Dear Good People of Saint Bernadette,

This week the work of Lent begins. Like I said last week, maybe it’s not the heavy lifting you would like to think you can do, but something realistic and able to be accomplished. I was reading Pope Francis’ message for Lent 2023, and in the first three paragraphs, I have found a message better than I could ever come up with:

The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke all recount the episode of the Transfiguration of Jesus. There we see the Lord’s response to the failure of his disciples to understand him. Shortly before, there had been a real clash between the Master and Simon Peter, who, after professing his faith in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God, rejected his prediction of the passion and the cross. Jesus had firmly rebuked him: “Get behind me, Satan! You are a scandal to me, because you do not think according to God, but according to men!” (Mt 16:23). Following this, “six days later, Jesus took with him Peter, James, and John his brother and led them away to a high mountain” (Mt 17:1).

The Gospel of the Transfiguration is proclaimed every year on the Second Sunday of Lent. During this liturgical season, the Lord takes us with him to a place apart. While our ordinary commitments compel us to remain in our usual places and our often repetitive and sometimes boring routines, during Lent, we are invited to ascend “a high mountain” in the company of Jesus and to live a particular experience of spiritual discipline – ascesis – as God’s holy people.

Lenten penance is a commitment, sustained by grace, to overcoming our lack of faith and our resistance to following Jesus on the way of the cross. This is precisely what Peter and the other disciples needed to do. To deepen our knowledge of the Master, to fully understand and embrace the mystery of his salvation, accomplished in total self-giving inspired by love, we must allow ourselves to be taken aside by him and to detach ourselves from mediocrity and vanity. We need to set out on the journey, an uphill path that, like a mountain trek, requires effort, sacrifice, and concentration.

Join us on this journey of Lent as we walk together as a community, not a collection of individuals seeking personal benefits, but a family who wants to know the Lord more deeply. Let us intentionally welcome him into our midst in our homes, in our gatherings, and in our prayer, and be attentive to his words for us. And let us be truly grateful for all that he does for us in his compassion and mercy. Compassion is, perhaps, the human experience most vital to our transformation. Literally, “suffering with,” we enter into the lives and needs of others, setting ourselves aside. Compassion is the virtue that finds its fullest meaning in the Son of God becoming Man, who became one of us so that he could experience the fullness of our suffering – and joy – and give it meaning and purpose.

The Lord be with you,

Today's Live-Streamed Mass

Worship Aid for the 1st Sunday of Lent

 LENTEN OBSERVANCES

• Fasting: Food equivalent to one regular meal, one small meal - Ash Wednesday and Good Friday
• Abstinence:  No meat - Ash Wednesday and ALL Fridays (special dispensation for St. Patrick's Day this year)
• Stations of the Cross: Fridays at 7 pm in English, 8 pm in Spanish
• Parish Penance Service: Wednesday, March 29, 6:30 pm
• Lent Confessions: Wednesdays, 6:30-8 pm, Saturdays, 3:30-4:30 pm (as usual), Please plan to come early in the season to save time.

• 40 Hours and Parish Lenten Mission: Sign up for adoration in the booklet in the vestibule for 40 Hours which begins on Sunday, March 5. We will need two people for adoration round the clock from Sunday evening through Tuesday evening. There will be two additional Masses on Monday and Tuesday evenings at 6:30 pm. Fr. Don Heet will lead Parish Mission talks, an Oblate of Saint Francis de Sales at St. John Neumann in Reston, who will speak about Vatican II and why it matters.

  • Sunday, March 5 at 6:30 pm: The Constitutions on the Liturgy and Revelation
  • Monday, March 6 at 7:30 pm: The Constitution on the Church and the Declaration of Religious LibertyTuesday,
  • March 7 at 7:30 pm: The Constitution on the Church in the Modern World and the Declaration on Relations of the Church with Non-Christian Religions

• Eucharistic Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament:  Join us every Wednesday during Lent in the Chapel from 7-8 pm.

• Lenten Evening of Reflection for Women:  Please join us for a Lenten Evening of Reflection on March 18 from 7-9 pm. The evening will include a talk by Fr. Rich and the opportunity to get to know other women of the parish. RSVPs appreciated. For more information or to register, please email StBWWP@gmail.com.

 If you couldn't fill out a Bishop's Lenten Appeal pledge envelope and need more time to prayerfully consider pledging to this vital appeal, you may return your envelope any time. The funds from the BLA provide a way for leaders of all ministries, volunteers, and people from all walks of life to grow as a community to enrich parish life, teach the faith, help those in need, and inspire faith in those outside the Church. You may make a gift at: www.arlingtondiocese.org/BLA.

