Lent is not about death, but really about new life!

Perhaps one or two of the following might be helpful: 40_Lenten_Ideas

We are now into the great season of Lent, when we spend six weeks preparing to celebrate the high point of our faith: the Paschal Mystery, the suffering, death and resurrection of the Incarnate God. Formerly it was a time of severe penance as a way of purifying ourselves from our sinful habits and being ready to celebrate the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ with a renewed commitment to follow him.
Even though we are no longer asked by the Church to observe the severe penances of former times, it is surely fitting that we make some of form of preparation. It should be a time for personal reflection on where we stand as Christians. Only a little reflection will convince us that, on the one hand, there are many ways in which we fail through word and action, through our thoughts and through our failure to be the kind of people that the Gospel challenges us to be.

But our reflections should not only focus on the negative.

• What are the positive things which should be part and parcel of my daily life?
• What kind of a person am I in relation to my family, friends, working colleagues and other people with whom I come in contact?
• How active am I as a member of my Christian community e.g. my parish?
• What difference do I make to other people’s lives?
• What do I do, within my limitations, to help eradicate the abuses which are part of our society?

These are just some of the questions I can ask myself during these six weeks.

Some of the things I can do are:

• Celebrating the Eucharist each day or at least on a few days in the week.
• Setting aside some part of my day for personal prayer.
• Reflecting on some Scripture, alone or, better still, with others. The Scripture readings for each day in Lent provide excellent material.
• Setting aside some money that I might spend on myself for a meal, entertainment or clothes and giving it to an organization which takes care of the less fortunate in our society.

Here at Saint Edward we continue our Lenten journey with our Tuesday evening speaker series: Mass at 5:30 pm; simple supper at 6 pm; speaker at 7 pm.

SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION SCHEDULE DURING LENT:

Tuesdays                                                                               4:30pm to 5:15pm

Fridays                                                                                   7:30am to 8:15am

Saturdays                                                                              7:30am to 9:00am

Saturdays                                                                              3:00pm to 3:30pm

Tuesday, April 3, 2012: Communal Reconciliation                     7:00pm

PreSchool: Lent Begins

K-1: What Jesus Asks Us to Do

Grades 2_3: What Lent is About

Grade 4_6: Lenten Facts

Grade 7_8: Quiz for Champions at the Beginning of Lent

Please join the Saint Edward parish family as we begin our Lenten Journey with our annual Mission February 26—28, 2012 at 7:00 pm with
Rev Michael Woost
Associate Professor of Liturgical Theology St Mary Seminary and Graduate School of Theology Cleveland

Liturgically, the Church proclaims that every year is a year of grace, a time for encountering God’s Presence embracing our lives as they are.  Each liturgical year and every liturgical season invites us to discover the movement of God anew in every age of our lives.  How can we do this more effectively?  How can we open ourselves to receive God’s blessings? 

Our Sunday and Monday evenings will consist of Prayer, Reflection, Conversation and a time for refreshments.

Our Tuesday evening will include Mass at 5:30 pm, simple supper at 6:00 pm and the conclusion of the Mission at 7:00 pm

For more information call 330.743.2308

Legend has it that Valentine was a priest who served during third century Rome. There was an Emperor at that time by the name of Claudius II. Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those that were married. With this thought in mind he outlawed marriage for young men in hopes of building a stronger military base. Supposedly, Valentine, decided this decree just wasn’t fair and chose to marry young couples secretly. When Emperor Claudius II found out about Valentine’s actions he had him put to death.

Another legend has it that Valentine was an imprisoned man who fell in love with his jailor’s daughter. Before he was put to death he sent the first ‘valentine’ himself when he wrote her a letter and signed it ‘Your Valentine’, words still used on cards today.

Perhaps we’ll never know the true identity and story behind the man named St. Valentine, but this much is for sure…February has been the month to celebrate love for a long time, dating clear back to the Middle Ages. In fact, Valentines ranks second only to Christmas in number of greeting cards sent.

