It's OK to say No

Can you believe that Lent is only three weeks away? I offered a reflection on the meaning of penance in my column two weeks ago. Its time to plan to have a really great Lenten experience! Let it be a time of deeper conversion and renewal for you. Let it be a time wherein you grow more deeply in love with God.

Under the banner of IT’S OK TO SAY NO, in recent weeks we’ve had people in the parking lot after masses asking for money. You should be aware of the following points. The parish always offers HEB food vouchers to the needy. We also offer gas cards for those in true need of transportation. Through St. Vincent de Paul we offer many other services including temporary housing help, rental help, utility assistance, etc. The people who have been soliciting in the parking lot only want cash from you. These same people have been found soliciting at St. Matthew’s, Holy Spirit, St. Luke’s, and other area churches. You know we make every effort to help the truly needy at St. Francis. This group, however, seems to be an organized group looking only for cash. Please, JUST SAY NO! If they really need help they will go though our channels of assistance. Don’t feel guilty about this!

While we’re on this point I want to remind parishioners also to avoid leaving valuables sitting visibly in your car in the parking lot. Seeing a purse, a cell phone, a camera, or a computer and the like fully visible in your car is, unfortunately, an invitation to the unscrupulous. What would be true in the parking lot at the mall or at HEB is also true in the Church parking lot. Please be careful of these things for yourself and for others.

I want to congratulate the children who made first reconciliation in the past few weeks. Over 90 young people have come to the Lord to celebrate God’s great mercy and forgiveness in the sacrament of penance. Please keep them in prayer as they prepare for their first Holy Communion this spring. Next month I will be away from the 11th to the 23rd on the Holy Land trip. I will keep you all in prayer over those days as we walk in places where Jesus walked. Please keep the Holy Land and all the middle east in your prayer for peace. – Fr. Larry

Fr. Larry reflects on events of this past week.

I want to thank John Rodriguez for his tremendous efforts with regard to the annual Archbishop's Appeal. It's not easy to get up in front of 800 to a thousand people and speak, let alone speak about money! But, what particularly encourages me is to see John, a member of our next generation of adult leadership, step up to the plate and take this kind of responsibility. It bodes well for our Parish's future.

Last Sunday, the 5th Sunday in Ordinary time, or on the secular calendar, Super Bowl Sunday, was an amazing weekend. We had a standing-room only turn-out for the mass of the Anointing of the sick at 5 PM on Saturday. Then, Sunday evening at the 5 PM mass, we welcomed the confirmation class and their sponsors. Again, the Church was almost standing-room only with young people and their families -- and this during the Super Bowl game! It was a moving and powerful testimony to the level of faith and commitment on the part of our young, emerging adults. I was very proud of them!

A number of months ago I received questions about the future of bible study for St. Francis of Assisi Parish. Although the Theology Café has been very successful, and our people support it, there remains a hunger to enter more deeply into God’s Word. Our plan is to offer two full bible studies by next fall. One will be for those who are new to bible study and want to learn the basics. The other will be for those who have already done some years of bible study and want to go deeper. In addition, we intend to keep Theology Café. Maybe you get a sense that we want to go full-on with adult formation at St. Francis! And you would be right! More to come.

(Note:  If you wish to hear my sermon from the Feb. 13 Mass, here's the link.)

As Lent approaches, here is some effective ways to embrace pennance

I want to thank all who assisted at the Theology Café presentation of an inter-faith dialogue last week. It was an outstanding evening. For those who could not attend it will be shown on CTSA, Catholic Television of San Antonio. Please watch the bulletin for announcements of the show times.

Believe it or not Lent is approaching! Ash Wednesday is on March 9 this year. Our theme is Re-membering the Household of God. I ask you to begin thinking about Lent now because too often we wait, and then we don’t take full spiritual advantage of this great season of conversion and renewal. The Church asks us to utilize this season in two very important ways. First, as a time of deeper conversion in the faith. And, secondly, as a time of personal repentance. Perhaps these two things are really connected for most of us.

I think when I was growing up I didn’t really understand Lent very well. Like many Catholics I took the idea of penance to mean that somehow I was a bad person, that I needed to do something to make myself more acceptable to God. Only as I studied, reflected, and grew did I come to see penance as related to deeper conversion. The word, penance, has as its Latin root the word “pen.” It literally means to “hang this way or that way.” Like a pendulum. To depend on someone means to “lean on them,” or hang on to them for support. To be independent means not to need to lean or hang on anyone. Thus, to “repent” means to lean again, or “hangon” again to God. Penance, then, is that process of “leaning on God,” recognizing that I do not live in some splendid isolation, but rather I connected, root and branch, to the Lord.

The upshot of all this is that if I choose some penance to do during Lent – it may be something I take-on like feeding the hungry, or give-up like chocolate – the point is that it should lead me closer in my relationship with God. Its not about how terrible I am, but rather about how glorious God is! Penance is meant to help me “lean on God,” as a friend leans on someone they love in a moment of affection. If its not doing that its not penance, its punishment. Stop that! That will only lead to resenting God instead of leaning on Him and loving Him. “Come to me all who labor and are heavy burdened. I will give you rest,” says the loving Lord. – Fr. Larry