Grace

What is this thing we call grace? We hear that it is something we are given by God. We receive it in the sacraments yet what is it? It is not something we can tangibly hold in our hands yet it is a gift. Most of the gifts we receive we can hold on too or at least see in action such as the gift from a child to do dishes for a mother on her birthday. God’s gift of grace is free and we not need to do anything to deserve it. God gives us this gift so that we may respond to his call to become his adopted children.

This gift that God gives to us freely is called sanctifying grace and we receive it through the sacrament of Baptism. The only way we lose sanctifying grace is by committing a mortal sin. And yes we can get it back by going to confession (remember confession or reconciliation is a sacrament as well, see a connection here?). Sanctifying grace is a habitual gift and it will enable our soul to live with God in heaven. This is the grace that sustains us in our ongoing life of discipleship. Yes, we are disciples of God and need to be sustained in living a Christian life.

Then there is actual grace. This comes and goes as we need it. This is the grace that helps us to live our lives in a Christian manner. It helps us to regulate our lives with God’s will for us. This is God’s way of nudging us to a deeper relationship with Him, to put God first in all that we do. We may not always feel that nudge or if we do we ignore it. Then there are times that the nudge pretty much “knocks” us off our feet and is something we can’t ignore. Have you experienced either? I have experienced both and must admit ignoring a nudge or two in my lifetime. The times that are very hard to ignore always seem to make me step back and reevaluate what I am doing which is exactly what God has intended. The gentle nudges for the most part are easy to incorporate into our lives yet sometimes they are just ignored. Keep your eyes and heart open for those gentle and sometimes not so gentle nudges that God sends your way.

Pope Francis tells us in his Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium that:
“112. The salvation which God offers us is the work of his mercy. No human efforts, however good they may be, can enable us to merit so great a gift. God, by his sheer grace, draws us to himself and makes us one with him.[79] He sends his Spirit into our hearts to make us his children, transforming us and enabling us to respond to his love by our lives. The Church is sent by Jesus Christ as the sacrament of the salvation offered by God.[80] Through her evangelizing activity, she cooperates as an instrument of that divine grace which works unceasingly and inscrutably. Benedict XVI put it nicely at the beginning of the Synod’s reflections: “It is important always to know that the first word, the true initiative, the true activity comes from God and only by inserting ourselves into the divine initiative, only begging for this divine initiative, shall we too be able to become – with him and in him – evangelizers”.[81] This principle of the primacy of grace must be a beacon which constantly illuminates our reflections on evangelization.”
You can find Pope Francis’ Exhortation at: http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/francesco/apost_exhortations/documents/papa-francesco_esortazione-ap_20131124_evangelii-gaudium_en.pdf


I hope this helps you a little bit in understanding what grace is and how it works in our lives.

Baptism

Why am I talking about Baptism during Lent? We don’t even have a Baptism Weekend during Lent…The highlight of the Church Year is Easter, the Resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ. We forgo baptisms during Lent in the anticipation of the Easter Vigil when the unbaptized joining the Catholic Church are baptized. Remember Baptism is a sign of the death, the burial (which is symbolized by going into the water) and the resurrection of Jesus (the coming out of the water). What glorious time the Easter Vigil is when the Elect become part of the Catholic faith with the community as witnesses.

Check the pictures of our Elect out in the gathering space get to know their faces so you can greet them and welcome them when you see them. Remember they are now called The Elect and not catechumens and they are called the “elect” because they have been chosen and called forth by the Bishop on the 1st Sunday of Lent at the St. Joseph the Workman Cathedral in La Crosse. Pray for them and for the candidates who will join our community in full communion at the Easter Vigil

During Lent we look forward to the Resurrection with the anticipation of a great happening. We look forward to Baptisms with excitement and thankfulness as well. Maybe to remind us of our own Baptism we could set an empty bowl in our prayer space at home and then at Easter fill the bowl with water from the newly blessed water at church. Then each day until Pentecost family members can remind themselves of their own Baptisms by dipping their fingertips into the water and making the sign of the cross.

Pope’s Intentions for April

Universal Papal Intention: That governments may foster the protection of creation and the just distribution of natural resources.

Evangelization Intention: That the Risen Lord may fill with hope the hearts of those who are being tested by pain and sickness.

