Dear Friends,
I hope you can join us for the Parish Lenten Mission being presented by ValLimar Jansen. I am sure you will not only learn, but you will have a chance to pray and to celebrate all that God is and does for you.
And, it will be enjoyable. The enjoyable part might strike some people as incompatible with church and
religion. They believe that church work is serious business. To laugh and sing and enjoy does not seem to fit with the serious work of religion. However, what Christianity teaches us is that everything we encounter, every beauty and every tragedy, invites us deeper into God and deeper into our truest selves. To become more like Jesus is to become more truly human. Jesus showed us what it looks like to be God, but Jesus also showed us what it looks like to be truly human. We often fear our human urges, our human desires, our human bodies and our human frailties. To be Christian is to become more and more human. For we are made in the image of God. We are children of God. What is sacred is what is most human. As we become more fully ourselves, as we become more aware of how much we are loved by God, then we are free to laugh and to cry and to rest in God.
Having been here now for almost three years, I know that some of you carry grief. I know that some of you are fighting cancer, some of you are struggling in your marriages, some have fear about job and future, and some have sadness about children. Some are barely holding their heads above the water while others are doing everything they can to keep their loved ones afloat. Some feel loneliness. Others feel shame. Some are trying to hide who they really are and what they really feel because they are sure they will be rejected by others if they spoke the truth (or someone might try to “fix” them). Some are simply afraid of life and all of its challenges.
In spite of all those things, you, the people of St. Frances Cabrini, continue to seek out the God who loves you and you desire to be a part of God’s family, the Church. You know that the place to find God and peace is here in this community as together we strive to be Christ’s body. Together we become a blessing to those who need one. With confidence we can say, “Whatever else may be true and despite every other thing you hear in the world – you belong to God.” We do not turn from the realities of life and paint a fake smiley face on the pain, but we affirm that even in the midst of the struggles of life, God is present. God who created it all and called it “good” will not remove his loving hand and will not forget you.
In honoring that, and to make our Lenten journey full, please come and join us. ValLimar Jansen has done great work around the country in making the gospel and the events of the Old Testament come alive for people with drama and song. Come to all three nights or to one, but please come. On Wednesday evening, we will be having our Lenten Reconciliation Service. Several other priests will be joining us. It is an opportunity to have your sins forgiven and your hearts prepared for the upcoming celebration of Holy Week and Easter.
Peace,
Fr. Damian