Hi Folks,

There is the story about the little girl who reminds the teacher about how the whale swallowed Jonah.  Well, it seems that the teacher tells the girl that it is impossible for a whale to swallow a human because the whale’s throat is too small.
The little girl says: “The whale did swallow Jonah.”  And the teacher says: “No.  That would be impossible.”
So the little girl then says: “When I get to heaven I will ask Jonah.” Then the teacher says: “What if Jonah went to hell?”  The little girl quickly responds: “Then you ask him!”

Speaking about the afterlife, this coming Wednesday begins the season when we seriously give some thought about eternal life.  Tuesday, of course, is “MARDI GRAS”—literally, fat Tuesday; and Wednesday is one of two days of fast and abstinence, the other is GOOD FRIDAY.  In case we have forgotten, when we fast we eat three meals a day, the main meal and two others NOT equaling the size of the main meal.  We also abstain from meat and meat products.  During the rest of Lent we abstain from meat on Fridays.

However, there is more to Lent than “do’s and don’t’s.”    Lent is the season for “house cleaning.”  We try to take inventory of our daily living.  Is there anything in our lives that we should erase, change or review?   Do we need to do some remodeling?  Are we having problems with our faith?  Am I being enslaved by some habit or addiction?  Now is the time to act.  Now is the time to pick ourselves up and start climbing that mountain!   It can be a struggle but it is one that is worth the effort. In sharing our suffering with Christ, we will share in the glory of the
Resurrection.
 
During Lent, just as the catechumens are preparing themselves to be baptized, we, the faithful also prepare ourselves to renew our baptismal vows by acts of penance.

Fr. Joe