January 14, 2024

Dear Friends in Christ,
Last Sunday, on the Feast of the Epiphany, we did something at Mass we hadn’t done for a while. We heard the formal proclamation for the date of Easter this year which will be March 31. What a wonderful reminder that the reason we can celebrate Christmas is because Jesus died and rose from the dead. The resurrection is the reason for our hope in the face of all adversity and injustice, that “We shall overcome someday” as we sing on the commemoration of the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. this Monday, January 15.
An important prelude to the announcement of the date for Easter is the proclamation of the date for the beginning of Lent on Ash Wednesday, this year February 14^th which also happens to be Valentine’s Day. The consumer industry began their marketing efforts for Valentine’s Day on Dec. 26^th, the day after Christmas. That’s just business as their avatars might say. But the business of the Christian life in the big picture is ultimately more important than that. That’s why I want to suggest that we start even now to enter the “Lenten Season.”
Lent calls us to embrace in a deeper way the spiritual disciplines of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. “To turn away from sin and be faithful to the gospel” as we will hear on Ash Wednesday. We don’t have to wait until February 14^th to do that, so let’s begin to reflect even now on how we will embrace the Lenten season this year. Mark your calendars! Lent and Easter are coming!
Blessings of peace,
Fr. William Heric, Pastor