Grace and peace be unto you in the Name of God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, as we soon enter the holy season of Lent.

I sensed two things very clearly Sunday in our time at the Gladwyne Methodist Church.

The first was that of joy and satisfaction in our being there.  It’s quite a climb up one of the two staircases; but once in the worship space itself, I think you would all agree that is has a simple beauty to it.  We were able to worship in the style with which our minds and spirits resonate.  The Choir was superb; the hymn singing was strong, nearly taking the roof off; and the celebration of three Baptisms was joyful and meaningful for all.  It was such a good thing to renew our own Baptismal Covenant before Lent.  And to have 96 adults and children present was edifying.

The second thing I sensed and learned from many of you who spoke to me after the meeting with Monsignor Steenson was that of concern and anxiety about our future.  I looked at worried faces, and listened to those who were unsettled and troubled.

What you heard and what I received in Monsignor’s Steenson’s most recent letter to me were upsetting and disquieting, and certainly caused great concern on many levels.  You and I had many emotions and feelings stirred up, and our thoughts have gone in many different directions, but God is sovereign, and we are to believe in His Providence.  Be assured, good people, that life goes on into Lent and Easter.

Lent is now before us.  We need to appropriate Lent as a time for individual and corporate repentance, discernment, and being made more and more into the image and stature of Christ.  We are to forgive and pray to be forgiven; to amend anything we can amend; and to seek reconciliation with God and others we have hurt or offended.  We are called to identify with the forty years the Israelites wandered in the wilderness before they entered the Promised Land, and the forty days our Lord spent in the wilderness in prayer and fasting after His Baptism and before He began His threefold ministry of preaching, teaching, and healing.

The US Conference of Catholic Bishops states that the discipline of abstinence and fasting requires abstaining from meat on Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, and the Fridays in Lent, and that we should limit ourselves on the days of Lent (which exclude Sundays) to one full meal, and two half or minimal meals.  I urge you to assume a more rigorous discipline, if health provides.  Fasting does open us up to the movement of the Spirit.

Lent is also a time for increased prayer and for spiritual reading.  In addition to the daily reading of Scripture, I would suggest one or both of the following books by Pope Benedict XVI:  Behold the Pierced One and Faith and the Future.  These can be ordered at Ignatius Press.  I would also suggest more in-depth reading of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

On Ash Wednesday, there will be Masses at 7:00am and 7:30pm.  On the Lenten Wednesdays following, Mass will celebrated at 12:05pm, and Stations of the Cross will be held at 7:30pm.  Confessions will be heard at 11:00am on Wednesdays.

You have come freely to the Newman Fellowship, and in our six months together we have all grown spiritually.  Thanks be to God!  We continue to put our trust in Him whom we seek to glorify – One God in three Persons who is so gracious in His provisions.  I remain yours thankfully and

Faithfully in Christ Jesus,

+David L. Moyer