Don’t
let Lent pass you by!
by Joanne Pohland
In His wisdom and goodness,
God knew that we humans needed time each year to contemplate the path our life
is taking and then either recommit ourselves to following him or redirect our
lives in order to follow him. Each Lent
we have that opportunity. We are called
to spend more time in prayer and other ways of drawing closer to God.
The Council of Catholic Women
strives to help women as they follow God. As baptized Christians, we are called
to "put on Christ", to become more and more like Christ.
Last summer, as I attended a
retreat given by Matthew Kelly, he spoke of the seven pillars of Catholic
spirituality. They are as follows:
confession, contemplation, the mass, the bible, fasting, spiritual reading,
and the rosary. If we take these pillars seriously and try to make them a part
of our lives, we will truly "put on Christ" and become the person God
has called us to be. During this Lent,
we can turn to these activities and become more holy.
In February, Pope Benedict XVI, gave us a gift that we can use this Lent; he gave us
the encyclical Deus Caritas Est, on Christian love.
As he says at the beginning of this beautiful document, "For this reason,
I wish in my first encyclical to speak of the love which God lavishes upon us
and which we in turn must share with others." In this relatively short
document, he helps us to understand God's love for us and our call to love
others. What better gift you could give yourself this Lent than to set aside some
time each day to read a section of this beautiful document. It has only
forty-two sections (usually a paragraph long), and so is almost perfect for
reading one section each day of Lent. In this way, we can read it and spend
some time in trying to integrate it into our lives. You can find it on-line at www.ewtn.com. Just click on "Pope Benedict XVI's Encyclical Letter" on the home page.
Also during this Lent, I
would encourage you to make your plans to attend the annual Diocesan Council of
Catholic Women Convention. Mark your
calendars for Saturday, April 22 at the
Parish CCW presidents will
have all the information you need to register.
Another great Council of
Catholic Women opportunity coming up are the annual spring region gatherings
held in each of the six regions throughout the diocese. Each evening includes
Mass, a meal, and a speaker - a great opportunity to grow in your faith.
This Lent is an opportunity
for you! Don't let it pass you by!
Joanne Pohland is from
Glencoe and is the New