Weekly Letter from the Pastor

Dear Fellow Parishioners of St. Benedict:

Today is the opportunity for Penance here at the parish. Over a dozen priests will be with us between 4:00 and 6:00 pm to hear confessions. As part of our “Easter Duty” all Catholics are required by canon law to go to confession at least once per year between Ash Wednesday and Pentecost Sunday. While this is a minimum, for many of us this becomes the minimum, and perhaps most of us miss this all together. We confess our sins to a priest because the forgiveness of sins is a gift given by Jesus to the church. The verbal pronouncement of our sins is itself a healing exercise, allowing us to say that which we may not want to say anywhere else, knowing that it can never be repeated or reported. An examination of conscience using the Ten Commandments as a guide enables us to break the ice with the Lord and open a lifelong conversation.

The Second Sunday of Lent always takes us to the top of the Mountain – Tabor – where Jesus is transfigured as he converses with Moses and Elijah. Peter, James, and John are there, getting a glimpse of the promise to come and the hope of the resurrection. True, they do not understand what is going on, but it opens the door to faith for each of them. I cannot help but think of the majestic view from the top of that mountain and the slow and arduous journey through Jericho to Jerusalem. Walking the Via Dolorosa along the streets of Jerusalem, ending at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher puts flesh and blood on our historical faith. There are many opportunities to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. I have studied there and subsequently have been on pilgrimage there myself on several occasions. It is a spiritually enriching experience. One of our parishioners just returned from yet another pilgrimage there and her experiences and enthusiasm reminded me of the passion that being there evokes in me and other Christians.

You have probably realized, especially those who attend 9:30 a.m. Mass regularly each Sunday, that we have no catechumens this year. While there are adults preparing for Confirmation and some even for Holy Communion, no one is being presented for baptism. While this will make our Easter Vigil less solemn, it is also a challenge for us to be better at evangelizing our neighbors, family members, and those within the community. Hopefully we will be able to identify candidates for next year.

This coming week we have our final listening sessions for the Synod. “Thank you” to the many who have already participated. We have a session here on Wednesday night and two next Sunday morning. Check the times in the bulletin and the website and sign-up. We do need to hear from you.

This week “everyone is Irish” as we celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. I hope those of you who celebrate enjoy this early Lenten respite from your sacrifices. Next Saturday is the Solemnity of St. Joseph, patron of the Universal Church, but we will forego our annual table celebration as we do not have the Saturday morning Mass at this time. This begs the question as to whether or not we should return to that practice.

We suspended it during the lockdown two years ago and haven’t brought it back. Let me know what you think.

Can you believe that it is (already?) two years this week that we had a total lockdown in response to the pandemic?! It is a good time to ask ourselves the questions as to what we have learned through this time and what pastoral changes we need to adapt. We have made many adjustments along the way, but it looks like we have more that we can do.

Lent is moving along quickly …
Father Garry