A Moment On Lent

From Our Lay Directors:

De Colores brothers and sisters in Christ! 

“Only your personal and profound union with Christ will assure the fruitfulness of your apostolate, whatever it may be.” Fr. Jean C.J. D’Elbee 

I received a wonderful book for Christmas, I Believe in Love by Fr. Jean C.J. D’Elbee. It is a personal retreat based on the teaching of St. Theresa of Lisieux. And WOW, just this first chapter has so much… here are some more snippets I feel compelled to share.

“Gods loved us first that we might love Him. That is the explanation of it all. He did not create us out of necessity: He did not need us. He did not create us out of justice; He owed us nothing. No, it is to His sheer love that we owe our existence. 

“That first sin, rejection of an infinite love, could not be repaired by any but an infinite love…. Jesus bought a twofold right on Calvary at the price of all His Blood: the right, for Him, to love us in spite of, or even because of our sins, our unworthiness; and the right, for us, to love Him from the depths of our immense misery and to contemplate His divine attributes, including His justice, within His infinite mercy. 

“Bethlehem, Nazareth, Gethsemane, Calvary, the Eucharist… My sins on Him, His Blood on me… After Gethsemane came the horrible scourging, the crowning with thorns and Calvary. Jesus looked with merciful love at those who had wounded His hands and His feet, because those wounds were the doors to Heaven- even for those who made them.” 

I’m going to make this a stopping point, as I feel this is a good place to leave off for now. As we continue our Lenten season, our prayer, fasting and alms giving, I pray some of these words meld to you and help make it a more meaningful Lent.  

Yours in Christ, 

Karen Fritsch (kittyrg1967@gmail.com)  Troy Peebles  (tpeebles1007@gmail.com)