The season of Lent begins this year on Ash Wednesday, February 26th, and ends prior to the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday, April 9th, when the Easter Triduum begins. Lent is the principal penitential season of the Church year. All the Christian faithful are urged to develop and maintain a voluntary program of self-denial (in addition to the Lenten regulations which follow), serious prayer (addition of daily Mass when and if possible, Scripture reading, Stations of the Cross, and receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation, etc.), and the performing of deeds of charity and mercy, including the giving of alms (increased attention to the needs of our brothers and sisters).

Lenten Regulations
Catholics who have celebrated their 14th birthday are bound to abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday, each Friday in Lent, and on Good Friday. Catholics who have celebrated their 18th birthday, in addition to abstaining from meat, should fast, i.e., eat only one full meal on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. Small quantities of food may be taken at two other meals but no food should be consumed at any other time during those two days. Liquids do not break the fast and nourishment needed for special needs (such as illness or pregnancy) should always be taken. The obligation of fasting ceases with the celebration of one’s 59th birthday.

Lenten Prayer
Mass Schedule
The Weekday Mass schedule during Lent is as follows:
Monday through Friday – 7:00am, 12:05pm, and 5:15pm; Saturday – 8:00am

Sunday Mass times during Lent are as follows:
Saturdays – 4:00pm; Sundays – 7:00am, 10:00am, and 5:00pm

Reconciliation
The sacrament of Reconciliation is offered daily in the Cathedral church:
Monday through Friday – 4:15pm to 5:00pm
Saturdays – 9:00am to 10:00am and 2:30pm to 3:30pm
Sundays – 4:00pm to 4:45pm

Stations of the Cross
Take the time to walk the Stations of the Cross, the final steps Jesus took to Calvary, each Friday during Lent immediately following the 5:15pm Mass

Lenten Almsgiving Collections
In following our past practice of almsgiving during Lent, a second collection will be taken up each Sunday. Collections this year will be as follows: Ash Wednesday, February 26th – Church in Eastern Europe; March 1st – St. Martin de Porres Center; March 8th – Catholic Charities; March 15th – Helping Hands of Springfield; March 22nd – Catholic Relief Services; March 29th – The Pregnancy Care Center; April 5th – Cathedral Parish Student Assistance for Catholic Education

Easter Triduum Schedule
Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord’s Supper – 6:30pm
The Liturgy of the Lord’s Passion on Good Friday – 3:00pm
The Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday Night – 8:00pm
Easter Sunday Masses – 7:00am and 10:00am

Stations of the Cross will also be held at 12:05pm on Good Friday, and the sacrament of Reconciliation will be offered after the 3:00pm Liturgy of the Lord’s Passion on Good Friday.

More Lenten resources can be found throughout this issue of the Weekly, as well as on the inserts provided. Please continue to watch the Cathedral Weekly and Cathedral website (www.spicathedral.org) throughout this Lenten season for additional resources.

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, the 40 days of preparation for the Easter season when Christians are called to deepen their spiritual lives through the practices of fasting, prayer, and almsgiving. The belief is that our consistent participation in these practices — like exercise we do for our physical health — improves our spiritual well-being by stripping away all that is unnecessary and becoming more mindful of how God is working in our lives. Challenge yourself this year, and go beyond the usual practice of “giving up” something. Now is a great time to take stock of your spiritual life and to grow in it. Not sure where to start? Check out these 25 ideas:

