March 22, 2022, Class Update: More Lenten Perspectives on God

Greetings everyone!

March 22, 2022, is Laetare Sunday, which means we're more than halfway through Lent 2022.

Recap of Last Class

Upon arriving, and before we started, everyone read about the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy, and also 4 ways to form conscience.

In our most recent class, our guest speaker was Bob Pence, one of my fellow pilgrims to World Youth Day 2019.  He was in a catechism class while serving in the military in Germany many decades ago.  Later in life, he became reinvigorated in faith as he facilitated RCIA for those preparing to enter the Church.

One aspect of catechism class that stood out to him was the Seven Last Words of Christ on the Cross.

We then talked about our pets, childhood stuffed animals, and favorite animals to prime us to hear from Bishop Barron, who explains the meaning of suffering with a story from his childhood when he took his dog to the vet.  We watched a portion of a longer homily, starting around the 8:08 mark until about 11:47.

Then we considered what we would do if in Moses's position and encountered a bush on fire that wasn't burning, which was the first reading on the Third Sunday of Lent, March 20.

Activity

We're off from class on March 29 for Spring Break week. We return to class on April 5.

During these 2 weeks, please take time to offer up one of the prayers on the sheet you got at the end of class on March 22, the Morning Offering (traditionally upon waking up), the Angelus concluding prayer (customarily prayed at noon, but can be done any time), or Simeon's Canticle (prayed right before bed time).  (Our closing prayer was the Angelus, which is especially appropriate because March 25 was the Solemnity of the Annunciation, and now Christmas Day is less than 9 months away.)  If you need to refer to the prayers, you may click on the links in this paragraph.  You may also contact me if you prefer to use the same sheet distributed in class.

You can do any one of those prayers, two of them, or all of them.

There is nothing to submit.

Looking Ahead

The plan for April 5 is to spend time on symbols of the Triduum, as we get closer to the days at the heart of the liturgical year that focus on Christ's Paschal Mystery, His Death and Resurrection.  There are also plans for Father Rex to visit us.

We don't officially have class scheduled on April 12.  I am inviting everyone in class to attend an optional gathering in Church that evening from 6:45-7:30, during which we'll pray the Stations of the Cross.

Some optional enhanced extra credit opportunities are listed below my signature.

As usual, please feel free to contact me with questions, etc.

While on vacation this week in Washington, D.C., I have been visiting multiple church sites, and I have you in mind as I pray--please see photos below.

We remain connected as One Church, confessing one faith in Christ Who reveals God's love to us:

All my relations.

God's blessings,

Paul

In the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., I lit several prayer candles for the different groups of people I've known in my life, including all my current and former RE students and their families, as shown in the photo above.  These are at the base of a statute of our Blessed Mother Mary, which is in the photo below.

There are splendid cherry blossom blooms on the grounds of the National Shrine, as you can see in the photo below, taken by a fellow visitor, and above, taken by me.  Let us behold the blooming of new life in God's creation and in our own lives as we journey through Lent toward the Easter/Paschal Triduum.

Here are the iconic cherry blossom blooms along the Tidal Basin near the Jefferson Memorial.

And while in the Washington, D.C., area, I visited Weasley, my nephew dog.  I thank my brother for photographing me.

P.S. Whenever you're out of town, this website is a great resource to find a church to attend Mass: www.masstimes.org

Simply enter a location, either Zip code or City name, and a list of results will appear with links to the parish websites for more info.  Be sure to adjust the filter so that it displays Mass times for all days.

Our opening prayer was this music video of Chris Tomlin's performance of "Amazing Grace (My Chains are Gone)", with scenes from the 2007 movie Amazing Grace.

I played the song "Glorious", performed by the One Voice Children's Choir, as a tribute to everyone in class and to thank you for being an important part of my life.

Enhanced Extra Credit Opportunities:

These activities are all optional.  They take longer than the usual activities to do, and they are great ways to enter into a spirit of prayer and grow in faith during Lent.

Watch the movie Amazing Grace, rated PG, and about 2 hours long.

Go to the store to select items to donate for the monthly diapers and baby wipes drive at Church.  Donations can be dropped off at Church on Saturday evening or Sunday morning of this weekend, April 2-3.

Watch the video of the March monthly Taize Prayer.

Attend the April monthly Taize prayer at 7:30 PM on Friday, April 1, or watch the livestream video at that time or archived later on the Ascension Parish YouTube channel.

Watch the live or archived video of Lenten Vespers at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., each Sunday of Lent, aired live at 3 PM CT, until about 3:30 PM.  It is available on the Shrine's YouTube channel.  If you watch it archived, the video starts about 10-15 minutes in.  You can see glimpses of me wearing a red shirt in the archived video for the 4th Sunday of Lent.

You can view a program to follow along at this link.  You may also contact me and I can provide a program for you if you're watching it after the Sunday when it airs live.

Attend Evening Prayer at Ascension on Wednesday evenings during Lent from 7:00-7:30 PM.

Attend any of the other Lenten prayer offerings at the parishes of Oak Park.

If you do any of these, please submit a short summary of at least one sentence describing what you did in this form.  If you attended any of these events and I saw you there, you do not need to submit anything in that form.