Lenten Lessons
Last Saturday morning at Mass the Opening Prayer read, “O God, who grant us by glorious healing remedies while still on earth to be partakers of the things of heaven, guide us, we pray, through this present life and bring us to that light in which you dwell. Through our Lord Jesus Christ…”
What strikes me about this prayer (and many similar ones) is the preparation for eternity. This time on earth is meant as a preparation for an eternity with the Lord. As we go about our day to day business, we keep an eye looking toward our heavenly homeland.
This is also a Lenten theme. In the midst of our prayers and fasting, we look toward the Resurrection of Jesus on Easter. We keep an eye on Jesus Christ’s victory over sin and death.
Lent gives us an insight into the shape of our entire lives. During our sacrifices and penances, we keep Easter in mind. During our earthly sojourn of trials and tribulations, we keep heaven in mind.
Looking toward eternity has been a theme of my Lenten journey this year. On February 13th, my paternal grandmother Ann Wilson passed away in Memphis, TN. Last Friday, March 5th, my maternal grandmother Margaret Hoenie, passed away at her home on Indian Lake. By the grace of God, both of them were given the last sacraments of the Church and multiple Masses have already been offered for the repose of their souls.
As I continue to pray about their passing and thank God for the gift of their lives, I’m reminded that earth is not our home. We are here for a few decades and we strive to know, love, and serve Our Lord. We have to continually orient ourselves toward Him because the Father’s house is our eternal home. Lent gives us this opportunity to realign our lives toward God.
I am grateful for you during this time. I have received so many kind words, encouraging messages, and nice notes from you. Thank you for your love and support. Your kindness is overwhelming. I’ve received so many cards that I don’t think I’ll be able to respond to them all.
On a similar note, I have yet to send thank you notes from Christmas. I should have done this sooner, but things just moved too fast. Unless a few hours magically show up, I won’t be able to send any this year. Know that I am extremely grateful for your abundant kindness.
As a reminder this Friday is the Solemnity of St. Joseph. Mass will be 7:00am at Immaculate Conception, 8:00am at St. Joseph, and 6:00pm at St. Joseph. You may have noticed that we’ve been closing weekend Masses with a new hymn “Holy Patron, Thee Saluting.” It is the only hymn in our missalette dedicated to St. Joseph. During this Year of St. Joseph, we’ll be using the hymn often. May our devotion to the guardian of Jesus ever increase!
Again I am grateful for your thoughts, prayers, and kindness. In a special way, please pray for my parents who both lost their mothers in the past month.
Sincerely in Christ,
Fr. Sean Wilson
