Fifth Sunday of Lent
April 2, 2025 Column Father De Celles
Passiontide. Today we cover the statues and crosses as we begin the last two weeks of Lent, called “Passiontide.” At this point in Lent some people often start to slip in keeping their Lenten penances, while others haven’t yet begun their penances at all. Passiontide reminds us to refocus or deepen our attention on the season and its purposes of repentance of sin, conversion of heart, and appreciation of Christ’s love manifested in His Passion and Cross. If you’ve been slacking in your observance of Lent, let’s get going. If you’ve neglected the season entirely, it’s not too late. Let us beg our Crucified Lord to shower us with His grace in these last two weeks of Lent, and that we may be open to His grace and love Him in return.
During Lent, our focus on our sins and God’s redeeming suffering and death for our sins are called to mind by the many outward signs of Lent. The bodily/physical reminders of these days are so important to our experiencing the meaning of the season—Jesus suffered and died for us in His human body. And so it is important to experience the mysteries of this season “in the flesh.”
In our daily lives this is seen in our penances, including fasting and abstaining from meat. In the Mass we see it in the suppression of the Alleluia every day, and the Gloria on Sundays, as these joyful prayers are set aside during the sober and somber season. In Passiontide the elevated intensity of our focus is expressed in the outward and dramatic sign of covering most of the crucifixes, statues, and other holy images in our churches. In part, this is to encourage us to sort of place ourselves 2000 years back in time with Jesus during those last two weeks before his Crucifixion and Resurrection: Good Friday has not yet happened, so there is no cross yet; Easter has not happened, so no saints are in heaven. Keep this in mind in the coming days: “I’m walking with Jesus, and Peter and John and the apostles…With Judas. With Mary Magdalene and Salome and the other holy women. Walking toward Jerusalem, stopping in Bethany, going to the temple…. In the Upper Room, at the Last Supper…In the house of Caiaphas…In the palace of Pilate…Standing with Blessed Mary as they scourge her sweet child….”
This focus “in the flesh” can be experience especially in our liturgical and prayer practices. So, please, come to the church and physically take part in the various sacraments, liturgies and other pious activities of the Church and parish in the next few weeks.
I strongly encourage all of you to take advantage of the extra and longer confession times (we’ll have at least 2 priests hearing at most times, and sometimes 2 or 3). I also encourage you to go to one or more weekday Masses and spend time in Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, especially during Exposition on Wednesday from 9am to 7pm and Friday from 9am through the night to Saturday 9am. Please participate in praying the Stations of the Cross, especially in the church on Friday evening at 7:00 with other parishioners led by a priest.
Holy Week. Next Sunday marks the beginning of Holy Week. Please plan ahead today to participate in thespecial and unique liturgies that mark these most solemn and sacred days of the Christian year, including Holy Thursday’s Mass of the Lord’s Supper, Good Friday’s Celebration of the Passion of the Lord (with Veneration of the Cross), and the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday evening.
As always, as your spiritual father, I beg you to try to participate in all of these liturgies, especially the 3pm Good Friday Veneration of the Cross. It is inspiring to see a huge crowd patiently wait in line, many openly showing their sorrow, to venerate the cross of Christ. I know it’s a workday, but more importantly it is the hour of the Lord’s death, the most sacred hour of the year—skip work and join us. But if you absolutely can’t, try your best to keep that hour sacred by remaining quiet, and trying to pray or read scripture, or at least have a recollective attitude.
Near Occasion of Sin. In most “Acts of Contrition” we pray that to avoid “the near occasion of sin.” What does that mean?
Servant of God Fr. John Hardon defined this as: “Any person, place, or thing that of its nature or because of human frailty can lead one to do wrong, thereby committing sin. If the danger is certain and probable, the occasion is proximate; if the danger is slight, the occasion becomes remote. It is voluntary if it can easily be avoided. There is no obligation to avoid a remote occasion unless there is probable danger of its becoming proximate. There is a positive obligation to avid a voluntary proximate occasion of sin even though the occasion of evildoing is due only to human weakness.” In short, it’s an occasion (situation, person, etc.) that may lead you to sin.
So, for example, it’s an occasion of sin to watch a movie that stimulates you to feel hatred. If before you watch it you know the movie will do that to you, then that is a “proximate” or “near” occasion of sin, and you have a moral obligation to try to avoid the movie if you can.
“News Media” as the NOS. One near occasion of sin I hear a lot of people talking about nowadays, especially in the confessional, is watching and reading the News. We see and hear reporters or pundits getting angry and saying foul things about their opponents, and it stirs up that same kind of anger and name-calling in us, which can be sins. So that if you know every time you watch a certain news or talk-shows or podcasts you will be prone to sin like this, that show is a “near occasion of sin” for you, and you should try to avoid it if possible.
Now, we need to follow the news, and we need to listen to various sources for information. But when they become the near occasion of sin either turn them off, or turn them off when rhetoric gets too much, or limit your intake to what is necessary or unharmful. Think about it.
Bishop’s Lenten Appeal. We’re currently at about 85% of our goals for the BLA, about usual for this stage of the appeal. But it’s fascinating to me that every year (except one) that I’ve been here we meet our goal, but it takes us almost to the very last official week of the appeal (sometime well after Easter) to get to 100%. I guess I understand this, but I can’t help but think, “if you’re going to pledge, why don’t you just do it up front.” I mean, it’s not like you have to pay it up front—you have a year to do it. Just a little lighthearted observation.
Oremus pro invicem. Fr. De Celles