We are in the season of Lent – a Lent so different from any we have experienced, considering Covid-19 and the isolation.  Let us remember that the 40 days of Lent commemorate the 40 days Jesus spent in the desert immediately after His Baptism where He did penance in preparation for His ministry – and He was tempted.  With the isolation we are living, I think the positive lesson we can take from this is that Jesus learned to live in isolation, and our experience of it is a lived experience which can teach us some of what Jesus felt. 

In isolation, we must face ourselves, with our good points and our bad points.  The purpose of Lent, as of a good historically silent retreat, is to face ourselves and fix what needs to be fixed.  And then to come back to socialization to do good to the others in our society, which can be challenging when much of society may be against us and the Church. 

Many found our Zoom one-day retreat last year very frustrating.  For many reasons, our Club has opted for our form of a social retreat, where we hear some spiritual talks and then take time to talk and share with others our impressions and things we have learned.  That has many positive values.  Both forms of retreat should imbue in us a greater understanding of God and His love for us.  Let us take this Lent, as we are forced to live it, and try to face ourselves, improve ourselves, and then with the Love of God, come back from the pandemic and contribute more to society.

You will find numerous spiritual treasures on the parish website www.saintjosephmsj.org.  If you scroll down the page, you will see that Fr Anthony is holding the Stations of the Cross every Friday evening at 6:30 PM followed by a Lenten commentary on the parish prayer at 7 PM.  You can attend in-person or online.  Fr Anthony is also holding regular meetings to carry out the 33 Days of the Total Consecration to St Joseph.  If you look down the left margin of the website you will see the Online Bulletin, which has been updated to include all the email addresses of the parish staff.  It also announces all the Lenten exercises. 

Blessings and prayers to all.

VP for Spirituality — Dennis