In today’s Gospel and in last week’s parable Jesus shows us the value of repentance and the willingness of our God to forgive us and love us in spite of our sinfulness.  Our God is a merciful God who waits for us to come home to Him. He is not the vengeful God to be feared for His wrath but the loving Father that reaches out to all who are willing to accept His love. In the Gospel today Jesus shows us that none of us is without sin but only those who are willing to accept their sinfulness are able to go to God and have those sins forgiven. All of us need to admit that we are in need of the redemption of the Lord. The church celebrates this forgiving God’s love in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. I know that many of you have had bad experiences of this sacrament or have found it to be unnecessary to your spiritual life because I have had those same experiences and feelings. My attitude about the sacrament has changed over the years and I now experience it not as something to loathe but rather a moment to meet that father that loves me so much and accept his loving touch. It is a time for me to take a look at the direction of my life and step aside from my own rationalizations and admit that I have allowed myself to move away from God and the way of life He has asked me to live. I then have the opportunity to experience forgiveness and unity with God. It is not a time of fear but one of peace.

  We have the opportunity to experience Reconciliation every Saturday prior to the evening mass but next week we will have two special times available for this sacrament. On Monday evening we will have a Reconciliation Service with an opportunity for individual reconciliation at 7PM in the church. On Wednesday we will have the same service available at 12:10 PM. We hope that as many of you as possible will take advantage of this opportunity to meet the forgiving Father. If you have not been for awhile and you are being kept away because of that, don’t worry we don’t count how long it has been. If you are afraid that you have forgotten the formula, don’t be, it is the priest’s job to lead you through it. I hope that you are able to feel the life giving touch of the Lord’s love. It is a special way to enhance the experience of Lent and prepare for the celebration of Easter.

  I want to thank the members of our Junior High Religious Ed program both students and catechists for providing for the students and the parish the beautiful shadow stations this past week.  The presentation was reverent and moving. We could see and hear that the young people and their leaders had a sense of the great gift that Jesus gave to all of us in His Passion and Death. May God bless all of you for your goodness and the reminder that you gave to all of us of the love of God.

  Believe it or not Holy Week begins next Sunday. Please plan on joining your fellow parishioners for these solemn days and evenings. These are the most moving days of the church year. They are also special days to support our elect who will be receiving the Easter sacraments on Holy Saturday. Next Sunday we will raise our Hosannas to the heavens and listen to the Passion of the Lord. It will begin a special week of grace for all of us. I hope to see as many of you as possible as we journey with the Lord this Holy Week.

  We will continue Soup and Scripture this week and also during Holy Week. Please join us as we journey through the Lenten and Holy Week scriptures and share in a Lenten meal. Thanks to all the soup makers and kitchen helpers that have made those meals so enjoyable.  Remember, it is Tuesday after the 12:10 service.

  Have a Blessed Week. Pray for the Elect. Remember you are loved and live that love.  Happy Lent.

                                                                Fr. Clem