Our Lady Queen of Peace

   Do you realize that there are only two more weeks until Holy Week?  With that in mind how has your Lent been going?  Have you been putting things off? Finding every excuse in the book?  Busy about many things except your spiritual health?  It is amazing how we can put things off or make excuses when it comes to responding to God in our lives.  In the Gospel this weekend (John 9:1-41), Jesus tells the blind man to “Go wash in the Pool of Siloam”.  It says, “So he went and washed, and came back able to see.”  Notice he did not say, “I will get to it later, my schedule is busy right now.”  Or “Why bother, it is not going to work.”  He responds and is healed.  But it is a gradual coming to see who Jesus is and what Jesus is calling him to.
 
   God has a plan for each of us, but we have to respond.  It is a gradual seeing of what that plan is rather than given the whole picture at once.  Each day, each moment, we are to open our eyes to see what God is doing at that moment and how he is calling us to live out his design for us.  The Season of Lent is an opportunity for us to root out those things that are keeping us from listening to the voice of God.  In our prayer, scripture reading, interactions with others and in silence, we come in tune to the voice of Jesus calling us to something more and something better.  No excuses or delaying our response.  Take advantage of these final weeks of Lent to hear what God is asking of you. 
 
   Today, Sunday, March 19th at 7:00pm, the students of Elyria Catholic are presenting the “Living Stations.”  This enactment of the Stations of the Cross is a great experience for young and old alike.  Hope to see you there.
 
   And next weekend there will be a Communal Reconciliation service.  It is a fuller expression of the Sacrament of Reconciliation as we first hear the Word of God and reflect upon how he is calling us to repent and to turn to his mercy.  After the Liturgy of the Word with Examination of Conscience, you are invited to go to confess your sins individually and receive penance and absolution.  Additional priests will be available to hear confessions.  Why it is a fuller expression is that we, as a community, admit that we are sinners in need of God’s mercy and forgiveness.  Watching one another and praying for one another as we each go to confession is a sign of how we are not alone in our journey of life.  We are all in need of God’s mercy. 
 
   Now is also the time to carve out time during Holy Week.  This is the most important week for us as Catholics and the most sacred liturgies of the year.  God will be speaking to you through these liturgies in a way you have not heard God speak to you.  It can be transformational if you are there. 
 
  --Fr John 

          
 
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