Sunday's Homily. (This Sunday was a brief reflection. I invited our mission leader to speak for several minutes to get people excited about our upcoming mission.)

Today is the last Sunday before Lent. It is important for us to consider what significance this has for us. I know that often times life creeps up on us quickly and we dont have time to think about how we will approach lent so I want for you over the next three days to pray about how you will pray, how you will fast, and how will you give alms.

In the Gospel today, we hear about a man who was brought to Jesus to be healed. He was paralyzed. He could not get to Jesus on his own. He needed the help of others to bring him to Jesus Christ so that he could receive his healing touch. So often we are like this man who needs to be healed. We are paralyzed by our fears. We are paralyzed by grudges. We are paralyzed by our sins. We think of only the past things and not the new. Remember the first reading. “Remember not the events of the past,
the things of long ago consider not; see, I am doing something new! Now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?”

Jesus wants to make us a new creation. He wants to heal us so that we are no longer paralyzed but free to love, free to serve, free to worship, free to proclaim Jesus Christ to all people.

The Gospel teaches us that Jesus will set us free. If someone you know needs to experience the love of Jesus Christ and his healing touch. Bring that person to Jesus. You may even need to carry the person. You may need to ask others to help you carry him to Jesus Christ. Eventually, you will get to Jesus and He will heal him.

Every lent we prepare ourselves to encounter the risen Lord at Easter. We pray, fast, and give alms so that we can experience the healing of Jesus Christ.

We pray so that we can draw closer in friendship with Jesus. I am not talking about doing more novenas or rosaries. I am talking about having a quality friendship that is developed where you listen to God and he listens to you. This extra prayer hopefully will remain in your life. I remember when I was in college, there was time when I could never pray grace before meals. The food was smelling just too good and my stomach was speaking too strongly. I would begin to eat quickly. My lenten prayer exercise was to pray grace before every meal. I did it that lent and have done it basically ever since.
We need to pray.

We also fast. We deny ourselves something to show that Jesus is more important that thing. We should deny ourselves something that we enjoy. Perhaps we fast from beer or coffee. Maybe we fast from Television or facebook. Maybe we fast by not reading the news or staying away from the internet. There are a variety of ways that we can fast. Ultimately, we fast so that Jesus is the most important in our lives.

We give alms as a way to show that our love for God involves action. We can give alms by giving our time. We listen to people before we speak. We find ways to just be with someone that we normally would not be with. Maybe we give alms by giving our talents to benefit a charity or church. Perhaps we give our treasure by giving the gifts that God has given to us. There are a variety of ways to give alms. It shows that we love God by giving.

So prayer, fasting, and giving alms are three ways that we can grow closer to Jesus this Lent. If you live a life closer to Jesus, he will set you free from what is paralyzing you.