It goes something like this – so the science boffs tell us that they have some kind of “bother” with the fact that they can’t find enough matter in the universe to account for some or other calculation or theory, and so have decided that there is this unseen, immeasurable, 90% of everything called dark matter and it’s binary partner, dark energy. A kind of science meets religion interface hypothesis.
While we are in a philosophical muse, I thought I’d float a “theory” I’ve had swishing around in the old noodle for some time now. I’m sorry that this has become a necessary warning, but it has. This is not one of them, and I will without any second chances ban anyone who breaks that rule. If you choose not to worship, are not Christian, or have a grudge against specific faiths such as Catholicism, there are many forums online where you can debate or condemn. This post, and all of those you will encounter during Lent and Easter are meant to encourage us in our worship. And don’t forget the Knights of Columbus fish fry on Fridays! Usually for five or six bucks you’ll get a get supper and help the Knights raise money for their charitable causes.
If your church has special services today or during Lent, please tell us about it, especially if visitors are welcome to participate.
It helps me not just tread water spiritually, but make progress, and to more “live out” the life of Christ. I find this yearly journey helps me keep an eye on where I am going. After Pentecost comes the long stretch of what the Church call Ordinary Time before we start again with Advent. Soon after comes Lent, and we cast our eyes toward Holy Week, and the death, and Resurrection, and we again spend eight days, another Octave, celebrating Easter. We then celebrate Christmas for an Octave, and the season ends with Epiphany. Advent begins our new Church year, and we look forward to the birth of Jesus. I’m sure that is true of other denominations as well.Ĭatholics, and many other Protestant denominations follow a liturgical calendar, which I find to be of great aid to me daily and yearly in my attempt to follow Jesus. You do not have to be Catholic to attend the service or receive the ashes. If you are not a member of a church, or your particular church does not have any Ash Wednesday service, you are welcome to participate at any Catholic Church. Like Mary, we hope to find ourselves at the foot of the cross on Good Friday, still with our Savior, looking with a more hopeful and receptive heart toward the Resurrection. These practices are meant to help us prepare to meet Jesus on Easter Sunday, having walked these six weeks with him toward Calvary, fasting as he fasted in the desert, carrying our cross as he carried his, doing the will of the Father as Jesus taught us so well. We fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, and we abstain from meat on Fridays as well, although many Catholics do not understand that we still have an obligation to fast on Fridays or substitute another penitential practice year round. Often we will choose to give up something, a sacrifice we offer to the Lord, but also something we use as a way to remind us to be more holy, more dependent on God.
Lent is a time of penance, of choosing to look closely at our lives and invite the Holy Spirit in to help us clean house. Many other churches and people are choosing to observe the forty days (not including Sundays) before Easter. Many people associate the season of Lent with Catholicism, but that no longer holds true. Then the LORD was stirred to concern for his land Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep,
0 kommentar(er)
