Meditation on 10 February, Ash Wednesday 2016 reading

Meditation on 10 February, Ash Wednesday 2016 reading

Direct Link to Audio File: Meditation on 10 February, Ash Wednesday 2016 readings

Reading 1 Jl 2:12-18

Even now, says the LORD,
return to me with your whole heart,
with fasting, and weeping, and mourning;
Rend your hearts, not your garments,
and return to the LORD, your God.
For gracious and merciful is he,
slow to anger, rich in kindness,
and relenting in punishment.
Perhaps he will again relent
and leave behind him a blessing,
Offerings and libations
for the LORD, your God.

Blow the trumpet in Zion!
proclaim a fast,
call an assembly;
Gather the people,
notify the congregation;
Assemble the elders,
gather the children
and the infants at the breast;
Let the bridegroom quit his room
and the bride her chamber.
Between the porch and the altar
let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep,
And say, “Spare, O LORD, your people,
and make not your heritage a reproach,
with the nations ruling over them!
Why should they say among the peoples,
‘Where is their God?’”

Then the LORD was stirred to concern for his land
and took pity on his people.

Responsorial Psalm PS 51:3-4, 5-6ab, 12-13, 14 and 17

R. (see 3a) Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;
in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense.
Thoroughly wash me from my guilt
and of my sin cleanse me.
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
For I acknowledge my offense,
and my sin is before me always:
“Against you only have I sinned,
and done what is evil in your sight.”
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
A clean heart create for me, O God,
and a steadfast spirit renew within me.
Cast me not out from your presence,
and your Holy Spirit take not from me.
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
Give me back the joy of your salvation,
and a willing spirit sustain in me.
O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth shall proclaim your praise.
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.

Reading 2 2 Cor 5:20—6:2

Brothers and sisters:
We are ambassadors for Christ,
as if God were appealing through us.
We implore you on behalf of Christ,
be reconciled to God.
For our sake he made him to be sin who did not know sin,
so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.

Working together, then,
we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain.
For he says:

In an acceptable time I heard you,
and on the day of salvation I helped you.

Behold, now is a very acceptable time;
behold, now is the day of salvation.

Verse Before the Gospel See Ps 95:8
If today your hear his voice,
harden not your hearts.

Gospel Mt 6:1-6, 16-18

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Take care not to perform righteous deeds
in order that people may see them;
otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father.
When you give alms,
do not blow a trumpet before you,
as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets
to win the praise of others.
Amen, I say to you,
they have received their reward.
But when you give alms,
do not let your left hand know what your right is doing,
so that your almsgiving may be secret.
And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.

“When you pray,
do not be like the hypocrites,
who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners
so that others may see them.
Amen, I say to you,
they have received their reward.
But when you pray, go to your inner room,
close the door, and pray to your Father in secret.
And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.

“When you fast,
do not look gloomy like the hypocrites.
They neglect their appearance,
so that they may appear to others to be fasting.
Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward.
But when you fast,
anoint your head and wash your face,
so that you may not appear to be fasting,
except to your Father who is hidden.
And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you.”

Meditation on 7 February 2016 readings

Meditation on 7 February 2016 readings

Direct Link to Audio File: Meditation on 7 February 2016 readings

Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Reading 1 Is 6:1-2a, 3-8

In the year King Uzziah died,
I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne,
with the train of his garment filling the temple.
Seraphim were stationed above.

They cried one to the other,
“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts!
All the earth is filled with his glory!”
At the sound of that cry, the frame of the door shook
and the house was filled with smoke.

Then I said, “Woe is me, I am doomed!
For I am a man of unclean lips,
living among a people of unclean lips;
yet my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!”
Then one of the seraphim flew to me,
holding an ember that he had taken with tongs from the altar.

He touched my mouth with it, and said,
“See, now that this has touched your lips,
your wickedness is removed, your sin purged.”

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying,
“Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?”
“Here I am,” I said; “send me!”

Responsorial Psalm Ps 138:1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 7-8

R. (1c) In the sight of the angels I will sing your praises, Lord.
I will give thanks to you, O LORD, with all my heart,
for you have heard the words of my mouth;
in the presence of the angels I will sing your praise;
I will worship at your holy temple
and give thanks to your name.
R. In the sight of the angels I will sing your praises, Lord.
Because of your kindness and your truth;
for you have made great above all things
your name and your promise.
When I called, you answered me;
you built up strength within me.
R. In the sight of the angels I will sing your praises, Lord.
All the kings of the earth shall give thanks to you, O LORD,
when they hear the words of your mouth;
and they shall sing of the ways of the LORD:
“Great is the glory of the LORD.”
R. In the sight of the angels I will sing your praises, Lord.
Your right hand saves me.
The LORD will complete what he has done for me;
your kindness, O LORD, endures forever;
forsake not the work of your hands.
R. In the sight of the angels I will sing your praises, Lord.

Reading 2 1 COR 15:3-8, 11

Brothers and sisters,
I handed on to you as of first importance what I also received:
that Christ died for our sins
in accordance with the Scriptures;
that he was buried;
that he was raised on the third day
in accordance with the Scriptures;
that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve.
After that, he appeared to more
than five hundred brothers at once,
most of whom are still living,
though some have fallen asleep.
After that he appeared to James,
then to all the apostles.
Last of all, as to one abnormally born,
he appeared to me.
Therefore, whether it be I or they,
so we preach and so you believed.

