Looking back at the weekly messages of Father Paul Counce, first published in The Carpenter, our weekly Parish Bulletin
Published: February 21, 2021
Dear Parishioners and Friends,
Holy Lent has begun! I hope you have entered into the spirit of the season and adopted a régime of extra spiritual exercises. The classic ones are more prayer, fasting and almsgiving. The best way to put these into practice is first to pray more, especially by frequent attendance at Mass and a daily prayer-time at home with your Bible. Then give up favorite foods and drink, and try to “fast ‘til your stomach hurts” at least twice a week. Finally, give away some significant money, at least as much as you ordinarily have spent on yourself in the past few months.
Certainly also over the years we have all become accustomed to “giving up something for Lent.” We also heard many a homily about “doing something extra for Lent.” (I’ve preached some of those myself!) Doing these things, really, are the bare minimum for each of us.
Unfortunately – and it’s a tad sad, too – we have gotten away from a thing that certainly was emphasized in my childhood: mortification. From the Latin word for death “mors, mortis,” these are voluntary actions by which we gradually “put to death” our sinful habits, and the self-centeredness that causes them. Bad habits abound, as you know: too much online time and “binge-TV” may be new ones, but older ones such as smoking, intemperance, overeating, sloth, sexual self-indulgence and the like haven’t gone away.
Jesus called mortification necessary: “If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross every day and follow me” (Lk 9:23). Another fundamental Biblical verse was a command of St. Paul: “See yourselves to be dead to sin but alive for God in Christ Jesus” (Rom 6:11).
Remember, the things we truly value more than anything else are not what our world prizes. Secular culture by definition seeks heaven on earth. From that point of view, suffering of any kind is valueless and to be avoided – quite different from what we believe.
Here at the Cathedral I’m doing my best to get over to the Parish Hall to begin our weekday confessions a bit earlier on Monday through Wednesday, and Friday. I’ll do my best to arrive at 11:15 am to accommodate the increased numbers of people wishing to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Also, our usual Stations of the Cross are prayed in church at 11:30 am on Lenten Fridays as well: it’s a favorite Lenten devotion.
As I mentioned last week, our Knights of Columbus of the Cathedral Council No. 13632 will lead the rosary, prayed aloud in church before Mass twice a week, to begin approximately 20 minutes before our 4 pm Saturday afternoon Mass, and also about 20 minutes before our Wednesday noontime daily Mass. We will also try to leave the Cathedral open for private, quiet prayer as much as possible during daylight hours (basically when our watchful maintenance staff is on duty!).
One more thing on this subject: if you’ve not yet started your “extra” Lenten observances, it is not too late to begin. And give some thought to not ending all of your added spiritual exercises on Easter. The most serious followers of Christ Jesus try to do some kind of personal penance year-round, for there’s no necessary timeframe for holiness!
Finally, I would like to alert you to an important observance next weekend: it will be our second “Safe Haven Sunday” in the Diocese of Baton Rouge. Every year on Lent’s second Sunday we highlight the horrible evil of online pornography, especially as it is overwhelming middle-school children and older teens, and the parents who wish to protect them. This annual awareness day offers access to practical resources to use within the home. We still have some of last year’s booklets which we continue to offer free to parishioners with minor children, and we have a new resource as well. This year’s booklet uses real-life stories and gives practical tips to emphasize how strong family connections protect children and teens – and adults – from the dangers of pornography use, which invariably begins as a hidden problem.
Please add your prayers for the success of our efforts. To learn even more in advance, please visit http://cleanheart.online/diocese-baton-rouge-0
In the Lord who shepherds us,
Fr. Paul Counce
