February 19, 2023
Seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time
by Fr. Boniface Endorf, O.P
Dear St. Joseph Parish Family,
This Wednesday is Ash Wednesday. We’ll have masses at: 8am, 12:10pm, 5pm, and 7pm. It’s not a Holy Day of Obligation but it’s spiritually fruitful to attend Mass at the beginning of Lent.
In addition, St. Joseph's will celebrate the Stations of the Cross at 7pm on every Friday during Lent.
Ash Wednesday is the beginning of Lent, a season of penance that prepares us for the celebration of Easter. The point of penances is to open our souls to God so that we can hear His voice in our lives. It’s a form of repentance, meaning sorrow for our sin and turning from sin back towards God. Penance and repentance are thus hopeful acts: that we can be united with God by turning towards His mercy and grace.
The Church mandates specific penances during Lent, outlined below, but these are the bare minimum that the whole Church undertakes. We should undertake additional penances that are suited to our personal situation and our individual need for spiritual growth.
Ash Wednesday and Good Friday: abstinence and fasting
All Fridays of Lent: abstinence
All Fridays outside of Lent: some form of penance; traditionally the Church required abstinence, but now Catholics can substitute abstinence for a different penance, chosen individually, outside of Lent.
Abstinence means not eating meat, except fish. Abstinence is mandated for those over 14 years of age.
Fasting means not eating more than one full meal, plus, if needed, up to two snacks that don’t add up to a full meal. Fasting is mandated for those between 18 and 59.
I encourage you to also take up a personal penance for Lent. Pick something that would be spiritually helpful. Many would benefit from giving up social media or television. The point is to open space in our lives and souls to hear God: what noise can we reduce in our lives to better listen to God this Lent?
There is a lot of grace in the Lenten Season. Take advantage of that! This can be a time of great spiritual growth and we should take advantage of all the graces God wants to offer us. And remember to pray more often this Lent: to hear God we must also talk to God!
Mass Tidbit:
As a sidenote to our progression through the Mass it is useful to know that there are liturgical changes to the Mass based on the liturgical season. There are prayers that change every Sunday (the propers of the Mass), but beyond that there are changes for all Masses during a particular liturgical season. For instance, on Sundays of Advent and Lent the Gloria is not sung at Mass. Also, during Lent, the Alleluia is not said at all, so the Alleluia sung before the Gospel at Mass is replaced with a different sung prayer. At the traditional choir Masses we’ll also use different Mass settings (the sung parts) for Lent and Easter, as we did for Advent and Christmas. These changes reflect the different liturgical tone of the Seasons—a more austere liturgy during times of penance and preparation, and a more glorious liturgy during times of celebration.
As Lent progresses there are more changes, especially as we enter Holy Week, the week just before Easter. Two weeks from Lent, called Passiontide, it’s customary to cover all the statues in the Church. During the Triduum, the three Holy Days before Easter, the church is stripped bare and the Eucharist removed from the tabernacle after the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday and not returned until the Easter Vigil. We’ll cover the details of those changes as we enter that time.
God Bless,
Fr. Boniface
