SCCR Parish Blog

The Lenten season is a time to engage in a spiritual campaign to strategize how to overcome sin and vice in our lives and to grow in holiness, especially through the aid of prayer and the sacraments. The first step in doing so is to know what sin is and how it entraps us. In that vein, I recommend an article on sins of the tongue , by Monsignor Charles Pope, which was published recently in the National Catholic Register. 

Dr. Scott Hahn, a tireless evangelist for the Catholic Faith, has helped found the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology.  Their mission is to help Christians understand Sacred Scripture and put it into practice in their lives. They are offering a free Lenten video series  entitled "A Journey through Lent," on important topics in our faith. I highly recommend it. 

This is just a reminder that this coming Wednesday, Ash Wednesday, is one of only two days a year  that Catholics are required to fast.  (Good Friday is the other one).  This discipline is required of all Catholics who are between the ages of 18 and 59.  (That is, on or after your 18th birthday and before your 59th birthday).   Catholics younger and older than that are certainly welcome to engage in this fasting as well. Fasting is one of the precepts of the Church -- that is, the bare minimum for all disciples of Christ.  Among those precepts, Catechism paragraph #2043 reminds us of the purpose of fasting: This ancient practice commended by Christ Himself "prepare[s] us for the liturgical feasts and help us acquire mastery over our instincts and freedom of heart." The U.S. Bishops have a concise summary of what is required on the two fasting days.  Those who have medical reasons not to fast are of course exempt from doing so.  If you are i...

  Fr. Louis Bouyer Most of us know the "drill" for Lent: pray, fast, give alms. But here's a reflection by French priest and writer Fr. Louis Bouyer on why we fast and what spiritual good it does. The gist is that it leads us to deeper life in Christ and to eternal life. This appeared in the current Magnificat devotional magazine, and is from a book entitled Christian Initiation, Michael Hentz, ed. 2018, Cluny media. ==== Christian asceticism never aims at annihilating life in us; on the contrary its purpose is to liberate it. It does not imply any kind of condemnation of the things which it gives up, but simply an absolute preference for the one thing necessary (Lk 10:42)…. [The Christian mortifies himself] always to gain more life. Even when the moment arrives for him to complete his Eucharist, like the martyrs, by offering his own death joined to that of Jesus, he will do it joyfully because he will do it with resurrection in mind. What all asceticism aims at is the de...

  Here are the fasting and abstinence guidelines for American Catholics for the Lenten season (from the U.S. Bishops' Conference). As a reminder, the two fast days are Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. These still apply in Covid times for those in the indicated age groups unless there is a medical reason preventing fasting. 

Here are some suggestions from the National Catholic Register (Catholic biweekly newspaper) on how to make a spiritually fruitful Lent and increase your friendship and Communion with God: Detailed guide to Lent (including at-home stations of the Cross): Suggestions for how to observe Lent as a family : A different kind of fasting: Refraining from media uaage

  Today is Shrove Tuesday . Traditionally, it is a day for people to start finalizing the decision on what Lenten penances and spiritual strategies to make, as well as a last chance to indulge in the things you might give up for Lent (like pancakes).   If you're looking for ideas on how to make a good Lent , check out the blogpost. It shouldn't be a drudgery.  Catholics have learned how to have fun with Lenten preparation.  Some cultures (especially the Brits) traditionally had pancake breakfasts and even pancake-flipping races in honor of the day! Traditionally, it was observed by going to confession (hence the name, Shrove , which comes from an old English word meaning to be absolved from one's sins).   Because of the icy weather this year, I didn't offer extra confessions.  Hope to for next year. It is a (sad) sign of our times that people remember the secular part of the day but not the religious.  That's why more people know this as Mar...

  Now that we are about to begin the Lenten season, which begins with Ash Wednesday, a day of fast and abstinence, I thought it might be helpful to read some of these fasting tips from a nutrition graduate student from a local blog. While on that subject, here's a reminder of what the Church requires for Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, the two days of fast and abstinence. And a little taste of the beautiful haunting hymnody of Lent.  Here is the melody for the chant, Again We Keep This Solemn Fast - and the lyrics . 

  This year, the Vatican's Congregation for the sacraments has asked parishes across the world to modify their Ash Wednesday procedures a little bit because of the ongoing Covid-19 Chinese flu epidemic.  Instead of tracing the sign of the cross on the forehead with ashes, they are asking the priests or other ministers of the sacrament to sprinkle ashes on the head of the penitent, in order to avoid direct contact. This may seem a little unusual (especially to American Catholics) but this is actually an ancient symbol of penance with deep biblical roots, and has been done as part of the Ash Wednesday devotion for a very long time in various parts of the world.  The photograph above depicts Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI receiving ashes this way while he was still reigning. The formula spoken with the administration of ashes will remain the same: Remember man that thou art dust and unto dust thou shalt return.    Or, in its original Latin, the traditional language of ...

This Sunday the Church enters into the season of "Passiontide" (the last two weeks of Lent). It is traditional to cover the statues and crucifixes in a church during this period. Read more about this season and this practice at this National Catholic Register newspaper article . I will be veiling the statues and crucifixes at St. Peter's where I live with the help of seminarian-in-residence David.  It won't be as elegant as last year, sadly, because our decorating ladies will not be able to help. A church decorated for Passiontide