How is January already over!?! I feel like it was it’s own year and not an actual month, yet here we are into a brand new month! I’m not a fan of winter at all, so I’m grateful this is a short month! It seems at the start of each new month, over the past 12 months, that we never know what is going to be in store for us. I can’t help but be hopeful that God will take care of us during these trying times! I find it appropriate that our first reading this weekend comes from Job. Job in this particular passage is having a “2020 kind of day”. Things are falling down all around him, and he is losing his hope. If you continue reading this book of the Bible you will see that God does deliver him, and in the end he may have had bad days; but he retains his hope in God through it all. Wow! Are we ever in these “Job-like” experiences! It’s so easy to lose hope these days with the pandemic, political and civil unrest, and the long laundry list of issues people have these days. We must remember in these times that we are children of the Almighty Father, and no matter how much society try’s to separate us from Him, we must fight the good fight of faith and hope! We do this by living the Gospels of Jesus in our hearts! Lent starts in 10 days, so what a great time to re-familiarize ourselves with the Gospels to prepare our lives for His resurrection!
Our Gospel reading this weekend is a very powerful moment when Jesus heals Peter’s mother-in-law from her illness. We also see Him curing illnesses and driving out demons throughout the region. One of the most interesting parts for me is that at a certain point Jesus goes off by Himself to pray. Jesus shows us in this act the importance of stopping and praying, and to have a moment to ourselves to reconnect with the Father. How many times a week do we actually just stop, sit, and pray? Sadly for me personally not nearly enough, and it’s one of my Lenten promises to stop, pray and listen. With an emphasis on listening. There is so much noise and an-ger that we are not focusing on what is important in our lives, and that is walking our journey towards the Holy Trinity! Our challenge over the next ten days is to work on ways to silence our hearts and minds to allow Jesus, through the power of the Holy Spirit, to fill our lives with His love and peace! Let us silence the noise and allow the peace of God to fill our hearts!!! Have an amazing week everyone!
On a side note, mark your calendars for March 24th for a night of Lenten enrichment! We are putting the details together, so stay tuned to the bulletin and our parish’s Facebook page for more information!