I had an much overdue hair appointment, and from there I stopped at the post office to mail a package and then drove to church. I was there about a half hour before Mass started. At some point, the lady behind me tapped me and pointed out that there appeared to be no Eucharistic Ministers, and asked if I would join her. We were both dressed in jeans, but I suppose we were better than nothing. We got instructions beforehand about distributing ashes. I'm afraid some of my ash crosses were off-center, and quite possibly some got too much, some not enough. Tricky business - the ashes.
Did you know that the purpose of Lent is not repentance? In my mind, I heard a Scooby Doo "ehrr??" when the good Father said that. He went on to explain that the purpose of Lent is to prepare to fruitfully recommit to our baptismal vows when Easter Sunday rolls around. And part of that necessarily involves repentance.
A trip to WalMart for a few necessities and then back home.
I accomplished most of the things on my "to do" list.
One thing that I wanted to do today was plant some Easter Lilies. I had some in my garden at the old house. They had been given to my by a priest friend after their usefulness as church decor had passed, and they were beautiful last year.
Last year, sometime in May, the lilies in our church made their way to the outside of the sacristy door. I would pick up a couple every day on the way to the parking lot. At that point, the new house was a thought, so I didn't plant them. Last summer, they made the trip to the new house in their original pots, and for much of the last six months have been sitting in pots next to the garbage can. In all fairness to my hubby who placed them there, they just looked like some pots with dead plants in them. But recently they have started to resurrect.
I planted some in front of my Holy Family statue. And lest you think that I should have weeded first, this is what it looked like yesterday.
I've still got some work to do, but it's way better than it was.... And I planted some along the front walk...
I probably should take a broom and sweep up my mess, yes?
We had Bible Study tonight, and sometimes our good Pastor gets started on a topic, and it's like a whole 'nother homily. He is good, and hits the nail squarely on the head. We are studying Acts, and with it, the persecution of the early church. You would probably have to be under a rock someplace to think that the church today is not being persecuted. He said, however, that the biggest concern is not what the government wants to do to us, but the persecution from within - from those who are not faithful to church teaching. He compared them to a cancer - eating away at the Body (of Christ). He said there are three remedies: 1) prayer (and prayer is not a last resort) 2) the Church and all of the spiritual treasures contained therein and 3) Fidelity to the truth. The church is not just some rule-making body, he says, but holds the deposit of truth that Jesus left us.
It was good to hear his take on the current state of things.
And so begins Lent....looking forward to Easter. Planting lilies in place of the weeds...in our gardens and our lives.
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