Praise be to Jesus Christ

 

How was your week?  Today is the first Sunday in lent.  During Lent, heaven opens up and showers blessings on us.   May the blessings of Lent be in our hearts, family, and all people around us.  

 

We use three calendars: lunar, Gregorian, and liturgical which is also called church calendar.  It outlines the history of salvation in one year.  Christmas and Easter are the two pillars in the calendar: Advent in preparation of Christmas, Lent in preparation of Easter, and Ordinary time.  

 

We begin the liturgical calendar with Advent then Christmas followed by Lent.  The current period, Lent, is a forty days of reflection on Jesus’ passion and preparation of his resurrection.  The forty days is also the time needed to purify oneself before meeting God in the Bible.  

 

Traditionally, the Church observes Lent through charity, prayer, and fasting.  Our parish decided to observe lent by the Stations of the Cross, bible transcription, and one heart prayer.  The Stations of the Cross is the best prayer to meditate on Jesus’ passion and death.  Let us celebrate every Friday at 7PM.  If you are unable to join us, then you can do so with your family home.  Bible transcription helps us to be calm and fills our hearts with blessing.  We focus on the today’s gospel so as you transcribe them you will be able to understand the meaning better and acquire wisdom in life.  

 

During the pandemic, the individual spirituality is more important than ever.  However, you cannot overlook the importance of the community.  The one heart prayer allows all of us to be united as one while being apart.  We can experience the warmth and strength of our community while we pray together as one.  I hope you can all participate so that we may overcome the stress of pandemic as one community.  

 

These activities during the Lent can be completed based on individual schedule.  You can do all three or two.  You may start bible transcription but not complete it.  You could do fasting or charity in addition to the three activities we decided.  The most important focus is to change; recognizing the meaning of Lent and doing something is important.  

 

In today’s gospel, Jesus proclaims the kingdom of God even though Satan tempts him for forty days in the wilderness.  We also need to reject greed and evil temptations during Lent so that we may strengthen our faith and live more blessed life.  

 

Let us meditate for a moment.