation?!  How much more disrespectful if we do that to our infinitely good God! That’s what we do if we presume to receive Communion if we’ve committed serious sins and not first gone to the sacrament of reconciliation. This is why the Church enjoins us as one of her five precepts: “You shall confess your sins at least once a year.” (CCC 2042) Jesus wants to forgive us our sins, and He gave us a sacrament for that too! Like a good parent, He wants us to humble ourselves, take responsibility for our sins, explicitly name them and ask for pardon, and only then presume to become one-flesh with Him. 

There are many reasons why someone wouldn’t receive Communion at Mass—maybe they accidentally broke the Eucharistic fast, don’t feel sufficiently recollected, arrived late, etc. Better that we care about offending God than worrying about what others might think of us if we don’t receive Communion every Mass! Remember my homily: Mass is more than just getting Communion. Taking Communion more seriously will seriously increase the amount of grace we receive when we do receive Him! May God bless you.

Father James

Our donors help ensure the works of the Lord can continue to be made possible throughout our diocese. It’s through gifts to the CMAA that our diocesan-wide ministries help feed and shelter the homeless, educate seminarians, teach our faith to children and adults through catholic schools and religious education programs, care for retired priests, and more.

Every gift—large and small—is appreciated and will help us to meet our goal. We encourage you to watch our testimonials and witness how your gifts will bless our ministries. Thank you to the many people who have demonstrated to those in need that we all belong to God through their gifts to the 2023 Catholic Ministries Annual Appeal (CMAA).

A Reflection from Bishop Hicks

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

In his first Letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul tells us, “… all belong to you, and you to Christ, and Christ to God” (1 Cor 3:22-23).

After much reflection on this passage, I believe St. Paul is essentially saying, “We belong to God!” Not only does this perfectly encapsulate the baptized missionary disciples of the Diocese of Joliet, but also how we choose to live out the Gospel through our support of the Catholic Ministries Annual Appeal (CMAA).

When we give to the CMAA, we not only show our love of God, but we also demonstrate and share God’s love with our neighbors. Every day across the Diocese of Joliet, because of your generosity, we serve people in need through Catholic Charities, form the next generation of faithful in our Catholic schools and parishes, and educate the men who will serve as our priests.

Each of us is asked to prayerfully reflect on the love God has for us as well as Christ’s Church. We are asked to put that love into action by caring for our neighbors. The stories and videos of individuals featured on our website pages demonstrate how gifts to the CMAA allow us to care for our neighbors.

I invite you to put your faith into action, with love, and make your pledge today.

Peace,
Most Reverend Ronald A. Hicks
Bishop of Joliet