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go K. P u o .O CO s; p k = ^ TO 3°° oS Cog (V) QD O ~ • CO g°§ c^*< Q_ CO ☆ The ☆ Sou Diocese of Savannah mm ☆ hern Ooss 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