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Fourth Sunday of the Year
30 January 2010
Dear Friends in Christ,
Three items for your consideration:
1. Beginning tomorrow the Church in the United States observes Catholic Schools Week to draw attention to the sacred duty of all Catholic parents to give their children an authentic Catholic education and to highlight the importance of the Church’s schools in transmitting the Gospel to the next generation. We at St. Mary’s are most fortunate to have a truly outstanding parish school, now recognized as a national Blue Ribbon School, and our open house this afternoon is an opportunity for parents to meet our faculty and tour our facilities. Please see inside the bulletin for a letter from the Bishop of Charleston on the importance of Catholic schools and for a flyer about today’s open house. All parents with children who will be between K-4 and 8th Grade next school year are welcome to join us this afternoon at 3 pm.
2. On Tuesday of this week, February 2nd, the Church celebrates one of the most beautiful feasts of the liturgical year: the Presentation of the Lord Jesus in the Temple at Jerusalem. This feast, which began in Jerusalem as early as the 4th century, recalls the events described by St. Luke in Chapter 2, verses 22 to 40 of his Gospel. The best way to keep the feast of the Presentation is to attend holy Mass, but if you cannot attend Mass this Tuesday, at least read those verses of St. Luke’s Gospel and give thanks for the gift of our salvation in the words of holy Simeon: “Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all people, to be a light to lighten the Gentiles, and to be the glory of thy people Israel” (Luke 2:29-32).
3. Though it scarcely seems possible, Lent begins in less than three weeks, and so now is the time to give careful consideration to your own program of spiritual renewal. A time-honored custom for Catholics is to give up something for Lent, usually a favorite food or pastime, as a means of growing in self-discipline and joining more fully in Christ’s self-sacrificing love. But in addition to giving something up, another useful practice for enriching Lent is taking something on. Find a good book for spiritual reading (for which a trip to St. Anthony’s Bookstore in Greenville or the Catholic Shoppe in Spartanburg is useful), resolve to pray more deeply with the Liturgy of the Hours (for which our common celebration of Vespers at 4 pm on every Sunday of Lent is helpful), give alms to assist those in need (for which donations to the Greenville office of Catholic Charities is most appropriate), or study and pray with Sacred Scripture, either alone or with others (for which adult Sunday School at 9.30 am during Lent is designed). Give some time now to preparing for Lent, and your 40 Days of fasting, prayer, and works of charity will be greatly enriched.
Our Lady of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, pray for us.
Father Newman