1. Make a commitment to read the Sunday scriptures before you go to Mass. In the same way that reading up on football players, opposing teams, and coaching strategies will help you experience a game more fully, familiarizing yourself with the readings ahead of time will help you experience them in a deeper way on Sunday.
2. Use Busted Halo’s Lent Calendar, filled with Lenten-themed Daily Jolts and MicroChallenges to find new ways to practice the disciplines of fasting, prayer, and almsgiving. Each day of Lent, we’ll offer an inspirational quote paired with a practical, challenging task that you can do that day to help keep your spiritual life on point. You can also find these challenges on our website, or when you follow us on Facebook or Twitter.
3. Try a new spiritual practice. Sign up for an hour of Eucharistic Adoration. Attend Mass at a parish that’s made up of people from a different racial/ethnic group. Sign up for a silent retreat or spend at least one hour in silent meditation each weekend.
4. Think about what you usually spend your money on. Do you buy too many clothes? Spend too much on dinner out? Pick one type of expenditure that you’ll “fast” from during Lent, and then give the money you would usually spend to a local charity.
5. Take something on — 40 days of letter writing, 40 acts of kindness, 40 phone calls to the important people in your life.
6. When you first sit down in front of your computer at work, or at the very end of your workday, try a 10-minute guided prayer from Sacred Space based on the spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius.
7. Go to a weekday Mass one day during the week. Many parishes offer them early in the morning, at noon, or after work. Daily Masses are often more intimate and shorter than Sunday Mass.
8. If you don’t have a cross in your apartment or house, buy a simple one and put it in your bedroom.
9. Use Busted Halo’s InstaLent Photo Challenge for daily, creative doses of Lenten spirituality. Post a photo each day and encounter the themes of Lent on a visual, personal level.
10. Instead of turning on a streaming service for your next bingewatching session, read the entire Gospel of Mark in one sitting. As the shortest Gospel, it is the most concise story of Jesus’ life, and the cross, a central Lenten symbol, plays an even more prominent role than in the other Gospels.
11. Attend the Stations of the Cross somewhere. Many parishes offer these during Lent and often on Fridays. Or check out Busted Halo’s Virtual Stations of the Cross.
12. Get some friends together and attend a Friday fish fry at a local parish. It’s not the healthiest thing in the world, but a fun Catholic tradition to help you abstain from eating meat on Fridays during Lent.
13. Unplug from your iPhone or turn off your car radio on your commute. The silence may be jarring at first, but you may find that you are able to concentrate better and will be more observant of your surroundings.
14. Buy a book of daily reflections and keep it by your bed. Local parishes often offer these for purchase during Lent, and there are some good ones available online. Try the Magnificat or a book by Edward Hays.
15. Think about a habit that has kept you from being whom God is calling you to be. Consciously give up that habit for Lent.
16. Spend at least one weekend or evening volunteering during Lent. Serve a meal at your local soup kitchen. Visit the elderly. Stock shelves at a food pantry.
17. Make a commitment to fast from insensitive, cruel comments about others. So, no gossiping or going down the Twitter rabbit hole.
18. Participate in a spiritual book club or small community of faith. Check out what’s already going on at your parish or pick a book and start your own.
19. As a part of your Lenten almsgiving, make a point to learn more about a particular social issue (immigration, human trafficking, racism, the environment, public education, child poverty). Give money to an organization related to your chosen issue that supports the dignity of the human person.
20. Tap into your creative side and try using coloring as a way to pray and meditate during Lent. Buy a coloring book or download a Lent calendar coloring page.
21. Use the Catholic Relief Services Rice Bowl to reflect on the realities of people in need around the world and devote prayers, fasting, and almsgiving to changing the lives of the poor. The money raised by CRS Rice Bowl supports not only the prevention of hunger and poverty in countries like Kenya, Vietnam, and Honduras, but also in the United States. (Twentyfive percent of all donations stay in the local diocese where they are collected.) For your Lenten Fridays, CRS Rice Bowl also features meatless recipes from cultures around the world.
22. Pray for somebody. As you’re walking the streets, driving the highways, or sitting in your cubicle at work, pick out a person who appears to be in need and pray for that person. Be mindful of the words of philosopher Philo of Alexandria, who said, “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle.”
23. Get to know your neighbors. Introduce yourself, plan a dinner, or bring food to an older person on your block.
24. Read the Works of Mercy as Jesus describes them in Matthew 25:31-46. Then put this teaching into practice and choose an act of service you can perform throughout Lent.
25. Celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Can’t remember how? Tell the priest it’s been a while, and ask him to guide you through it.

Renée LaReau is a senior writer at the University of Notre Dame’s Keough School of Global Affairs. She lives with her family in South Bend, Indiana.

The charism of hospitality empowers a Christian to be a generous channel of God’s love by warmly welcoming and caring for those in need of food, shelter, and friendship.

Since the days of Abraham, hospitality has been a sacred responsibility for the people of God. Care for the widow, the orphan, and the stranger were central to Israel’s covenant with God. And Jesus said that caring for others was caring for him. So all Christians have a role in welcoming and caring for others. But those with the charism of hospitality are empowered in a special way to notice the presence of newcomers. Guests, both family and strangers, are frequently welcomed into their homes. Their concern is not for the tidiness of their house, or the perfection of the meal, but for the comfort and nurture of their guests.

