Lenten Services

St. Ann:  Stations of the Cross Friday Evenings (7:00 p.m.), March 3 – April 7.  Good Friday Service on Good Friday (7:00 p.m.) but no stations.

Sacred Heart:  Stations of the Cross Sunday afternoons (3:00 p.m.), March 5 – April 2.  NO stations on Palm Sunday afternoon.

The Lay Presider Ministry at Sacred Heart has Stations without Benediction on Friday evenings at 7:00 p.m. during Lent, (except Good Friday), led by lay persons without a priest or deacon.

CMA

At the time when this is being written, St. Ann has donations or pledges of 67.62% of its goal of $47,829.  This represents participation of 18.48% of the parish families.  Thanks to all who have made a commitment.   If you have not pledged as yet, please prayerfully consider a commitment, no matter how small. Remember that this is St. Ann’s way of doing its fair share to support programs that every parish uses throughout the Archdiocese.   Envelopes are available in church.

Dietary Rules

During Lent, Catholic are asked to abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday and the Fridays during Lent, and fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.  Abstinence simply means “abstaining from meat.”  The flesh of mammals and birds (essentially any animal that is warm blooded) is considered meat.  The flesh of reptiles, fish (cold blooded), and bird eggs and cheese are not considered meat.  Anyone fourteen years of age or older who will not be physically harmed by the diet is asked to abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday and the Fridays during Lent.

We define fasting for Lenten purposes as meaning eating only one regular meal and two smaller meals or snacks, with no eating between meals.  Fasting only applies on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday and then only to those between the ages of 18 and 59 who have no medical problem aggravated by the practice. 

Reflection on Scripture

Jesus goes out into the desert and is tempted.  Even the Son of God, the Second Person of the Trinity, needs the human experience of being truly alone in the face of temptation to be fully aware of humanity’s struggle.  Eve faced temptation and lost Eden.  Elijah experienced near despair under the broom tree in the wilderness of the desert.  It was only the help of God that enabled him to survive and make his way to the cave in Mount Horeb.   Jesus allows himself to be tempted in the desert to show that he was fully human and yet fully divine.  The reality of the hypostatic union in made evident in the vignette.  Even more important from a sacramental perspective, Jesus shows us that with the benefit of Baptism and Confirmation we can possess divine resolve of Jesus.  Strengthened by the Bread of Life in the Eucharist, we are never alone in the desert. 

Readings for Second Sunday of Lent

Gn 12:1-4a

2 Tim 1:8b-10

Mt 17:1-9

Theme:   Transfiguration