Faith Formation

From today’s Gospel

“A voice of one crying out in the desert

Prepare the way of the Lord

make straight his paths”

In the season of the Lent, we are often asked: “What are you doing for Lent?” implying something to be given up or something extra to do. In Lent, confession is usually understood as one of the “to do’s”. Last Sunday Deacon Dave in his homily had asked other people [not at Mass], what they were doing for Advent and the answers that came back were more along the line of parties or Christmas Eve gatherings. Yes, it is so easy to allow Advent to disappear with the main focus on what to get a family member or friend for Christmas or how can I can show Christmas spirit by how I will decorate inside or outside my house or going to a before Christmas party. Unfortunately that all comes from the culture in which we live. And we do understand that stores rely heavily on their Christmas sales to end the year well. But it is still Advent for nine more days – yes only nine to Christmas Eve. So how am I living Advent in the spirit of “preparing the way for the Lord?” Confession should really be on the top of the list. We want to prepare our hearts so the Jesus born for us, who lived, suffered and died and rose from the dead, all for the forgiveness of our sins can find a welcoming place in the manger of our hearts. Confession is an opportunity for each one of us to examine our journey to see where we have been seriously or even slightly off track with the intention of owning up to our wrong doing with the desire to be the persons God is calling us to be. Everyone who humbly confesses theirs sins has taken the step to also make the world a better place and don’t we all want that?

This Monday evening at 6:30 PM, our parish will host the last Communal Penance Celebration with several area priests coming to assist in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. There is a short prayer service followed by individual confessions.

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