By Fr. Paul Shovelain

Lent is upon us already! This is the time for the light of Christ to grow as we pray, fast, and give alms. Here at SJB, we desire to fan the flame of the Holy Spirit in your hearts so that the love of God would shine more brightly through you! Yesterday we had almost 1500 people receive ashes as we begin this holy season. WCCO 4 News called me on Tuesday and asked if they could come out to capture some video of our distribution of ashes. They ran a story about us last night. If you missed the story, you can watch it here.

Now the Gospel yesterday said, “Take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them; otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father.” Our motivation was not to gain the attention of others by ministering as we did yesterday, it was us living out our core value of reliance on prayer. While it is nice that we were highlighted on the news, my hope is that God is glorified through this and the light of Christ reaches more people. Pray with me for all those who see the story would be inspired to reflect upon the meaning of this season. May we all be purified through this season as we commit to praying, fasting and giving alms. In doing so, our light will grow bright!

Are you still praying about what the Lord is calling you to do for Lent? Join us tomorrow for Adoration in the Chapel of the Angels from 9 AM until 6 PM. Or join us tomorrow for Mass at 6:30 pm and Stations of the Cross at 7 PM. Join us at 3 PM for our Litany in Time of Need and Novenas for various intentions. If you can’t join us at 3 PM you can watch it later in the afternoon or evening on Facebook. It’s wonderful to see our community praying together virtually. We are just finishing up a novena for our students receiving their first confession this Saturday. We will begin a new novena on Sunday for our students preparing for the Sacrament of Confirmation and their upcoming retreat which is next weekend.

Please pray for our students receiving the powerful Sacrament of Confession this Saturday as well for their parents. It is a beautiful Sacrament of Healing and Reconciliation. Our world needs both of those things, and we are seeking to be part of the solution by being United in the Holy Spirit this year. My prayer for you is that the Holy Spirit will grow ever brighter in you this Lenten season and that it would help others experience the warmness of Christ!