Dear brothers and sisters,

This week we celebrate the 3rd Sunday of Lent. During Lent the themes of repentance and reconciliation are very much part of the liturgy. These two themes are intimately intertwined: repentance is possible because God is offering us reconciliation, and being reconciled with God involves the commitment to a new style of life and building the new creation made available in Christ. Saint Patrick once explained this when he wrote, “And there the Lord opened my mind to an awareness of my unbelief, in order that, even so late, I might remember my transgressions and turn with all my heart to the Lord my God, who had regard for my insignificance and pitied my youth and ignorance. And He watched over me before I knew Him, and before I learned sense or even distinguished between good and evil, and He protected me, and consoled me as a father would his son. Therefore, indeed, I cannot keep silent, nor would it be proper, so many favors and graces has the Lord deigned to bestow on me in the land of my captivity. For after chastisement from God, and recognizing Him, our way to repay Him is to exalt Him and confess His wonders before every nation under heaven.” –(The Confession of Saint Patrick) Saint Patrick leaves us with a beautiful image of God our father who seeks peace and healing for us.

Lent is a great time to examine our lives and see just what our Lord is calling us to let go of, and continue to be reconciled and healed. Our part is to listen and then to say yes to the grace of conversion that our Lord offers us each day. What is brought out in today’s Gospel is that the possibility of repentance is continually offered to us. But the actual act of turning is a painful process of evaluating our lifestyle, actions, and attitudes – a process far more painful than just TAKING the trip to the confessional. Pope Francis reminds us of the power of God’s mercy when he said, “God’s mercy transforms human hearts; it enables us, through the experience of a faithful love, to become merciful in turn. In an ever new miracle, divine mercy shines forth in our lives, inspiring each of us to love our neighbor and to devote ourselves to what the Church’s tradition calls the spiritual and corporal works of mercy. Let us therefore move forward with the process of conversion this Lent as we journey with our Lord Jesus Christ to the joy of Easter.

Peace,

Fr. Mike