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 As we prepare to enter into a Holy Lent this coming Wednesday, let us take this time to examine our lives, those things that we have done or have failed to do. Lent is a time for us to reflect on our own lives, to repent for what we should repent of and to affirm those aspects of our lives that we should affirm. We do this as a spiritual pilgrimage, as we draw closer to Jerusalem and the Cross on which our Lord was sacrificed on our behalf. We do this to prepare ourselves for the coming Easter morning when Jesus burst out of his three-day prison and conquered death itself.
But as we examine our own lives and pray that we may better serve God in Christ, let us also keep watch over our nation in these dark days and repent of our national sins. Some of you may have heard yesterday that a parishioner of our Diocese, an acolyte in a Palm Beach County parish, was "invited" to an immigration interview this week and never returned home. He was taken into custody and nobody, not even his family, was informed of his whereabouts. As Fr. Sims wrote, "He simply vanished into the ICE prison maze of secrecy like a kidnapping victim in an authoritarian society." Due to the vigilance of our
Bishop and other diocesan leaders, it was later discovered that he is being held at the Krome Detention Center. I mention this incident to
remind us that our nation is in need of our prayers as the darkness begins to spread even into our churches.
This is the beginning of Lent. It is not a comfortable season, and it is not meant to be. It is a time we confront all our ugliness, both personally and corporately. But our hope is that at the end of the darkness is the bright and glorious light of Easter, when we will shout to the world, "Halleluiah! Christ is risen from the dead!" So I urge you to fully participate in this Holy Lent so that we may be truly prepared to receive the resurrection glory of Christ.
Many blessings,
Fr. Jeremy
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