The exercise of hospitality is not limited to a person’s home. Hospitality is an essential tool for an evangelizing parish. Having parishioners with the charism of hospitality actively using this gift makes the parish a place where people experience God’s love in extraordinary ways. Visitors come to the Cathedral because of its beauty, or convenience, or because they have heard good things about us, but they will return again and again if they experience a warm and loving community.

Christians with the charism of hospitality seem to always notice newcomers and seek them out to make them feel welcome, have a strong sense of God when welcoming someone into their home or community, and feel frustrated when strangers are ignored and not made to feel part of the community. They have an amazing ability to create a warm and welcoming environment in which a person’s needs for physical nurture and personal and spiritual companionship are met.

If this describes you, you may have been specially empowered to be a channel of God’s love and mercy through the gift of hospitality. This gift can and should be used in all aspects of your life. Because we welcome so many visitors to the Cathedral, we need all parishioners to be ministers of hospitality. But if you think you have been gifted with the charism of hospitality we need you in specific ways – you would make an exceptional greeter, Alpha team member, or small group leader. Let us know if the idea in serving in those capacities is energizing and exciting. There are people just waiting for the exercise of your gift!

Vicki Compton is the Coordinator of Faith Formation and Mission at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Springfield, Illinois.

Recently, I posted a controversial article on social media, and not surprisingly, I was met with a slew of responses from friends describing ways they either agreed or disagreed with me. It was like a lot of social media debates — one sided, heated, and in the end, somewhat pointless. As I reflected, I wondered if my posting was necessary much less virtuous. Had I accomplished what I set out to do? Did I change anyone’s mind, or did I stir up discord in friends who normally interact in unity? Was my posting helping further the kingdom of God on earth, or did I compete against that goal?

As I ponder the readings for this weekend’s Mass, I find my answer. The theme of holiness is pervasive in each reading, but looking deeper, the theme of mercy shines even more. Indeed, all of Christ’s followers are called to be as holy as he is. But more than that, the holiness we are called to is only made possible by his unending mercy, as the psalmist rightly proclaims: “As far as the east is from the west, so far has he put our transgressions from us.” It simply isn’t enough to say we want to be like Christ. Instead, true disciples are called to be living witnesses of his love and mercy to all those they encounter — whether in person, online, or in passing.

The Rule of the Secular Franciscan Order shares that “… all people of good will, are called to build a more fraternal and evangelical world so that the kingdom of God may be brought about more effectively. Mindful that anyone ‘who follows Christ the perfect man, becomes more of a man [i.e., human] himself,’ let them exercise their responsibilities competently in the Christian spirit of service.”

To me, this rule exemplifies precisely how we are to heed the words of Jesus in the Gospel. He doesn’t call us to keep count, to hold on to grudges, or to constantly defend ourselves when wronged. When I posted the controversial article on social media, it was clear that everyone had an opinion to defend. Rather than helping build a more evangelical and fraternal world, the post became a space for “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,” only with words and intellectual arguments.

In the first reading, Moses is called by God to not only be holy, but to show no revenge. The antidote to the selfish desire for revenge is mercy. Even from the days of Moses, God has shown mercy is one of His greatest attributes. This mission of mercy is also given to all His followers.

The psalm continues with this theme as we sing of the Lord’s kindness and mercy. I often wonder if my social media activity is a reflection of God’s action or the opposite. I wonder if those who follow me could say my posts are “kind and merciful.” God reveals Himself as a just judge who speaks immutable truth, but this is not separate or isolated from His unending kindness and love toward humanity. If I don’t follow that same mission, I cannot say I’m truly Christian.

The final gut check for me is found in the words of St. Paul in the second reading as he reminds us that we are temples of the Holy Spirit. This means that even those who disagree with me bear the image of God. They should be treated accordingly, not with a tolerance that accepts sin, or with an avoidance of proclaiming the truth, but through actions and words that truly exemplify the love we have received from our Father. This is a love that calls us to conversion and holiness, but one that is kind and merciful.

So, in the end, I realized that posting the article didn’t help anyone see Christ better. Instead, it sowed a seed of division and discord. The readings this weekend urge us to live a life of mercy in order to be holy so we can be saints someday. A saint is one who sees the beatific vision. That vision needs to start on earth in how we treat those around us who are temples of the Holy Spirit, the same Holy Spirit with whom we want to spend eternity.

