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Vol. 81, No. 8
Thursday, February 22, 2001
$.50 PER ISSUE
Lent, 2001: “Love is not
The CCD students of Saint John the Evangelist Parish, Valdosta,
burn last year’s palms for distribution on Ash Wednesday, February 28.
New commemorative book reviewed
The new commemorative book, One Faith... One Family:
Diocese of Savannah, 1850-2000, is reviewed on page 4.
resentful”
A Lenten Message
from Bishop J. Kevin Boland
44T ove is not resentful.” These familiar words, from 1
I jCorinthians 13:5, stand at the center of Pope John
Paul’s annual Lenten message for 2001.
Lent, the traditional time of reconciling with God, in
preparation for the celebration of the Paschal mystery at
Easter, is meant to prompt believers to re-examine whether
our lives conform to Christ’s command to “love your ene
mies (and) do good to those who hate you.” Our Holy
Father states that these “are words that, if taken seriously,
demand a radical conversion” from all of us.
Conversion involves both turning away from sin and turn
ing back to God. It is not something done once, never to be
repeated, but is an ongoing aspect of the Christian life. As
our catechumens (“converts”) prepare for Baptism,
Confirmation and First Eucharist at the Easter Vigil, we all
accompany them with our prayers, fasting and acts of chari
ty called “almsgiving,” mindful that all of us remain “con
verts,” called to turn from sin and back to God every day.
Such conversion is rooted in love, which is “patient,”
“kind,” and never “resentful.”
There are three traditional ways of observing Lent, three
disciplines to help us on our journey: fasting, praying and
giving alms to the poor.
Fasting and penance: Embracing the penitential disci
pline of fasting is one concrete way in which we can show
our repentance and our willingness to be reconciled with
God, with ourselves, with our neighbor and, ultimately, with
all creation. Fasting—from certain foods, which symbolizes
our fasting from our dependence on the things of this
world—is meant to free us from our usual preoccupations,
to free up our spirits for prayer to God and for giving alms
to the poor. Our penitential fasting from food on Ash
Wednesday and Good Friday, and our abstaining from meat
on those days and on the Fridays of Lent, is meant to spur
us on to a greater love of God, which we express in prayer,
and to a greater love of neighbor, which we express in serv
ice (“almsgiving”) to the poor. The current discipline of the
church for Lent mandates that all who have reached their
fourteenth birthday are bound by the law of abstinence (no
meat) on Ash Wednesday, on all Fridays of Lent and on
Good Friday. Those between the ages of eighteen and fifty-
nine are also bound by the law of fasting on Ash Wednesday
and on Good Friday. To fast is to limit oneself to one full
meal a day. Two other meals, sufficient to maintain strength,
may be taken according to each one’s needs, but together
these should not equal another full meal. Between meals,
only liquids may be taken.
The Church also offers us many opportunities to receive
God’s mercy and forgiveness in the celebration of the sacra-
(Continued on page I J)
Benevolent caregivers
“People of Life" exhibit
DDA progress report
—see page 3
—see page 6
—see page 7