Alleluia Mt 4:19

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Come after me
and I will make you fishers of men.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel Lk 5:1-11

While the crowd was pressing in on Jesus and listening
to the word of God,
he was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret.
He saw two boats there alongside the lake;
the fishermen had disembarked and were washing their nets.
Getting into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon,
he asked him to put out a short distance from the shore.
Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat.
After he had finished speaking, he said to Simon,
“Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch.”
Simon said in reply,
“Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing,
but at your command I will lower the nets.”
When they had done this, they caught a great number of fish
and their nets were tearing.
They signaled to their partners in the other boat
to come to help them.
They came and filled both boats
so that the boats were in danger of sinking.
When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at the knees of Jesus and said,
“Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.”
For astonishment at the catch of fish they had made seized him
and all those with him,
and likewise James and John, the sons of Zebedee,
who were partners of Simon.
Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid;
from now on you will be catching men.”
When they brought their boats to the shore,
they left everything and followed him.
From Our Pastor ~ February 7, 2016

From Our Pastor ~ February 7, 2016

Dear Good People of Saint Mary,

Parce Domine, parce populo tuo. Spare, O Lord, spare your people. Nothing seems to shout Lent louder for me than the simple, quiet chant of this text. Ne in aeternum, irascaris nobis. Do not be angry with us in eternity.

We are about to enter into the depths of this season (so soon?). And yet, the significance of the season has its historic origins not so much in the practice of penance, fasting, abstinence, and almsgiving for the reparation of our sins, as it does in the preparation for the reception of the sacraments of initiation—Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist. It began as a spiritual preparation for those to be incorporated into the very life of the Trinity: Sons and daughters of the Father through Baptism, tabernacles of the Son in Eucharist, temples of the Holy Spirit in Confirmation. The complete package. As the time of the catechumenate grew for those preparing for Baptism we, the Church, began to reflect on the ways in which we had not been faithful to the promises that we made / were made on our behalf at our own Baptism. And in order to renew and proclaim those vows again at the Vigil and Easter Masses, we had some self-correction to make. Lord, have mercy, for we have sinned.

The sacrament of Confession/Penance/Reconciliation (each name speaks of a different aspect of the mystery of God’s mercy and forgiveness), since the fifth century or so, has been a sacrament that we are able to celebrate frequently. It is, unfortunately for some, like a carwash. I wonder sometimes what image of God is running through the minds of people as they confess on the other side of the closed window. Is it a God of judgment, one who will be angry with me forever? Or is it the God of mercy who makes my conversion possible and our redemption a promise? Are we children before God wincing about the punishment that is to come, or do we stand, waiting for the embrace that follows our humility and contrition?

The good news is that God’s mercy is so full that even our imperfect contrition (because of his just punishments, the loss of heaven, the pains of hell) is enough. But the point of Lent is to pass from this beginner stage to where we find sorrow for our unfaithfulness to our Baptism because I love you, Lord, who are all good and deserving of all my love. I  firmly resolve…

Lent is a time to open the window in the confessional (only you have the handle in our confessionals) and trust God’s mercy that he will, indeed, spare his people  because of his great love, if our love is also true. It is a time to focus beyond our sin, to throw ourselves into a renewal of Baptism as if we are seeking the grace of God all over again for the first time! Of course, there is only one Baptism—rebaptizing is not possible, as the reality of God’s life is complete. We have received it! It is a time to consider who we are now, and who God calls us to be. It is exactly due to the fact that we are incorporated into this trinitarian family at Baptism and Communion that our reconciliation and communion isn’t only as individuals, but as a community.

We invite you to join us as a community to celebrate this Mercy of God that calls us together and reconciles us to him and one another. We will begin at 7pm with prayer and examen of conscience as a group. During Adoration we will then have individual confessions—simple, short confessions of sins, without the expectation of counseling or long questions—and individual absolution. After confessions people will be invited to tie a knot in the new Lent altar cloth, much the same way we tie prayer quilts with prayers of healing for the sick. We will gather back when the line ends, pray a penitential act and an act of contrition together, a song, and depart together in peace. Confessions will go very quickly this way, if we all come prepared, and our parish will be blessed. See you Wednesday, February 24, at 7pm.

 God bless you.

Fr. Don

March 8, 2015
Express Announcements ~ February 7, 2016

Express Announcements ~ February 7, 2016

* This is Commitment Weekend for the Bishop’s Lenten Appeal: If we reflect on the mission that Jesus has given us, and the words of Pope Francis, the Church is uniquely placed by God to be his agent of mercy and change, to heal our world. Prayerfully respond to this call. Your generosity is what makes our Church’s response possible. “Go forth as heralds of God’s mercy!”

* Wednesday is Ash Wednesday. Masses will be at 6:30 and 9am, Noon, and 6 and 7:30pm. Also join us for Friday evenings in Lent for Soup and Stations of the Cross. You will find an entire pull-out section with schedules for Lent and Holy Week in the center of today’s bulletin.

* Host sign-ups are underway for our Lenten/Easter Small Groups Series, “The Face of Mercy.” Information may be found on page 7 today and our website, www.stmaryfred.org or visit www.Lentenfreinds.org

* Come to our School Open Houses today, February 7. Visit Saint Mary Preschool in the Parish Life Center from 9:30–Noon and Holy Cross Academy 1–3pm (250 Stafford Lakes Pkwy, behind Geico)

* We’re doing something special for confessions during the Year of Mercy: Parish Lent Mercy Penance Service, Wednesday, February 24. For details, see Fr. Don’s weekly letter (p. 4).