This Sunday we continue hearing from Jesus’ great Sermon on the Mount. What he teaches today is a good segue as we head toward Ash Wednesday.
We hear Jesus call us to go outside our comfort zone and go further than we are normally used to going. We hear things like love your enemies; if someone asks you for something, give them more than they expected; if someone strikes you on one cheek, let them strike you again on the other; if someone presses you to walk with them for one mile, go two.
Jesus is inspiring us to see what it means to truly give of ourselves. He’s at least asking us to think about it, which can make us aware of ways we can put it into action.
That’s why Lent is an important time for us as Catholics growing in the spiritual life. We focus on the three spiritual disciplines of fasting, prayer and almsgiving. All are meant to foster the desire within to go the extra mile—not for ourselves, but for something, or someone, who could use it.
This Lent at St. Hubert, as you go through the bulletin, you’ll see opportunities to go the extra mile. On March 4, Deacon Allen and his wife Stephanie, have created an opportunity for us to participate in an almsgiving program together—an evening at Feed My Starving Children where we can create and pack meals to send to third world countries. To that end, our collection on Ash Wednesday services will go to support this organization’s work.
Our Religious Education students are inviting us to a simple Soup and Bread Meal on Friday March 6 beginning at 5 PM. If you’ve never gone, please consider it. We are conscious of the Lenten fast and to abstain from meat, and so gather as a community to share a simple meal, courtesy of the teens and their families. It’s an opportunity for the teens to go the extra mile, followed by a time of prayer: The Stations of the Cross at 7 PM. Please considering joining us. It’s an act of kindness, and it’s free!
On Wednesday, March 18, we will have 12 hours of Eucharistic Adoration—from noon to midnight. We’re celebrating 60 years as a parish this year, and we’ll kick off our year of activities with prayer. All of us are invited to come sometime during the 12 hours to thank God for all that our parish has gone through in 60 years, and to pray for our future. At 7 PM, Deacon Allen will offer Adore and Worship until 8:30 PM.
Our Parish Mission this year is March 8, 9 and 10
th. Each night begins at 7:30 PM. Church of the Holy Spirit on Bode Road will be our host this year. What’s particularly meaningful this year, is that we’ll have a chance to reflect on three of the gospel passages we’ll hear during the Sundays in Lent: The Woman at the Well, the Man Born Blind and the Raising of Lazarus.
Whatever we decide to do for Lent, Jesus invites us to go the extra mile. In the end, that’s really a way of being, because what we do reflects who we are.