Adult Initiation & Sacrament Preparation

Our theme of covenant continues as we enter the 3rd week of Lent.  On the first Sunday of Lent, we heard the story of Noah reminding us of the first covenant.  Last week we heard the story of Abraham and Issac reminding us of the second covenant.  This week we hear the Ten Commandments, which are at the heart of the third covenant set with Moses and the people of Israel. The Word for the 3 rd Sunday of Lent Exodus 20:1-17 Psalms 19:8, 9, 10, 11 1 Corinthians 1:22-25 John 2:13-25 Our first reading comes from the book of Exodus and the passage that gives us the Ten Commandments.  Most of us know the story of how God had Moses go up the sacred mountain to receive the commandments written on stone tablets, at which point we assume Moses presented these commandments to the people.  But if you follow the text we see that God gives Moses these Ten Commandments (and the subsequent 3 chapters of commandments) to Moses and the people bef...

Lent is a season where, scripturally, we revisit the story of our salvation history.  It’s the story of where our great patriarchs and prophets met the Lord God, and how our relationship with God, as a people, continues to grow and evolve.  We also know from our review of the readings last week that our overarching theme for Cycle B is covenant .  After God’s covenant with Noah last week, we now visit the next great covenant, that between God and Abraham… The Word for the 2 nd Sunday of Lent Genesis 22:1-2, 9a, 10-13, 15-18 Psalm 116:10, 15, 16-17, 18-19 Romans 8:31b-34 Mark 9:2-10 Our first reading, from the book of Genesis, is one of the great stories about Abraham.   By this point in the narrative God has already made a covenant with Abraham, but now God is putting that covenant to the test.  God asks Abraham to make a sacrifice of his young son Isaac.  Isaac, as we know, is the only child born by Abraham’s wife, Sara...

The Season of Lent is now upon us.  When you think of Lent most Catholics will say that it’s a season of penance, for giving something up, for prayer and for giving alms.  These are right, of course, but not entirely.  According to the Constitution of the Sacred Liturgy promulgated from the Second Vatican Council, “ The season of Lent has a twofold character: primarily by recalling or preparing for baptism and by penance, it disposes the faithful, who more diligently hear the word of God and devote themselves to prayer, to celebrate the paschal mystery. ”  While those who are preparing for Baptism use this season of Lent as a period of “Purification and Enlightenment,” all Catholics are called to remember our own Baptisms, so we will be looking to see where in our readings during this season the theme of Baptism becomes apparent. In addition to this, our readings for Lent also have an overarching theme that helps to bind the readings together.  Thi...

This Sunday marks the end of our brief winter’s journey through Ordinary Time, and our readings serve as an appropriate transition to the Lenten season by addressing the issue of how we treat those who are sick and in need.  While we have an obligation to protect the greater population by separating out those who are sick, we sometimes forget that we also have an obligation to care for those in need.  Our readings this week give us the opportunity to examine these issues. The Word for the 6 th Sunday of Ordinary Time Leviticus 13:1-2, 44-46 Psalm 32:1-2, 5, 11 1 Corinthians 10:31-11:1 Mark 1:40-45 Our first reading comes from the Book of Leviticus.  This second book of Moses takes its name from the priestly tribe of the Levites, for whom this book is a handbook for serving the Hebrew people.  Since this book is often referred to as “priestly law,” it is easy for us confuse this book as dealing with strictly religious matters.  O...