My mother used to have a saying that I am sure was not original to her. She always said, "The further I go, the behinder I get." That saying popped into my mind when I realized that we are celebrating the 3rd Sunday of Lent this week. We are halfway through our 40 day retreat with Jesus in the desert. We have but three more weeks to prepare ourselves to celebrate Easter. As a priest, I have 20 or so days to get ready for Holy Week and all the special Masses beginning on Palm Sunday and continuing through the Easter Triduum--Holy Thursday, Good Friday, the Easter Vigil and Easter Sunday.
When I think of the work load and my schedule, I can become a bit overwhelmed. But when I think of the opportunity to worship God and share our faith, I am overjoyed at the prospects! Each worship service is a very beautiful expression of our faith in Jesus Christ.
I am reading St. Augustine's "Exposition of the Psalms" as part of my Lenten practices. This week his writings reminded me of the importance of making sure the temple of our hearts are clean and pure. He writes, "Our Lord’s driving out of the temple people who were seeking their own ends, who came to the temple to buy and sell, is symbolic. For if that temple was a symbol it obviously follows that the body of Christ, the true temple of which the other was an image, has within it some who are buyers and sellers, or in other words, people who are seeking their own interests and not those of Jesus Christ."
I want to encourage Catholics to use the Sacrament of Confession to get your hearts and souls right with God. All of us, Catholics and protestants, can use these next few weeks as a kind of retreat to get closer to Jesus as He loves us into becoming better disciples and true temples of the Holy Spirit.
Prayerfully,
Father Mike