To Embrace Rather than Alienate
In his homily Sunday, Fr. Jeremy quoted St. Francis: While I was in sin, it seemed bitter to me to see lepers. And the Lord led me among them and I had mercy upon them, and that which seemed bitter to me was changed into sweetness of soul and body.”
“Since the essence of ‘Humility’ is ‘Truth’”, I can humbly boast that one of the many ways I observe Lent is to provide an opportunity to help those who, rightly or wrongly, feel justified in being genuinely and sincerely ‘bitter.’” I try to provide an opportunity for them to at least begin to become more able to turn that bitterness into the most compassionate “sweetness of soul and body”. St. Francis himself says it was by the direction and support of God that he was able to develop that “sweetness” and then maintain it under the duress of actually embracing rather than alienating each and every leper in his life.
Barry Parmeter
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What We Did During Lent
We invite you to share in the bulletin special Lent practices of your family now or in the past. We are parishioners of different cultures and ethnic backgrounds. We can be inspired by each other.
Limit is about 200 words.
Give or email to Fr. Jeremy your Lenten stories.
frjeremyh@gmail.com
Fr. Jeremy