By Bill HeaneyPeople who pledge to abstain from meat and alcohol and sweets and chocolate for the six weeks of Lent have been urged to take a long hard look at themselves and consider what good they are doing.
The advice comes from no other than Pope Francis, who has spent the past four weeks in hospital in Rome being treated for a lung and liver complaint.
The Pope told his Catholic flock: “Eat whatever you want during Holy Week, the sacrifice is not in the stomach but in the heart.
People abstain from eating meat, but they do not talk to their siblings and/or relatives, they do not visit their parents and do not take care of their children.
They do not share their food with those who need it most, they distance their children from their father/mother and/or grandparents, they criticize the lives of others, mistreat their partner, and so on. Meat does not make you a bad person, just as a fish fillet will not make you a saint.
Better to seek a good relationship with God by doing good to others. Let us be less arrogant and more humble of heart.”
Pope Francis
St Andrew’s Cathedral was packed for the largest Rite of Election for many years as 100 men and women prepare to be baptised or received into the Church this Easter. “Let’s accompany them with affection and be inspired by their faith,” said Archbishop William Nolan.Lent at St. Patrick’s –
Monday- Saturday: 10am Weekday Mass (with Stations of the Cross beforehand)
Monday – Friday: 7pm Weekday Mass
Tuesday – 12:40pm Mass in OLSP
Wednesday – 8:30am Mass in both St. Patrick’s and St. Peter’s primary.
Sunday 3pm – Stations of the Cross and Benediction.
Sunday 6:30pm – Lenten Catechesis (see below)
