Lent has started
A Reflection by Fred Schaeffer, OFS

I don’t have a car so weekday trips to Church are rare. I asked the Church for a priest to come to the house and so I began Lent with confession. Praise the Lord. Confession is always a good thing to cleanse us of sin, particularly mortal sin. We do not have to go to confession in Lent, just once a year. But Lent is a good time to receive the Sacrament. Decided not to do Lenten resolutions this year, just carry on one day after the other. Resolutions are most often broken. It isn’t that hard not to sin, Every time you’re going to do something, if you aren’t sure it’s right, pray about it, and if you know it isn’t right, just don’t do it. Maybe I have one up on you. I was born in Holland (Netherlands), and the Dutch are known for being stubborn. Once I make up my mind to do something I do it no matter the circumstances. When it comes to avoiding sin, I am very stubborn too, I just do it.

Lent is a wonderful time for practicing detachment. “Detachment is about living more and more honestly before God, in one’s own eyes and with others. I think you will best understand it by considering its opposite: inordinate attachment to someone or something.” (Fr. Pat McCloskey, OFM)

As a Secular Franciscan, I am always looking for solutions to live my life better. Our focus is clear from our Charism, our vocation. Service to others, our brothers and sisters, also to those who are marginalized and whose rights as human beings are trampled upon, that service is the loss of self in the interest of God. Service is the purchase price of peace. And, "whoever does not carry my Cross, cannot be my disciple." (Luke 14:27) Love all, do not overlook anyone. "A radiant smile is a blessing; bad humor, a poor choice of words, casts a pall of doom." … "Joy is one of the marks of sanctity. Smiles are sweet messengers." Have sympathy and empathy rather than apathy. In other words, have compassion as Jesus did, live with the pain of others rather than shun their grief because it is inconvenient. Bear ye one another's burdens (Gal. 6:2) And, take people as they are. Meet them where they are at and start there. Never betray their trust. Any private conversation between two people does not go anywhere else. Gossiping is what kills relationships. It is not of God.

Pray to the Father in secret (Mt 6:6). That's our personal friendship for Jesus, the inner life of our souls with Jesus. Pray always. Prayer is conversation with God. Let Mary, our Mother and the Mother of God be our example. The example of holiness. "Mary is the veil through which God's beauty shines."

Peace and Good,
Fred Schaeffer, OFS
March 7, 2025

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