By Fr. David Barnes
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March 12, 2025
The taking on of various lenten disciplines can be revelatory. Firstly, we might discover how attached we are to certain creature comforts. For most of us, we do not take on gigantic penances. Perhaps we give some small thing up for Lent, but in our minds, it becomes something huge. All of a sudden that dessert, that glass of wine, that extra five minutes of sleep, or whatever it is that we’ve given up seems to us like it is the greatest of all sacrifices. This revelation is good for us! It reveals to us that perhaps we’ve become rather soft in our life. Another thing we may notice is that our Lenten penances reveal to us other weaknesses in our life. That is because the penances are making us more sensitive to spiritual realities. We become more sensitive to faults that perhaps we didn’t realize we had. Or, faults we know we have but have chosen to ignore, make themselves more apparent to us. This can be uncomfortable for us. Perhaps, in the past, we relied on those particular creaturely pleasures to help us to escape from dealing with our faults. For instance, if you give up some form of entertainment for Lent, all of a sudden you are left with . . . actual quiet. In the quiet, things begin to rise to the surface. You are confronted with things about yourself that you’ve safely avoided by filling every waking moment with mindless entertainment. And, of course, the temptation now is to resort back to those entertainments so that you can avoid this uncomfortable feeling. Rising to the surface can be all manner of ugly things. We discover that in our hearts are perhaps impurity, anger, resentments, pride, envies, or spiritual laziness. We may be suddenly confronted by the fact that we nag, complain, gossip, lie, presume the faults of others, or detract from the good reputation of others. So, we try to escape from them by finding refuge in creature comforts. If these things are happening to you during Lent, great! That is what is supposed to happen. We who may have previously felt self-sufficient in our spiritual life, are coming to recognize our absolute need for grace. Lent is not about us making ourselves good. It is about allowing grace to perfect us. One of the perks of being a priest is that often if I’m meeting a priest friend for dinner or whatever, it is not unusual to ask him to hear my confession first. Even so, I still like getting in line for confession with all the other penitents. There’s something so Catholic about waiting in line together to go to confession. It says, “We are all in this together.” That is also true of Lent. We are in it together. Each of us is striving to grow in holiness. We may have all taken on different disciplines, but we are each trying to grow in holiness. For some, they are trying to get back into the swing of things. Maybe they’ve been away for a while, but Lent has awakened a desire within themselves to return. Blessed Be God. It’s so nice to see you here. Others are participating in the Saturday morning Men’s Group, Women’s Bible Studies, the Lenten Formation Program on Monday nights. Young families are meeting together for prayer, meals, and for mutual encouragement. A good number of folks are coming to daily Mass at Noon or at 6 pm. The confession lines are full. We make some small offering to the Lord–some sacrifice, some sign of our desire to grow in holiness–and, in turn, He gives us a hundredfold of grace. He takes our meager offering, blesses it, and multiplies it. As I look around at all of you this Lent as you strive to grow in holiness, I am convinced that the Lord is pouring out His graces upon this parish and upon each of us. Let us pray that the Lord may bring to completion the good work He has begun among us. Your Brother in Christ, Fr. David Barnes