Our Lenten Journey

The journey of Lent always seems long and arduous from the beginning vantage point.

But after many years of making this trip, I've learned that in reality the days go by quickly. And with Jesus as our traveling companion, our burden is easy and light. So may we go forth into Lent filled with longing and hope, inspired along the way by Jesus, Who is the Way, and others who became experienced guides on the Lenten pilgrimage, our popes and saints.

Here is some of their wisdom to share:

"Whoever wishes to be My follower must deny his very self, take up his cross each day, and follow in My steps." -Luke 9:23

"Lent comes providentially to reawaken us, to shake us from our lethargy." -- Pope Francis

"Lent stimulates us to let the Word of God penetrate our life and in this way to know the fundamental truth: who we are, where we come from, where we must go, what path we must take in life..." -- Pope Benedict XVI

"Look at His adorable face.
Look at His glazed and sunken eyes.
Look at His wounds.
Look Jesus in the Face.
There, you will see how He loves us."
~ St. Therese of Lisieux

So if you pray, fast; if you fast, show mercy; if you want your petition to be heard, hear the petition of others. When you fast, see the fasting of others. If you hope for mercy, show mercy. If you look for kindness, show kindness. If you want to receive, give. -- St. Peter Chrysologus


Have a blessed trip!

Inspired by the Year of Faith, Susan Szalewski began writing weekly columns for us. Although that year is over, we liked them so well that we asked her to keep writing. Thankfully, she said yes. So watch for these on Thursdays and see the Year of Faith Blog here.

The Holiest Days are Upon Us

Holy Thursday is here.

Lent seemed to go by in the blink of an eye, and now the holiest days of the year are upon us.

As usual, I don’t feel prepared. I grew lax in my Lenten penance. And instead of humbly and gratefully accepting the crosses that came my way, I fought them, resisting and complaining.

Thank God for Jesus.

With Him, it’s never too late in our earthly journey to begin again.

He said so in His parable of the workers in the vineyard, demonstrating His extreme generosity, even to us late-starters.

And there’s the witness of St. Dismas, the “good thief” crucified with Jesus, who with a contrite heart professed his belief in his final hour and heard our Lord say, “Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

Jesus’ mercy isn’t something to take advantage of, a way to intentionally delay what He asks of us. His mercy is The Way He speaks of. No one can go to the Father, except through the Son, Who is mercy itself.

So despite any of our failings, we can relax today and begin anew, trusting in His Way and not our own feeble attempts at holiness.

And in His mercy, Jesus can transform us through His death and resurrection, which we are about to commemorate. If we just have trust and a contrite heart.

My Jesus, have mercy! Give us new life through your death and resurrection!

Inspired by the Year of Faith, Susan Szalewski began writing weekly columns for us. Although that year is over, we liked them so well that we asked her to keep writing. Thankfully, she said yes. So watch for these on Thursdays and see the Year of Faith Blog here.

Little Consolations

Our Lenten spiritual journey into the desert can seem like the winter we’re having, long and desolate at times.

But like Jesus, we have angels to minister to us, and help us during these 40 days. Little consolations can mean so much when we’re undergoing temptations and even minor hardships and inconveniences.

These little consolations help get me through the day.

Even the smallest things give me a boost – as seen in the cell phone photos below – and sometimes make me laugh out loud, during Lent and throughout the year.

Inspired by the Year of Faith, Susan Szalewski began writing weekly columns for us. Although that year is over, we liked them so well that we asked her to keep writing. Thankfully, she said yes. So watch for these on Thursdays and see the Year of Faith Blog here.

A Feast in the Midst of our Fasts

"If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me." -- Luke 9:23

Welcome to Lent.

Below is a feast in the midst of our fasts: Lenten prayers and words of wisdom from saints and others, to feed us on our journey.

“As Lent is the time for greater love, listen to Jesus’ thirst. . . . ‘Repent and believe,’ Jesus tells us. What are we to repent? Our indifference, our hardness of heart. What are we to believe? Jesus thirsts even now, in your heart and in the poor – He knows your weakness. He wants only your love, wants only the chance to love you.” – Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

 “Nothing, how little so ever it be, if it is suffered for God’s sake, can pass without merit in the sight of God.” – Thomas a Kempis

“Lent stimulates us to let the Word of God penetrate our life and in this way to know the fundamental truth: who we are, where we come from, where we must go, what path we must take in life. . .” – Pope Benedict XVI

“Spread love everywhere you go: first of all in your own house. Give love to your children, to your wife or husband, to a next door neighbor. . . . Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of kindness: kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile, kindness in your warm greeting.” – Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta

