First Sunday of Lent – C

            Historically, Lent started out as a time of preparation for those who were preparing to become members of the Church at the Easter Vigil. These are the people who are going through the process we call the RCIA (the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults). They are called catechumens (the unbaptized) and candidates (those baptized but entering the fullness of the church through Confirmation and Eucharist). This Sunday afternoon these folks will called by Archbishop Kurtz to a life of continuing conversion through the Rite of Election. But before they become the “Elect” we must, through acclamation, “send them” to the archbishop. So, we will celebrate the Rite of Sending at our Mass this Sunday.

            For those of us who grew up before the Vatican Council II and the RCIA learned to see Lent as a gloomy time when we had to practice self-discipline and do penance for our sins. Well, that attitude is not all bad, and has not gone out of style. A person cannot be a mature or happy person who is lacking self-discipline, so it is a good thing to learn. And as far as doing penance, it is a good corrective practice also to bring us back into a right relationship with God and one another.

            Whether it is in joyful solidarity with our catechumens and candidates, or a whether we focus on self-discipline and penance, during Lent we should be doing a little something extra to open our hearts more to God, our Creator. None of us is perfect. And you who are married, feel free to quote that line to your spouse.

For the first part of Lent our readings and our practices should focus on prayer and penance. Prayer to help us overcome our temptations and penance to ask forgiveness for our sins. How can our acts of Worship, Love and Obedience draw us closer to Christ?

            In the last two weeks of Lent, we begin to focus on the passion of Christ. There are some great movies out there to help us focus on the passion. Even FORMED has some great clips and videos.

            We often forget how much Christ has done for us, and how much we owe our Creator. That is one reason why Sunday is dedicated to offering God our worship and praise, so we do not forget what He has done for us in sending His Son to die for us.

Our full, active, and conscious participation in the Mass unites us with the perfect act of worship and love and obedience offered to the Father by Jesus as he died on the cross.

            Our readings on the First Sunday of Lent remind us of the worship we owe God. God must take priority over everything else in our lives for God alone is worthy of our worship, and we will only do that through deciding to do something special for Lent.

            My hope and prayer are that everyone here will have a spiritually enriching next six weeks as we prepare for the great feast of Easter and welcome our Catechumens and Candidates into our faith family.