Today's Live-Streamed Mass

Worship Aid for the 7th Sunday of Ordinary Time

 Knights of Columbus Springfield Council 6153 will host a spaghetti dinner and trivia contest this Saturday, February 18, in the school cafeteria. Dinner is from 5:30–7 pm, followed by trivia until 9 pm. Donations will benefit Virginia Special Olympics and Saint Bernadette School. Please click here to make your dinner reservation by February 10. The trivia team size is limited to six people. Beer, wine, soda, and water will be available. The spaghetti dinners will include gluten-free options. See you there!

 The Knights of Columbus Springfield Council 6153 will conduct its annual Basketball Free Throw contest on Sunday, February 19, in the school gym from Noon until 4 pm. All parish youth aged 9-14 are encouraged to compete. Winners will receive a basketball prize and be eligible for district and state competitions. Parents and adults are also invited to show off their free throw skills, with women's and men's winners awarded a gift card. Make this a family event and plan to attend.

 Ash Wednesday is February 22. As last year, we will have Masses at 7 and 9 am, Noon, and 7:30 pm (bilingual). There will also be a Liturgy of the Word (without Communion) at 6 pm.

 LENTEN OBSERVANCES

• Fasting: Food equivalent to one regular meal, one small meal - Ash Wednesday and Good Friday
• Abstinence:  No meat - Ash Wednesday and ALL Fridays (special dispensation for St. Patrick's Day this year)
• Stations of the Cross: Fridays at 7 pm in English, 8 pm in Spanish
• Parish Penance Service: Wednesday, March 29, 6:30 pm
• Lent Confessions: Wednesdays, 6:30-7:30 pm, Saturdays, 3:30-4:30 pm (as usual), Please plan to come early in the season to avoid running out of time.
• 40 Hours and Parish Lenten Mission:  Sunday, March 5 – Tuesday, March 7.

 This is Follow-up Sunday for the Bishop’s Lenten Appeal. If you weren’t able to fill out a pledge envelope last weekend and need more time to prayerfullly
consider making a pledge to this important appeal, you may return your envelope any time. The funds from the BLA provide a way for leaders of all ministries, volunteers, people from all walks of life, to grow as a community to enrich parish life, teach the faith, help those in need and inspire faith in those outside the Church. You may make a gift at: www.arlingtondiocese.org/BLA.

Dear Good People of Saint Bernadette,

Lent always take us by surprise, somehow. This week is Ash Wednesday and liturgically we take a sharp turn in the road. No more alleluias. The prayers and even the sounds of the songs take a more meditative and mournful tone. We are sinners all the time, but go to work now. As we go forward, we are acutely aware of what is behind us in the rear-view mirror to help us, with God’s grace, as we consider the path ahead and, perhaps, chart a course redirecting our lives on a path that is healthier (spiritually and physically), and more pleasing to God, and faithful to his map for us.

I remember, about ten years ago, I had a few pretty serious abdominal surgeries after my first nearly fatal colonoscopy. I had to accept the reality that I would be limited in many ways for the rest of my life. I remember the doctor telling me that, for a while, I was not to lift more than 10 pounds. Perhaps this could be the starting point for all of us during this season of Lent: let’s admit where we are in our spiritual lives, and do what we can to heal. Maybe we don’t start with the heavy lifting. It may not need to be some grand plan of total personal makover. That is a lot to take on, and I find that such intense temporary measures often don’t last, even temporarily.

Let’s begin with what we know we can do. We can pray a little more, and be a little more engaged in community prayer. We can come to church on time, with even a little time to center ourselves spiritually before Mass begins so the impact of what we do can touch who we are, both as persons and as a community. Beauty surrounds us. We can open our eyes and hearts to the goodness of God even in difficult people and circumstances we enter into every day. We can decide to be kind and respectful to people, even when our first impulse (especially after the pandemic) might be otherwise. If your reaction is to curse someone, say a quick prayer for them, instead. Remember, as a Christian you don’t have to like everyone, but you have to love them.

As we heard last weekend, simply let your yes mean yes and your no mean no. Why muddy the world with more opinion? There is already too much of that going on and, frankly, people are just confused. As my mom used to say, all your words, before being spoken, must pass through three gates: Is it true? Is it kind? Is it necessary? Imagine how many fewer thousands of acres we would need to store all this nonsense for future generations in data centers.

After we have accomplished these things, you might consider adopting a habit of less TV or chocolate. These things, after all, are good for you, but not really helping all of us in this season of Lent.

Please consult this bulletin for all the information it offers for the upcoming season of Lent. We have Forty Hours and our Parish Mission in a week and a half with Oblate priest, Fr. Don Heet, speaking on the place of the Church in the modern world seen through the eyes of Vatican II, adoration and confession Wednesdays, soup supper and Stations of the Cross Fridays, and our big Penance Service with 17 priests this year on Wednesday evening, March 29. And, before we know it, Resurrection.

The Lord be with you,