Angie Windnagle, BSC is an author for Liturgical Publications, Inc. and writes reflections on the Sunday readings.

One week from this Wednesday, the Church will mark Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the holy season of Lent. Like many things in life, what you get out of Lent will depend on what you put into it and, with Lent, attitude is everything.

Lent is a great love story, though it may not seem so at first glance. If we first focus on sacrifice, self-denial, and penance (the what) without understanding why, then we will be placing our focus in the wrong area. Lent is a great love story because it is about our God who has a love for us that is unbreakable, unrelenting, and inexhaustible, even though we are guilty of rejecting His love time and time again. The selections that the Church gives us from the Scriptures demonstrate this. We are reminded that God has chosen us to be His own and that He has done this is a wonderful way in His only Son through baptism. Through sin, we have squandered the grace that God has given us through this sacrament, but Lent is about the Lord’s call to return to that grace again. This call to return is what the first part of the season speaks to, from Ash Wednesday until the Fifth Sunday.

The second part of Lent continues to tell that same great love story but recalls how this love of God was perfectly manifested in the Paschal Mystery of Jesus, that is, in His passion, death, and resurrection. The fifth week of Lent transitions us to Holy Week which ends with the triumph of Easter. It is at this glorious feast that we renew our baptismal promises, having focused on allowing God to renew the grace of that same sacrament in us throughout Lent.

Sacrifice and self-denial are our responses to the gift of God’s grace that is offered to us for our renewal. The penances and pious acts that we may choose to adopt are not ends in themselves, but acts by which we seek to root out what does not belong in our lives so that the grace of God may find a welcome place in us. The same is true about the reception of Ashes on Ash Wednesday. The ashes we receive are nothing more than the ash of old palms that has been blessed. There is nothing mystical about the ashes in themselves. What is important about the ashes is that we receive them as an outward sign of an inner desire to change our lives, to be converted back to right relationship with God. The reception of ashes and pious acts of sacrifice and self-denial must come from a genuine desire to change; if not, then these acts are empty and do us little, if any, spiritual good.

There are many things that we can do for Lent: add daily Mass to our daily routine, pray the Stations of the Cross, read the Scriptures daily, participate in giving to CRS Rice Bowl, give alms in the special collections for charity, give your time to a good cause, add time for daily prayer, and the list goes on and on; or perhaps we might choose to focus on doing the things that we should already be doing but are not. Whatever you may do or not do, make whatever choice you do in the hope of growing deeper in the love that God has for you. Lent is not about what “do I have to give up” but rather “how can I respond to the Lord’s call to turn back to him.” The first reading on Ash Wednesday from the Prophet Joel says: “even now, says the Lord, return to me with your whole heart.” Make sure that this coming Lent is about your journey deeper into the grace, love, and mercy that is freely offered to us by our Father through Jesus His Son.

Father Christopher House is the Rector of the Cathedral and serves in various leadership roles within the diocesan curia, namely Chancellor and Vicar Judicial.

Last week I wrote about how all of us have a call and all of us have been gifted by God for the sake of others. These gifts, or charisms are different from natural talents because natural talents can be used for our own benefit or for purposes that do not have God’s redeeming work at the center. Charisms can only be used to channel God’s love and provision for the world. This week I’ll begin to describe some individual charisms.

The charism of intercessory prayer empowers the intense, sustained prayer of a Christian for others as the means by which God’s love and deliverance reaches those in need.

Prayer is a necessary exercise for all disciples and does not require a special gift. But those who have been given the charism of Intercessory Prayer often see remarkable answers to their prayers on behalf of others. Christians with this charism are energized and excited to pray for others, and have the sense that God is using their prayers to change lives and situations. They don’t assume they know what God wants in any given situation; they try to “listen” to God for guidance on how to pray. They are able to spend significant time in prayer without tiring, but also can sense when they have done what God has called them to do and are finished. People frequently seek them out to ask for their prayers and report back that things changed for the better after asking for prayers.

If this describes you, you will be eager to volunteer to be on the prayer wall team. The Cathedral offers an online prayer wall so petitioners can request prayers for special intentions. The Prayer Wall Team members volunteer to keep these requests in their daily prayers. If you are interested in being on the team, please email Haley at [email protected] or call 217-522-3342.

Vicki Compton is the Coordinator of Faith Formation and Mission at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Springfield, Illinois.