The most important thing anyone can do for Lent is “return to the Lord with our whole heart” (Joel 2:12) That’s the root meaning of repent: to turn around. Catholics have traditionally expressed sorrow for sin and the desire to live as genuine Disciples of Christ through the three traditional Lenten disciplines of fasting, almsgiving, and prayer which help to turn us toward Christ as the true source of happiness. These are forms of self-denial: we deny the tendency in us to seek happiness in physical pleasure, in economic security, or in power. Just as Jesus was tempted in the desert (Matthew 4:1-11), we must face our temptation to put pleasure property or power ahead of our relationship to God.
Lenten disciplines prepare us to receive the grace of Easter. By virtue of Christ’s victory over death, our relationship to pleasure, property and power is no longer a matter of following our own selfish inclinations, but of gratefully receiving all that the Lord has to give us.
Fasting and Abstinence practiced as the Church instructs is a good beginning. A bodily way to remind ourselves that we need God above all things.
Almsgiving readjusts our priorities while it expresses both our love of neighbor and our trust in God.
Prayer is recognition that we need help to turn back to God.
Join us as we journey together this Lent…
Stations of the Cross
During the season of Lent, the church offers Stations of the Cross. Join fellow parishioners as they come together each Friday evening to pray the Way of the Cross in remembrance of our Lord’s walk to the hill of Calvary. Try to set aside the Friday evenings of Lent and be a part of this traditional devotion of the church beginning Friday, February 24, and continuing through March 31, at 7:00pm in both of our church buildings.
Lenten Mondays
The door of faith is always open for us, ushering us into the life of stronger Communion with God and offering entry into his Church. During Lent, our parish will offer Lenten Monday Confessions from 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm at both St. John the Evangelist Church and St. Mary Magdalen Church.
Come to be at the feet of Jesus as did Mary Magdalen during Eucharistic Adoration on Monday evenings from 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm at St. John the Evangelist Church.
The Sacrament of Reconciliation is also offered on Saturdays in the Reconciliation Room from 3:00 pm to 3:30 pm at St. Mary Magdalen Church and from 3:30 pm to 4:30 pm at St. John the Evangelist Church, or by appointment.