6 week ON LINE SCRIPTURE COURSE

This six week course on  Mark’s gospel attempts to capture the focus of the gospel: To love and be loved by Jesus. The story line receives major attention. Historical, geographical, and cultural comments are added where it seems useful for the understanding of the story.  The purpose of this study will be fulfilled if we are  motivated to a conversion of heart that leads us  to a life that is less anxious, a mind that is less suspicious, a heart that is less hostile…..

This course begins the First Week of Lent

For more information or to register email Sister Therese Ann at tarich@theursulines.org. Diocesan Religious Education hours available.

Mardi Gras, literally “Fat Tuesday,” has grown in popularity in recent years as a raucous, sometimes hedonistic event. But its roots lie in the Christian calendar, as the “last hurrah” before Lent begins on Ash Wednesday. That’s why the enormous party in New Orleans, for example, ends abruptly at midnight on Tuesday, with battalions of streetsweepers pushing the crowds out of the French Quarter towards home.

What is less known about Mardi Gras is its relation to the Christmas season, through the ordinary-time interlude known in many Catholic cultures as Carnival. (Ordinary time, in the Christian calendar, refers to the normal “ordering” of time outside of the Advent/Christmas or Lent/Easter seasons.

Carnival comes from the Latin words carne vale, meaning “farewell to the flesh.” Like many Catholic holidays and seasonal celebrations, it likely has its roots in pre-Christian traditions based on the seasons. Some believe the festival represented the few days added to the lunar calendar to make it coincide with the solar calendar; since these days were outside the calendar, rules and customs were not obeyed. Others see it as a late-winter celebration designed to welcome the coming spring. As early as the middle of the second century, the Romans observed a Fast of 40 Days, which was preceded by a brief season of feasting, costumes and merrymaking.

The Carnival season kicks off with the Epiphany, also known as Twelfth Night, Three Kings’ Day and, in the Eastern churches, Theophany. Epiphany, which falls on January 6, 12 days after Christmas, celebrates the visit of the Wise Men bearing gifts for the infant Jesus. In cultures that celebrate Carnival, Epiphany kicks off a series of parties leading up to Mardi Gras.

Epiphany is also traditionally when celebrants serve King’s Cake, a custom that began in France in the 12th century. Legend has it that the cakes were made in a circle to represent the circular routes that the Wise Men took to find Jesus, in order to confuse King Herod and foil his plans of killing the Christ Child. In the early days, a coin or bean was hidden inside the cake, and whoever found the item was said to have good luck in the coming year. In Louisiana, bakers now put a small baby, representing the Christ Child, in the cake; the recipient is then expected to host the next King Cake party.

There are well-known season-long Carnival celebrations in Europe and Latin America, including Nice, France; Cologne, Germany; and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The best-known celebration in the U.S. is in New Orleans and the French-Catholic communities of the Gulf Coast. Mardi Gras came to the New World in 1699, when a French explorer arrived at the Mississippi River, about 60 miles south of present day New Orleans. He named the spot Point du Mardi Gras because he knew the holiday was being celebrated in his native country that day.

Eventually the French in New Orleans celebrated Mardi Gras with masked balls and parties, until the Spanish government took over in the mid-1700s and banned the celebrations. The ban continued even after the U.S. government acquired the land but the celebrations resumed in 1827. The official colors of Mardi Gras, with their roots in Catholicism, were chosen 10 years later: purple, a symbol of justice; green, representing faith; and gold, to signify power.

Mardi Gras literally means “Fat Tuesday” in French. The name comes from the tradition of slaughtering and feasting upon a fattened calf on the last day of Carnival. The day is also known as Shrove Tuesday (from “to shrive,” or hear confessions), Pancake Tuesday and fetter Dienstag. The custom of making pancakes comes from the need to use up fat, eggs and dairy before the fasting and abstinence of Lent begins.

Click here to read the rest of Bishop George Murry’s letter