“Christ, like a skillful physician, understands the weakness of men. He loves to teach the ignorant, and the erring He turns again to His own true way. He is easily found by those who live by faith; and to those of pure eye and holy heart, who desire to knock at the door, He opens immediately.” – St. Hyppolytus

"We can think of Lent as a time to eradicate evil or cultivate a virtue, a time to pull up weeds or to plant good seeds. Which is better is clear, for the Christian ideal is always positive rather than negative. A person is great not by the ferocity of his hatred of evil, but by the intensity of his love for God. Asceticism and mortification are not the ends of a Christian life; they are only the means. The end is charity. Penance merely makes an opening in our ego in which the Light of God can pour. As we deflate ourselves, God fills us. And it is God's arrival that is the important event."  – Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen

“Look at His adorable face.

Look at His glazed and sunken eyes.

Look at His wounds.

Look Jesus in the face.

There, you will see how He loves us.” – St. Therese of Lisieux

“My beloved Jesus, Your face was beautiful before You began this journey; but now it no longer appears beautiful and is disfigured with wounds and blood. Alas, my soul also was once beautiful when it received Your grace in Baptism; but I have since disfigured it with my sins. You alone, my Redeemer, can restore it to its former beauty. Do this by the merits of Your passion; and then do with me as You will.” – St. Alphonsus Liguori

“Are you capable of risking your life for someone? Do it for Christ.” – St. John Paul II

“Lent comes providentially to reawaken us, to shake us from our lethargy.” – Pope Francis

“Lent is a fitting time for self-denial; we would do well to ask ourselves what we can give up in order to help and enrich others by our own poverty. Let us not forget that real poverty hurts: no self-denial is real without this dimension of penance. I distrust a charity that costs nothing and does not hurt.” – Pope Francis

May Christ bring us closer to Him this Lent!

Inspired by the Year of Faith, Susan Szalewski began writing weekly columns for us. Although that year is over, we liked them so well that we asked her to keep writing. Thankfully, she said yes. So watch for these on Thursdays and see the Year of Faith Blog here.

Get Your Ashes, Post Your #ASHTAG

Wednesday Masses are at:
6:20, 8:15 a.m.,
 12:10, 5:30 & 7 p.m.

Observing the Practice of the Lenten Fast

The U.S. Catholic bishops call for all Catholics 14 years and older to abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday, Good Friday and the Fridays of Lent. Catholics who are 18 to 59 years old are to fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. Fasting refers to the quantity of food eaten. Traditionally, fasting calls for refraining from eating between meals and consuming only one full meal per day.

The US Bishops are encouraging you

 to take a Selfie Wednesday:

Another Book Choice in Lent

The next session of Spirituality Alive begins in Lent. The featured book used by most of the groups is The Grace of Yes which was featured on the back of our bulletin today. There will also be copies of this book available after Mass the weekend of February 14-15 for $10 for anyone else who would also like to read it.

In addition, some folks are reading Renewed. f this book, Cardinal Sean O'Maley, O.F.M. Cap. says (in the foreword):

In this clarion call to renewal, Father Robert Redd challenges all of us -- laity, religious, deacons, priests, and bishops -- to start by looking within and making an honest assessment of our gifts and the ways we can better put them to use to revitalize the Church.

Father Reed rightly highlights one of the greatest resources available to us: the example and intercession of the saints. Rather than simply selecting a single saint to imitate, he instead proposes pairs of saints who at first glance seem like unlikely companions., like Augustine and Joan of Arc or Anthanasius and Mother Teresa. By juxtaposing two saints he finds new perspectives.... Like Catholics today, these saints lived in times of crises, but through God's grace and their creative energy, they found a way forward. With their help, we can too!

If you are interested in a copy of Renewed, please contact Sr. Jean Marie at (402) 593-9214 or jfaltus754@cox.net

A FOCUS visit

On Monday of the last week of school, three FOCUS missionaries visited our school. Since Ash Wednesday Mrs. English's 1st grade class has been praying for FOCUS missionary Mat Wuebben. Mat grew up in Holy Trinity Parish in Hartington and has been serving as a missionary at the University of Minnesota in Duluth.

The students were curious to see if 

Mat was as tall as Abraham Lincoln.

Mrs. Wilson's third grade class has been praying for Elizabeth Connealy who is from St. Mary's parish in Bellevue. This year Elizabeth has been serving at Wayne State College in Nebraska.

 The students had a gift waiting for Elizabeth.

Mrs. Meier's 4th grade class had been praying for Jamie Fox. Jamie is from St. Thomas More Parish in Omaha and served at the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks. Everyone told Jamie she was in North Dakota for the coldest winter ever.

