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THE LENTEN MISSION: An Essential Opportunity to Prioritize Your Faith
For lifelong Catholics, there are probably many things that come to mind when thinking of the season of Lent — from ashes on your forehead, to fish on Fridays, to fasting and making other acts of penance. And while Lent this year will still be quite a bit different than usual, it is still an opportunity to step outside of our “normal” and take time to refocus on what truly matters — our relationship with Christ and His Church.
This year, the Cathedral of Christ the King hopes to encourage parishioners in this endeavor with our Lenten mission, which will take place over three days at the end of February and beginning of March.
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“The Lenten mission is really a time to go back to the basics, asking ‘What does it mean to be a disciple of Jesus Christ in the Catholic Church?’ ‘What did Jesus do for us?’ and ‘What are we getting ready to celebrate at the Paschal Triduum?’” says Deacon Tim Weinmann, our Director of Faith Formation. “It’s stuff we already know and have heard, but Lent is that period the Church gives us, to step back from the busyness of life and go inward and reconnect with our Lord, and look at the parts of our lives that need to be looked at again. The Lenten mission is the time to do that.”
Our fourth Men in Black-themed mission will feature local priests Fr. Danny Taylor, Fr. John Moriarty, and our very own Fr. Damian Anumba, preaching on the theme of “I have called you by name and you are Mine!”
“As a Catholic, it’s easy to sit there and say, ‘I’m one of a 1.3-billion-person church, I’m just one grain of sand on this huge beach,’ but that’s not how God thinks, of course,” says Deacon Tim, explaining the theme. “God says, ‘I created you for a purpose.’ Each one of us is created for a purpose, and another aspect of this Lenten mission is to reconnect with your purpose. God has us here for a reason.”
The three nights will focus on different topics, including our purpose, how sin can distract or derail us in living that purpose, and how to discover and embrace the mission to which God calls us. There will also be an opportunity to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession) on the second night.
“I hope the Lenten mission is one of those times when we get woken up again and reconnect in the faith and reconnect with the Lord, and really get back to the Father’s love,” Deacon Tim says. “That’s what it’s about.”
While life is still not “back to normal” for many of us, it can still be challenging to prioritize our faith in our everyday lives. The Church gives us the season of Lent as an intentional opportunity to step back and make changes, where necessary.
“Our lives are still very different, but even in our time at home, did we take the opportunity to spend more time in prayer, spend more time reading Scripture, more time reading Catholic books?” Deacon Tim says. “We all have a different normal at this point, but whatever our normal life is at any given time, it can tend to draw us away from things that are ultimately important. Lent is the time we’re challenged to step back from whatever normal is for us at that time and ask, ‘Am I focused on the things that are eternally important?’ and ‘If I’m not, what can I do about it?’
“In this time of pandemic, and hopefully coming out of the pandemic, I hope we can realign ourselves,” he adds. “Maybe the ‘old normal’ wasn’t actually all it was cracked up to be. Hopefully, it will be a good chance for people to reevaluate their whole outlook and how they prioritize their time and keeping the Lord at the center.”
The parish Lenten mission is the perfect opportunity to refocus on your relationship with God at the start of the Lenten season, ensuring that you arrive at the celebration of Easter transformed in your spirituality compared to the beginning of Lent.
“I think anybody from middle school to just outside the grave could get something out of this,” Deacon Tim says. “Also, wherever you are on that faith spectrum, I think there’s something for everybody.
“I’ve had too many Lents that I get to Holy Week and I go, ‘Well, there was Lent — here’s Easter,’” he adds. “But Lent looked no different than the rest of my year, and that’s a sad thing to realize as you enter Holy Week. How do you not be in that position this Easter? How are you going to make Lent different this year than it’s ever been before? Get your calendar out, see what is happening at the parish, and ask, ‘What are you going to do differently — in your prayer, in your study of the faith?’ Be specific, before Lent gets started, about what are you going to do to make it different than the rest of your year.”
