From the Pastor’s Desk

This past Sunday we heard the story of our Lord driven by the Spirit out into the desert, tempted by Satan, among the wild beasts and ministered to by the angels. As I reflected to you in the homily, all of us in our own life are going to face arid, or desert times in our life. All of us are going to face difficult times in our life. All of us are going to face suffering in our life. All of us are going to face temptations in the midst of suffering. All of us are going to walk with someone whom we love that is going to go through suffering.

As I reflected in the homily, the scriptural verse about being surrounded by the wild beasts is a good reminder of the presence of desolation in our life. We are going to have those difficult or sad moments in our life. The scriptural verse about being ministered to by the angels is a reminder that we are going be receive consolation in the midst of the desolation. It is usually those moments of consolations that give us the strength to persevere. As I said to you last week, that while I cannot promise that you will not go through those times of desolation, it is my fervent hope and prayer that the moments of consolation will outweigh the moments of desolation.

Today we hear the story of Abraham being put to the test. In each of our lives we are all going to be put to the test in some way or another. St. Julian of Norwich reminds of

“You will not be overcome.
God did not say you will not be troubled.
You will not be belabored.
You will not be disquieted;
But God said, You will not be overcome.”

May we never lose hope and may we persevere in times of trouble.

Fr. Brad

A Lenten Reflection by Mark Rohlena

(Executive Director of Catholic Charities of Central Colorado)

Dear CC Board members,

We are about to enter into the wonderful season of Lent! I know many of us have memories – perhaps current perceptions – of Lent as a time simply to “give things up,” or put some things we enjoy out of sight. Some others of us may not think much differently about Lent than we do any other time. Yet, we are given an awesome gift with this season. And because we are serving the poor, I know Christ means for Lent to deepen our relationship with him. We serve those who are deprived of so much in their lives and usually deprived of love, most of all. In suffering his passion and death, Christ was deprived of everything in a way that, I am convinced, gives him special affection for those we serve. Blessed Mother Teresa put it like this, “On the cross He was deprived of everything. The cross itself had been given Him by Pilate; nails and the crown, by the soldiers. He was naked. When He died He was stripped of the cross, the nails and the crown. He was wrapped in a piece of canvas donated by a charitable soul, and He was buried in a tomb that did not belong to Him.” Jesus felt abandoned and rejected by nearly everyone and He knew poverty like no other person in human history in dying for our sins!

So, my prayer for you is that you will find amazing ways to let God enter your lives more deeply this Lent, especially in little things; for God’s presence is surely in the whisper.

I’d also like to share a reflection that appeared in this month’s Magnificat devotional magazine. I think it captures the right spirit for a meaningful Lent and a life well lived:

Taking Up Our Cross

I think that the best thing of all is your devotion to our Lord. It is to give ourselves to him that we must come. It must be under the inspiration of his unselfishness, of his service to God in man and of man in God, that we seek to join ourselves to him: there were those who followed because they had been fed in the wilderness. This wasn’t enough. “Signs and wonders” are not good enough proofs; the only great proof is that people have followed him down narrow lanes and over uneven paths and wearing thorns and carrying their cross. It is along that line then that you must pray that he would help you to give yourself to him, patiently, indeed serenely. You won’t then bother about arguing or the need of it. You will just follow where he leads you, sure that all will be well: “Be not solicitous (anxious).” For the past, remember his injunction to let the dead bury their dead; for the future, remember that the morrow, so he said, would take care of itself. All that’s to be done is to hold oneself in the Everlasting Arms or rather be held by them. The rest is peace that comes of having nothing left.

–Father Bede Jarrett, O.P.**

**Father Jarrett (1934) was a Dominican priest from England renowned for his preaching, his lectures, and his many books on theology and spirituality.

Thank you for all you do for Catholic Charities. May God bless you and your families!

Mark

Mark C. Rohlena, Esq.
President/CEO
Catholic Charities of Central Colorado