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Ash Wednesday & St. Valentine

Today is a “God-incidence”. It is Ash Wednesday (the beginning of the season of penance and self-denial) and also St. Valentine\’s Day (a day to share loving thoughts).

Some people think they are an “odd couple”, contradictions. But not really. They go perfectly together. In fact, a loving Heart is our Goal for Lent. Union with the pierced Heart of Jesus Christ Who died on the Cross for us sinners, the entire human race, is the purpose of our lives. Jesus offers us His Heart every day in Holy Communion. His love is faithful and enduring. Trust Him with your heart.

Each year the Dominican Family in the Southern USA Province offer a short reflection for every day of Lent. Today’s is by Fr. Philip Neri Powell and is very powerful . Please check it out HERE.

It’s Lent!

Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of our 40-day pilgrimage to Easter–the Resurrection of Jesus and our own small resurrection to a new and deeper Christian life.


The first act is to receive the ashes on your forehead (or on top of your head, as in Italy), made from last year\’s palms, to remind us of our mortality, frailty, and dependence upon God.

Lent is a special liturgical season of discipline, purification, self-sacrifice, to help us grow in holiness and union with God, to grow in love and patience and generosity with everyone we meet.

As you begin this Lent, ask the Holy Spirit to guide you. The 3 Great Works of Lent are Prayer, Fasting, Almsgiving, taken from our Jewish roots. It is best to do one practice from each category: prayer, fasting or self-denial, almsgiving or mercy. Below are a few suggestions of practices you can choose from, or ask the Lord for special ones. 


PRAYER –
  • Say a morning offering first thing in the morning (even before getting out of bed).
  • Pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet every day.
  • Read a chapter or two of Scripture each day and try to memorize a verse (repeat it throughout the day).
  • Go to daily Mass, if possible.
  • Add 10 minutes of silent prayer to your day.
  • Pray the Stations of the Cross each Friday.
  • Pray the rosary each day.
  • Pray for each person with whom you come in contact.
  • Spend 10 minutes prayerfully thinking about the Scriptures for the day\’s Mass.

FASTING –

  • Give up TV and movies, including online.
  • Give up salt, pepper, and condiments.
  • Give up eating between meals.
  • Give up social media.
  • Avoid phone use after 8 p.m.
  • Only get news from a printed source.
  • Give up listening to recorded music.
  • Give up taking pictures.
  • Give up the snooze button.

ALMSGIVING – 
  • Serve the poor once a week at a soup kitchen.
  • Give away some of your nice clothes to those in need.
  • Donate 10% of your income to the poor.
  • Write one letter of gratitude to a different person each day.
  • Give kind attention to one lonely or isolated person each day.
  • Whenever you start to say something negative, say something positive instead.
  • Visit the elderly or sick once a week

(The above bullet suggestions are courtesy of the Nashville Dominican Sisters)

The Lord has given them food…

Periodically we have someone come to speak to us about nutrition. The title of this post comes from Evening prayer on February 8. They were very striking and appropriate words because we had just come from an hour long session with Amy Wright, Registered Dietician and Certified Diabetes Educator.

There was an instant bond between the community and Amy, and her mother, Nancy, who also joined us. The Sisters were full of questions and so we hope to have Amy return for a follow-up presentation.

At the end of Amy\’s talk, Nancy wanted to leave us with a gift of her own. We had a few moments of prayer and Nancy sang a beautiful worship song. Nancy not only has a beautiful voice, but directs an interdenominational choir in Jasper, a town about 55 miles southeast of us. A member of her choir happens to be one of our confessors, Father Ron Fosage, MS. Father is the pastor of St. Michael Church in Jasper; he is one of those people everyone seems to love.

We praise the Lord for these two new vibrant Christians in our lives.

I promise obedience …

On January 27, 2018, we had the great joy of witnessing the First Profession of Sister Mary Therese of the Divine Mercy. The occasion was extra special because all of her immediate family were able to attend and stay the weekend.

Niece Sophia reads from the Song of Songs
Sister’s father reads from 1 John
Sister Mary Therese pronounces her First Vows
Father Lydon blesses her scapular
Nephew Sebastian looks on as Sister receives her black veil
 

The celebration extended over a period of several days for Sister and the Community:

      • Saturday – the actual day with guests
      • Sunday – the Community visits with Sister’s family
      • Monday – Sisters in the Novitiate open her gifts from the Community
      • Tuesday – the Professed Nuns go to the Novitiate to see her gifts



Besides all this, Sister had the canonical 8-day retreat before her Profession as required by our Constitutions and Canon Law.

Now, Sister Mary Therese is energized and eager to begin a new phase in her Dominican religious life and have many new experiences.
May she become like her patron, St. Therese of Lisieux,
“Love in the midst of the Church”.

Sister Nuns

We had the joy of visiting with Sister Catherine Marie of the Abbey of St. Walburga, a Benedictine Monastery in Colorado, this past week. Sister is originally from here in Lufkin, and in fact, in the youngest sibling of our Sister Mary Rose.

 

Sister Catherine Marie is in town for a visit with her parents and family before making her First Profession at her Monastery. We are very happy for her and pray the Lord blesses her with a most fruitful contemplative life for the Glory of the Most Holy Trinity and the salvation of souls.

Faith Formation

We are involved in the 3 RCIA programs of the two local parishes through our ministry of prayer. We recently met with some of the candidates from these programs. The English-speaking group from St. Patrick’s came to see us on Sunday, January 14 in the morning.

The Spanish-speaking RCIA group from St. Patrick’s came yesterday afternoon, Sunday, January 21, to visit with us.

We had a very good discussion about the sacraments of initiation. This was led by Sister Irma who gave a talk on Baptism and Confirmation

We look forward in the future to meeting the candidates of St. Andrew’s RCIA program.

A Jubilee for the Angels

Sister Irma of the Angels celebrated her 25th anniversary of religious profession on January 10.  Father Raymundo Garcia, parochial vicar at our local parish, St. Patrick, was the principal celebrant with our Chaplain, Fr. John Lydon, OP, concelebrating and assisted by Permanent Deacon Jesus Reyes.

Sister Irma is originally from Puebla, Mexico and transferred to our monastery a few years ago. She currently cooks for our Chaplain and cleans his apartment. Sister is also a wonderful seamstress. She is very creative and you may have seen some of her beautiful work in our Gift Shop.

Sister Irma renews her vows in the hands of our prioress.

We had our Mass at 9:30 instead of 7:20 and Sister had a good number of guests. After the Mass she greeted them in the parlor and then we provided a light lunch for them.

Another Sister from Mexico cooked a delicious meal for us which we ate as we enjoyed one another’s company in the Community Room. In the evening we gathered to be with Sister Irma as she opened gifts from the Sisters and local friends. It was a festive day for everyone as we celebrated the milestone together.

It was also a day of blessings for the Church in remembering the years of consecrated love and service Sister Irma has offered to God during these past 25 years, as Father Raymundo mentioned in his homily.