Homily for February 14

Dear Parish Family:

As I prepare to bow my head to receive the ashes of conversion this coming Wednesday, memories of the past converge. I treasured accompanying my Dad to 6:30am Mass on cold Lenten mornings. On Good Friday, my mother would pack the seven of us into our station wagon and take us to seven Churches to visit the “Blessed Sacrament.” Sometimes we would venture to the Franciscan Monastery for their outdoor Stations of the Cross. A very special memory is my first Easter Vigil. Shortly before the reforms of Vatican II, the vigil had been restored to the night. There was a purple curtain stretched across the sanctuary. At the Gloria, the curtain was pulled open, statues were uncovered, and candles illuminated. The liturgy is different today but still fills me with that same exultant joy. The character of Lent and Easter for me was conditioned by my family and our participation in the life of the Church. During the years since my youth, the word family has taken on various different meanings; but all of them have had to do with people celebrating the mysteries of our faith in the context of the liturgies of the Church. I look forward to celebrating with you this year a Lent that will unite us all more closely with the Passion of Our Lord and, thereby, enable us to know the joy of his Risen Life within us!

Yours in Christ,
Fr. Bill Foley