ALERT

Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and Stations of the Cross for Friday April 4th at St. Olaf have been canceled.

Fifth Sunday of Lent, Year A

Life everlasting

Reading I: Ezekiel 37:12-14 (prophecy of restoration)
Reading II: Romans 8:8-11 (the flesh and the Spirit)
Gospel: John 11:1-45 (the raising of Lazarus)

Key Passage: Jesus said to Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25–26)

Adult: Christ calls us from death to new life. To what new life are you being called during this Lent?
Child: How does Jesus help you do what is good and avoid what is not?
(from PastoralPlanning.com)

Prayer the Sequel

Here we are a little more than ½ way through Lent. For those of you who decided to expand your prayer time during Lent I hope it is going well. I must admit I added a few extra minutes to my morning time and sometimes I think why did I do this again? For the most part though it has given me a great start to my day. The one thing I have found to be lacking since I added the extra prayer time is am noticing that more often than not my journaling gets forgotten. There is always something to work on in our lives isn’t there?

We just need to remember that if we fall backwards God is always there with us gently guiding us forward. The conversations we have with God during our prayer time are just like having an old friend sitting with us. And remember when we do fall back, it might feel awkward at first when we start the conversation again but then in no time at all it is like we haven’t been away at all.

My sister-in-law gave me a devotional prayer book for women last year for my birthday and I have been using that each day. Some days it is more meaningful than others depending on what is going on in my life. The thing I like about this one is that it is written as if Jesus is talking to me (or whoever is reading the book). It makes it easier to fall into that conversational mode since with this short paragraph or two each day Jesus is talking in words that I read and can respond to.

I pray that the rest of your Lent is a prayerful one and that your conversations with God are fruitful ones.

Reconciliation

What do you think of when you see a cross or crucifix? Does it remind you that Jesus Christ dies on a cross to save us from our sins? It should Jesus did come to this earth as our Savior the one sent by God to redeem us.

God sent his only Son to become human so we could know the loving embrace of his forgiveness for all of us that is a big idea to wrap our minds around right? He loves each of us as we love our own children if we are blessed to have them. God loves us through our good days and our bad days. He forgives us for ignoring Him for extended periods of time. The trials that we face in our lives will find Him walking with us and at times carrying us. So why then is it so hard for us to ask for forgiveness through the Sacrament of Reconciliation?

We all sin. Yes, I said that we may not want to admit to ourselves that we sin but let’s face it we do, it may not be mortal sins but venial sins take us away from God’s love just as easily. It may not be more than telling a little white lie every now and then to protect someone’s feelings. That’s OK right? Not really, we need to at least admit to God and ourselves that we lied and that we will definitely try not to do that again. We will most likely fall back once in a while, but remember God is a loving and forgiving God.

We do not sin in a vacuum that is why the Sacrament of Reconciliation is important. Jesus instituted this Sacrament, in John 20: 21- 23 Jesus says, “…’Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’ When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained’.” Ok, you say so why doesn’t the priest just have everyone come into the church once a month, 2 times a year or even yearly and we can pray a little and then everyone does a personal examination of conscience and the priest says the prayer of absolution over everyone and voila we are absolved of our sins and we are forgiven. Well…stating our sins out loud to another person who is the representative of Christ here on earth helps us be accountable to ourselves. And just like our conversations (prayer) with God no one else can find out about what we discuss with the priest in confession under the seal of confession unless we chose to share that with someone else. Fr. William Saunders says this in his article The Seal of the Confessional, “The standard of secrecy protecting a confession outweighs any form of professional confidentiality or secrecy. When a person unburdens his soul and confesses his sins to a priest in the Sacrament of Penance, a very sacred trust is formed. The priest must maintain absolute secrecy about anything that a person confesses.”

Everything we say to the priest stays between him and you. Wow, isn’t that mind boggling? We are so used to the things said in what we believe is confidence finding their way to the world around us that we find it hard to believe but it is the truth. So think about that during Lent and attend a reconciliation service or go to confession during the time it is offered at your parish. Here at St. Olaf Father is in the confessional on Saturday mornings from 9 to 10 and on Saturday afternoons from 4 to 4:45. The area wide reconciliation services for Lent are listed in the bulletin.