Lent 4.5

From the desk of Fr. Paul
While Lent and Easter come a little later than usual this year, it is nonetheless fast approaching. This year the parish will be launching a special Lenten program: Lent 4.5.

The Lent 4.5 program is developed by the Passionist Earth & Spirit Centre based in Kentucky, USA. (It is an unusual name, but in time you’ll hear more about it.) Through the program, we approach the Lenten season of purification and repentance with a particular focus on how our lifestyles affect creation, as well as the poor of this world. It gives the traditional Lenten practice of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving a whole new meaning.

Beginning February 27, each week during Lent, there will be an additional insert to our Parish Bulletin, covering a variety of themes, such as Christian simplicity, food, energy, water. Each week the particular theme will be explained in the insert, along with what the Church teaches on the subject. There will also be simple actions suggested so that if we decide to, we can make a difference in caring for the poor and for God’s creation.

We encourage you to take a few moments each week, using the insert to ponder and reflect. Hopefully this Lent will be for you a new experience of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.