Take a bow Patty Connors

First Week of Lent

When I was 16, I thought my mother was stupid. I would never seek her advice, and I would never listen to any advice or guidance she offered. I only sought advice from my peers; obviously, they had spent more time on this Earth and had years of life experience behind them; what did my mother know? All this to my detriment!

At 19, I  realized that my mother was quite intelligent. It was the turbulence of life that taught me this. Living on my own, working, going to college, trying to pay bills, managing a relationship, and all the other sundry items life throws at us showed me just how challenging it is to survive on one's own. Now, throw in raising a large family as a single parent and being a strong woman of faith throughout it all, I could see all that my mother had to go through for the first time in my life. All she ever wanted to do was raise a family of faith and see her children be happy and prosperous and know they were loved.

I was available to help her in any way that she needed. It might have been taking care of the home, taking her to the doctor, taking her to a fancy restaurant on Valentine's Day or Mother's day. Every time I began to feel like she was intruding upon my time, I remembered what she had sacrificed for me in so many different ways. So, I spent the rest of her life on Earth making amends for all the ingratitude, selfishness, arrogance, ignorance, and my own stupidity.

Remembering is what Moses asked the Israelites to do in the first reading. They were to recall all that God had done for them, how he had brought them through so many events from the time of Abraham to the present. By remembering, they were able to show Gratitude by offering their first fruits, not their last, not leftovers, but the Firstfruits.

What are we going through today? How do we need to remember what God has done for us in our lives? And rather than simply say THANKS! Let us show him by giving our fruits, whether that is our time, talents, or treasure.

Thanks be to God!

Ashes to Ashes, Funk to Funky

 Ash Wednesday-2022

You are dust, and unto dust, you shall return!

 Those are the words spoken as the ashes are spread upon our foreheads. They are supposed to remind us of our mortality, that we are going to die one day. It seems morbid, but it's true. As a priest for almost 22 years, I have learned some hard facts, and one of those facts is that we are NOT guaranteed tomorrow.

We think, especially the young, that we have all the time in the world. We don't give much thought to the end of our lives and what will happen after. Lent is supposed to remind us that life is short, and we should from time to time stop and reflect upon it, and make adjustments, repent in fact, change our choices, our behavior, our words, our sins.

Three ways that Jesus suggests that we do this are by fasting, prayer, and almsgiving. The very idea of these suggestions can be overwhelming, but I believe that the key to having a successful Lent, one in that we have changed for the better, become better Christians, is to KEEP IT SIMPLE.

Fasting doesn't have to be a major ordeal living on bread and water. We can find many little ways, manageable ways we can fast. Don't put cream in your coffee, don't put salt on your food, eat dry toast, instead of buttering it, watch one less TV show for Lent...These are small sacrifices, but you get the idea, if we take on something big we have a greater chance of giving up on it before the end of the season. Keeping it simple, we can be more successful.

Prayer can be simply reading some more scripture, using a reflection booklet, that many churches give out for the season, or just sitting quietly for 15 minutes having a conversation with Jesus in the privacy of our room or at church.

Almsgiving doesn't have to be writing a big check to a charity, it can be collecting the pocket change everyday and making sure we put it in the poor box at church on Sundays. Adding some extra items to our own shopping list, like peanut butter and jelly and dropping them off at a food cupboard, or volunteering some time at a soup kitchen or homeless shelter or our local church. Our time can be more valuable than our money at times.

Lent can be a beautiful season of the church reflecting on the sacrifices that Jesus did for us, dying on the cross. It should motivate us to change, to want to do better. If we KEEP IT SIMPLE  we will. God Bless!