Ash Wednesday & Lent

Next Wednesday, 5^th March, we celebrate the beginning of Lent, our annual period of 40 days of prayer, fasting and almsgiving in preparation for the celebration of Easter. The 40 days seem so long as we begin day one, and yet the 40 days Christ spent in the wilderness, which we now imitate, were spent to prepare Him for His mission of opening the Gates to Eternal Life for us all, for ever.  The only price we have to pay is our faith in Christ, following His command to love God and each other.  Lent gives us a great opportunity to recommit to that way of life.  Take the first part – love of God – during Lent we’re invited to make a little more time for God in our daily life.  Daily prayer need not be long, but when prayed with family it brings God into our home.  Daily Mass for Lent offers us the opportunity to take God into our lives, our bodies through the Blessed Sacrament and to begin each day thanking God for His gifts and asking Him for His graces.  The early mass for Lent will begin on Ash Wednesday at 7.30am and will continue for all the weekdays of Lent.  Why not consider making that part of your Lent.  Trócaire offers us a great chance to love others as we give a little of our comforts and make a little sacrifice to help those suffering most.  Tiny kindnesses make huge differences, and this Lent could you and your family help someone else find new life in this world as you earn new life in the world to come.  Lent can seem long as it begins and et in a blink it’s over, but those 40 days can make such a difference if we let them.  They can make us holier, gentler, kinder, more Godlike in our ways and attitudes.  Use them well and lets all let Lent make everything just a little bit better.

Ash Wednesday:
Mass – Holy Family Church – 7.30am, 10.00am, 7.30pm
Communion Service with Distribution of Ashes – St Mary’s Church – 7.30pm

With best wishes – Fr O’Neill