Our Lenten Pilgrimage, our Campaign of Christian Service has begun! What will this Lent hold for us as a Parish Community and as individuals?
As a Parish
As all things go, Ash Wednesday was a good
beginning: great numbers of people, and a sense of hope that, even with a mighty nip in the air, Spring might be coming. The Fathers of the Church and the leaders of the Liturgical Movement frequently talk about the “Lenten Spring”: a time of rebirth, hope, and fresh ideas: may Lent be so for us!
The parochial characteristic of Lent is the hallmark of Christian Initiation: catechumens receiving the Sacraments of Initiation, and Candidates for Full Communion in the Roman Catholic Church receiving the Sacraments of Penance, Confirmation, and the Eucharist. Please join me in thanking God for, and also welcoming, David Thomas Glidden. David is a
Candidate for Full Communion with the Church, and he will receive the Sacraments of Confirmation and First Holy Communion at the Easter Vigil. David and his fiancé Madeleine Cook are new parishioners of Saint Sebastian, and plan to be married here next year. David and I have been meeting and discussing his faith journey, and I have been sharing with David the beauties of our Catholic Faith. I am delighted that he has asked to be received into Full Communion with the Church! David will be formally received in the
Catechumenate during the 5 pm Mass this weekend, March 9. Please pray for David, and for all those in the Catechumenate throughout the Church, as he prepares to complete the Sacraments of Initiation begun when he was baptized.
People seeking to join the Church, and to join a particular parish, are a sign of life and health in a Parish Community. It is like thriving Religious Communities who today, despite all the obstacles, have numbers of young women and men joining them. What makes a Parish or a Religious Community inviting? There are volumes written in answer to this question, but I think it all comes to these four characteristics: Joy, Welcome, Mission, and Belonging. As I often say joy isn’t about being ‘hail, fellow, well met’; it is about the deep abiding presence of God that says “I know Him in whom I am trusting”. When people are seeking something new, they want to be welcomed, they desire to be acknowledged – not in any placating manner, but in a way that reaches out to greet a new face, extends a hand, and offers a smile. Newcomers look for purpose, or in spiritual language, a Mission: what is this Community all about? Is this place just going through the motions, or are they about changing the world, one person at a time? And, people want to belong: they want to be part of place where they sense home, care, compassion, and understanding. I pray that every visitor who walks through our doors four characteristics – and I think they do. New members are a sign of life and hope.
As Parishioners and Individuals
Prayer is another hallmark of this Season. Today, the First Sunday of Lent, is the Parish Mission. The Spiritual Life Committee says it has been a very longtime since we have had a Mission. I hope many of you will take the time to benefit not only from Father Matthew’s preaching at Mass, but in his Conference at 3 pm, and Vespers at 4. And don’t forget the Pasta with the Padres! Each Sunday during Lent, the 11 am Mass will conclude with Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, which will conclude at 4:30 with prayers and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament: come, take some time for quiet Communion with the Lord! Join us for Mass each day at 7 am or 5:30 pm, and Stations on Friday at 6 pm. I am excited to begin a Preaching Series, It’s All About the Heart: What Color is Yours?, with you next Sunday.
The Outreach Community offers countless ways to care for the poor. In addition to making sandwiches, please consider bringing in personal care items for the those served by the Diocesan Office of Immigration and Refugee Services (there is more information about this in the bulletin).
This Lenten Spring I invite all of us to become real athletes for Christ as we go to the gym of prayer, fasting and almsgiving that we may have a new heart on Easter Sunday!
Until we meet at the altar…. O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to Thee!