Father Joseph L. Labak, pastor

The Holy Season of Lent is a very special time for all Christians. This is a time of opportunity for us to grow in our faith and in our relationship with Jesus Christ as we strive to follow Him more closely in our daily lives.

Lent is so often seen as a time for us to just "get through" because it is a time of prayer and penance. The penance part of Lent is the part that seems to be difficult and unattractive. We don’t like to do penance for our sins; we don’t even like to think about our sins or confess them for that matter.

The whole reason that Jesus came into the world was to bring us back to God. He came to reconcile us with the Father by His own suffering, death and resurrection. Our sins are washed clean in the blood of the Lamb of God. If we do not confess our sins and seek God’s mercy, then we are, in a way, denying the very reason that Jesus came into the world. If we deny His purpose in coming to us, are we not also denying Him?

The Holy Season of Lent gives a unique opportunity each year. It is the time for us to renew and deepen our commitment to Jesus Christ, a commitment we made to Him when we were baptized into His life, death and resurrection. Lent is a time for us to ask what we are doing in our relationship with Jesus. Are we closer to Him that we were a year ago? Do we spend more time with Him than we did a year ago? Are we living our lives more or less in imitation of His example?

Lent is the time for us to put Jesus more and more in the center of our lives. Through prayer and sacrifice we not only make up for our sins, but in doing that we also become more like Jesus in how we treat others. We become more like Jesus in how we respond to the needs of others, especially those less fortunate than ourselves.

Lent is a time for us to take more seriously our baptismal promises to Jesus that we are going to follow Him as closely as we possibly can. To some this may seem impossible. If we try to do it on our own, we will fail. It is only in Jesus Christ that we can even hope to follow Him. We can all follow Jesus much more closely than we think we can if we just use the gifts He gave us.

These gifts include the Church, the sacraments, the scriptures, and daily personal prayer. It is unfortunate that the majority of those who say they are Christians do not use these great gifts that Jesus has given us. The majority of Christians do not go to church every Sunday nor do they spend much time in personal prayer with Jesus. Most people pray when they feel the need, but do not pray and spend time with Jesus because He is so important in their lives.

The Lenten Season is truly a gift that we can use or just push aside. We must realize that the only way we are going to enter into eternal life is by following Jesus. He has the words of eternal life! He is the THE WAY, THE TRUTH, and THE LIFE, as He Himself said, and no one comes to the Father except through Him (John 14:6). It is only because of the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ that anyone can enter into eternal life even if they never heard of Jesus or were never taught about Him.

There is probably no one reading this newsletter that never heard of Jesus Christ. So if we have heard His word and know who HE is, why don’t more people really believe in Him? The most common answer is that we are too busy and too consumed by the material world in which we live. We convince ourselves that we are good people and so God will understand why we do not follow Jesus, as we should. We make God in our image and likeness instead of remember that we are made in HIS image and likeness. We adapt the Ten Commandments and the teachings of Jesus to our lifestyle and our present society, to the way we think it ought to be. We water down the teaching of Jesus and His Church and even down play who Jesus really is and what He did for us by dying on the cross.

Our parish offers many opportunities to grow in our faith. We have daily Mass, Stations of the Cross and Benediction every Wednesday and Friday, our Parish Mission will be March 21 thru March 24, we have Perpetual Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament so our chapel is open 24 hours a day seven days a week.

On a final note I would like to suggest you take the opportunity to see the movie, "The Passion of Jesus Christ," which was to be released in theaters on Ash Wednesday, February 25. Much has been said about this somewhat controversial film produced by Mel Gibson. Previewers say it is a very moving experience. A few criticize the film for being anti-Semitic. People who have seen it say it is completely faithful to the Gospel. Anyone who thinks that it was the Jews who killed Jesus have greatly overlooked and denied their own sinfulness because it is our sins that put Jesus on the cross.

It is said that this portrayal of the suffering and death of Jesus is the most accurate and graphic presentation of what Jesus did for us. So it may be just what we need this Lent to help us remember exactly what Jesus suffered for our sins. Some will see this movie out of curiosity and some will see it out of devotion. The reason is not important, but the impact it can have can be very important.

Please make every effort to make this Lenten Season the best you have ever lived.