Ash Wednesday, even though it is not a holy day of obligation, is one of the most well attended days in the Church year! So many people want to receive ashes and begin this Holy Season of Lent with Holy Mass. Our 40-day Campaign of Christian Charity has begun. Many of us are doing penances through fasting or increasing our prayer time or prayer exercises or works of charity. What a great time to stop and work on a particular thing that will draw us closer Jesus!
Though we have these individual acts to which we commit, we do not go through our Christian Journey alone. So, we enter this Lenten Season as a community, as a family. I would like to ask each of you to join me in praying for one another like we did last year. Please pray an Our Father, a Hail Mary, and a Glory be for all your fellow St. James parishioners. Our intention will be that each of us can be open to the abundant graces the Lord Jesus wants to share with us this Lent. This also binds us together as we go through Lent and journey together towards Easter. We do not go through our life of faith alone. We help each other. We bear one another’s burdens. We pray for each other. Let’s do this again this year along with our other acts of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.
Rite of Sending
At the 11:30 AM mass on Sunday morning, we will have the Rite of Sending. At this Rite, our two catechumens (those to be baptized) and our candidates (those already baptized who will be received into full communion with the Church) will be sent by our St. James community to the Rite of Election with Bishop Parkes that afternoon. They are also sent on the road to Easter where they will receive the abundance of God’s grace in Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Eucharist.
As a community, let’s pray for them as they open themselves to the graces and life to which they are being called. Jesus is calling to into the Catholic Church. May he protect and guide them on their journey. May we also help them by our way of life and words of encouragement along the way.
May the Lord Jesus bless you and your families abundantly this Lenten Season!
~ Fr. Daniel Firmin