Jamie is Mrs. English's niece, but one student

 also claimed her as a long lost sister.

It was great to have the three of them visit.

Wednesday morning we had a visit from Rob Cargill who is from St. Columbkille Parish. Rob has been serving at the University of Illinois in Champaign for the last two years. Miss Hart's 6th grade class was praying for him.

Mrs. Yanovich's Kindergarten class had been praying for Rob as well. When he walked into the room the students immediately recognized him and began calling out, "Rob!"

It was great for the students to connect with the recipients of their prayers.

Thank you all for your visits!

Lenten Cleaning

Today the gravel and dirt is being 

swept up from the parking lots.

 The carpets in the church are also being shampooed.

Because of this, Masses at 5:30 this evening and 8:15 tomorrow morning will be held in the Social Level.

Thanks Be

"Rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated."

Mark Twain reportedly said that after a newspaper published his obituary prematurely.

Oddly, the quote reminds me of the attitude I get toward Lent.

Somehow I exaggerate my own "Lenten demise", how horrible and distasteful my meager Lenten practices will be -- even though they never end up so horrible. I don't take on anything too rigorous, and I know God is there to help me, often making whatever I do seem easy. Yet I get this feeling of dread when Lent rolls around.

I think this happens when I view my Lenten observances as more about me and less about God. Any sacrifice will make me suffer if I don't have the right disposition or reason behind it. Lifestyle changes can be hard. But they become easier when we remember our Lord as our focus, that we need to change to draw closer to Him and begin to resemble Him.

When we've prayerfully considered what God would have us do for Lent, and follow His lead, our actions will ultimately make us happy. And if we're doing something pleasing to Jesus, often we can feel His presence as He helps us.

"Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,

for I am meek and humble of heart;

and you will find rest for yourselves.

For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”

Thanks be to God, a loving and merciful Master.

Inspired by the Year of Faith, Susan Szalewski began writing weekly columns for us. Although that year is over, we liked them so well that we asked her to keep writing. Thankfully, she said yes. So watch for these on Thursdays and see the Year of Faith Blog here.

Receiving Ashes

This morning, Deacon Krueger stopped by the preschool on his way to Mass.  He spoke to the preschool children about Ash Wednesday and the season of Lent.  After his teaching, we lined up to receive our ashes.

What are you going to do for Lent?

Lent is nearly here.

It's time to prayerfully consider what we should do during those 40 days to open our hearts to Jesus.

I looked around for suggestions for Lenten practices and found some of the most uplifting at Lifeteen.com, an online site for young Catholics. The site asked people to share what they've done during Lent, and they provided some creative and unusual suggestions. Sometimes I included the person's comments because they, too, were inspiring.

"Don't eat the last bite of your food."

"Park at the very back of the parking lot."

"Put a popcorn kernel in your shoe every day."

"Don't use your apps."

 "Get to know your neighbors."

 "Stop complaining."

 "Give up texting and call whoever you need to talk to."

 "Give away 10 shirts, two pairs of pants and a pair of shoes."

 "When you wake up, jump out of bed, kiss the floor and learn humility."

 "Wear the same four outfits for all of Lent."

 "Leave a Post-It with a positive message on it wherever you go."

 "Cut out all screen time (phone, TV, computer) after dinner."

 "Use your weekends to babysit for free."

 "Don't straighten or curl your hair."

 "Give up all drinks but water.

 "Don't give up anything. Just pray more.

"I gave up spoons and forks. I learned to use chopsticks. It was funny for my friends and made it easy to talk about Lent in a way that people were cool with. We laughed a lot."

"Give up your bed and sleep on the floor or couch."

"I fasted for all of Lent one year. One meal a day really brings souls to Jesus, especially your own!"

"I'm going to treat my body as a temple of God during Lent . . . everything I read, watch, listen to, eat, drink, do, say, etc. . . . focusing on being a temple of God."

"Each day of Lent, I wrote a person . . . a letter of thanks for how they touched my life, and I prayed for that person on that day. . . . It was a WONDERFUL experience!!!"

"This year, I'm giving up the radio in my car in order to focus more on the things that are around me that God created! I can't wait, so I've already started doing it."

"I slept outside in a tent. And I live in Canada! So it was well below freezing!"

"I have an issue with vanity, especially when I get ready in the morning. So I decided a couple years ago to just wear the first outfit I put on every morning. What I learned from that was how to get a source of self esteem beyond my outfits."

"Last year two of my friends gave up warm water for their showers."

Leave your phone behind if you always have to check it. "My hope is that having moderation I can be more present to the people around me."

Listen more.

Give up makeup.

