Did you call AAA to help you get your car started or for a tow, lately? Hopefully not—but there is a AAA that can help rescue us during this Lenten season. Attitude, Attachment and Action are the three A’s of the spiritual life.
There is a saying in aviation that “your attitude determines your altitude.” This is true, not only in flying, but also in life. Taking an attitude check is worth the effort. As we enter into the second week of Lent, let us pray for the grace to have the “right attitude.” An attitude of openness to Christ, His grace and His will. Let us do all in our power to set aside negative and grumpy attitudes. The Lord desires a cheerful giver. Let us be cheerful about the Lenten sacrifices and efforts we are making. May they truly be a joyful sign of our love for the Lord and that we are making an effort to grow closer to Him.
What we are attached to says a lot about our state of mind and being. Sometimes we don’t even realize what things we are attached to. Our parish prayer speaks of the wisdom of Jesus when it says “where your treasure is, there your heart is also.” What is our treasure? What are we most attached to? If it’s any material thing, or even a human relationship that does not include Christ, we are attached to the wrong thing. Detachment is the hallmark of all the great saints. They detach themselves from anything that is not Christ. It is the command of Jesus to let go of all those things that take God’s place in our lives. Let us detach from them and attach ourselves most passionately to Christ!
Action is the demand of Christ to put our faith into action. He tells his disciples that as he has done, so we must do. His powerful example of washing his disciples’ feet at the Last Supper, which we recall on Holy Thursday, points to what we should be doing. We put our faith into action most perfectly when we lovingly serve our neighbor. In this spirit, I invite you to join me in praying for the young people of our parish who will be receiving the sacraments of initiation. Please pray for our 86 second graders who received First Reconciliation on this past Saturday, February 27th. They will be receiving First Holy Communion this Spring. Pray for them during their Retreats on March 6th, 13th and 20th.
Please also keep in mind and in your prayers our candidates for Confirmation. Their Retreats will be March 6th and 13th. And, of course, our RCIA candidates and catechumens. In this year’s class of Candidates are George Trosky, Haley Taylor, Jhoey DeWalt, Barbara Provance, Doug Hill, and Taylor Biddle. The class of Catechumens is comprised of Zach Steadman, Joel Mekler, Patricia Doerzbacher, Kimberly McConnell, and Zane Duddy. See the article on Page 9 of today’s bulletin for more information.
Another sign of Action for Lent is that our ENGAGE promotion has been achieving success. Pam Croach has emailed new material often during the week and the second Flocknote signup message brought the total participants up to 215. If you have missed signing up, there will be a sign-up link at hsplc.org/updates when you scroll down the middle column to ENGAGE. God love you,