Next Sunday begins the First Sunday in Lent |

Next Sunday begins the First Sunday in Lent. Here are a few bits of information you may find useful.

Helpful Definitions

FAST: Eating less food than normal (does not necessarily mean no food)

· What you can eat: One normal, full-sized meal, and two smaller meals which if combined would not exceed one full meal.

· Why: “Denying material food, which nourishes our body, nurtures an interior disposition to listen to Christ and be fed by His saving word. Through fasting and praying, we allow Him to come and satisfy the deepest hunger that we experience in the depths of our being: the hunger and thirst for God.” – Pope Benedict XVI

ABSTINENCE : Do not eat meat.

· What you can eat: fish and seafood

· Why: “Catholic peoples from time immemorial have set apart Friday for special penitential observance by which they gladly suffer with Christ that they may one day be glorified with Him. This is the heart of the tradition of abstinence from meat on Friday where that tradition has been observed in the holy Catholic Church.” – USCCB

ALMSGIVING: Material generosity to the less fortunate.

· What you can give: money, goods, acts of charity

· Why: Almsgiving “represents a specific way to assist those in need and, at the same time, an exercise in self-denial to free us from attachment to worldly goods…Almsgiving helps us to overcome this constant temptation, teaching us to respond to our neighbor’s needs and to share with others whatever we possess through divine goodness.” – Pope Benedict XVI

Shared Lenten Penance Service

March 24 at 7:00 pm

A Lenten Penance Service will be held on Tuesday March 24 at 7:00 pm at Our Lady of Loretto Church. You are invited to receive the sacrament of Reconciliation – a sign of God’s merciful and loving forgiveness. We encourage you to take this opportunity to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation in preparation for Easter.