"Usually during Lent, on top of giving up something we love but don't need, we say that any money that is found in the laundry, couches, and anywhere else was God's money, and we gave it to the poor. I remember one of the first years we did this, I found a $20 bill in a parking lot."

"Two years ago I went to adoration every day during Lent. I'm not gonna lie, I didn't make it every day but I made it most of the time and it changed my life to . . . be with Jesus that much. It was an awesome experience."

"Getting to the third floor using stairs."

"I've adopted a priest in Chile . . .  I offer daily prayers and sacrifices for Father."

Give up the alarm clock's snooze button.

"For Holy Week last year I gave up my pillow. . . . It made me realize how blessed I am to even have a bed."

I hope these suggestions got you thinking. Please submit other ideas as well.

Whether you choose to be creative or conventional, have a holy and blessed Lent!

Inspired by the Year of Faith, Susan Szalewski began writing weekly columns for us. Although that year is over, we liked them so well that we asked her to keep writing. Thankfully, she said yes. So watch for these on Thursdays and see the Year of Faith Blog here.

Wearing Out the Confessional Chairs

It seems that we've been so busy with so much Reconciliation this lent that we've worn out the chairs in the confessionals. Here are before and after pictures in both confessionals.

Tonight is the last night of "Leave the Light On" where every parish in the diocese is to offer Reconciliation from 5:30 until 7 p.m. tonight. And you can do it tonight with a new chair.

Fr. Vitalis' Lenten Reflection

Fr. Vitalis visited our parish today to give the reflection of "Mother Knows Best" as part of the weekly Eucharistic Exposition and Reflection series at 3:00 p.m. on Sundays.

Fr. Vitalis, one of our former Pastoral Associates, also expressed his joy at the changes that have taken place in the sanctuary since he was last here.

I've Fallen In My Lent

I have a recurring dream in which I am trying to get something done, but I keep getting distracted. In the end, I suddenly realize what little I’ve done and what little time left I have to finish. I wake up panicked.

This dream reminds me of my Lent so far.

If Lent was a race, we’d be entering the homestretch now. But I allow so many stupid distractions to keep me from Christ, the finish line. I feel stuck in the mud. I have fallen in my Lenten observances and can’t seem to get back up.

I run the same race every Lent. I typically stumble right out of the gate, failing just a day or two after Ash Wednesday in whatever minor sacrifice or practice I resolved to do. This first fall I can overcome, figuring it’s God’s will to humble me right off the bat. No problem. I dust myself off and start again.

I’ll continue on with no major setbacks for a few weeks. But then I start backsliding into my former ways. This time it’s much harder to get up. I’m in the stuck-in-the mud phase described above.

I know from experience how to get unstuck. I need Reconciliation. Through the forgiveness of my sins and the grace of this sacrament, God throws me a rope, to help me out of my quagmire. When I receive Jesus in Communion, He seems to work more effectively in my new state of grace. He gives me a boost of strength.

Despite God’s tremendous help, I know I can fall again. For me, Lent (a mini Way of the Cross) wouldn’t be complete without a third fall. I typically drift away from my Lenten practices again during Holy Week, falling asleep like Peter, James and John during our Lord’s Agony in the Garden. The secular, material aspects of Easter -- the shopping, preparation and busywork for the holiday -- draw me away from Jesus in His darkest hour.

So what should be my plan, knowing what obstacles usually trip me in the homestretch of Lent?

I may have received the answer in another dream I had.

In the dream I was a little girl, a toddler, trying to trudge up a hill covered in deep snow. I could barely forge a few steps on my own, and I had a huge hill ahead of me. There was no way I could make it to the top. Then I looked to my left and saw a pair of adult pant legs next to me. It was my Father. I knew I no longer had to worry about getting to the top of the hill. I had Him to carry me.

No wonder my first dream left me panicked. Left on my own, with all my distractions, I have trouble finishing anything. The second dream teaches me that I am never alone or have to finish anything by myself, especially the race that leads to Heaven by Way of the Cross. I can try to avoid Lenten pitfalls, but in reality, I’ll probably keep falling. I’m just God’s little child. I must allow Him to lift me up and carry me, especially through the grace of His sacraments.

Inspired by this Year of Faith we will be posting columns like this from Susan Szalewski about exploring and/or deepening our faith. Watch for it on Thursdays.

Soup & Stations

On Monday or Wednesday nights, families involved with Religious Formation attended Soup & Stations.

They began with a meal of soup and sandwiches.

Then they moved to the church for Stations of the Cross.

Wednesday night it was held just hours

 after the crucifix was in place.

We'll have Stations of the Cross

 again tonight at 6 p.m.