ABVM PARISH COMMUNITY

  PRAISE THE LORD, IT’S BACK!             I would say Alleluia, it’s back, but we are burying the Alleluia after the 12 o’clock Mass this Sunday in preparation for Lent.   Therefore, I chose a different phrase, as we will replace the Alleluia throughout Lent in our celebrations.   In the Mass, as we prepare to hear the Gospel, we will chant “Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ, King of endless glory” or “Glory and praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ” or something similar.   This is not because Lent is supposed to be a sad season; rather, because the joy expressed by Alleluia is the direct result of the Resurrection of Christ, which we will celebrate with great solemnity at the Easter Vigil and the fifty days of the Easter season.   We hold back a little of our outward joy as we make our pilgrimage through a season of penance.             Yes, I am sincere in praising the Lord for the return of Lent!   It seems to me that the season comes at the right time, just when it is needed to help

  GET READY FOR LENT WITH THE WORD OF GOD             You may remember that three years ago Pope Francis designated the Third Sunday of Ordinary Time as “Sunday of the Word of God.”  The Holy Father explained that “ Devoting a specific Sunday of the liturgical year to the word of God can enable the Church to experience anew how the risen Lord opens up for us the treasury of his word and enables us to proclaim its unfathomable riches before the world” ( Aperuit illis, n. 2 ).  Just as the annual celebration of Easter fosters a year-round devotion to the Lord’s Resurrection, which is celebrated in every Mass, so a special annual celebration of the word of God is meant to foster a daily love and devotion to God’s word.  Sacred Scripture must be the solid foundation upon which every Christian’s spiritual life is built.  Lent is an especially good time to re-dedicate ourselves to hearing more of what God has spoken.             The word of God is always relevant and cannot be exhausted

  SAINT VALENTINE AND THE ROOTS OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION             We really do not know for sure who he was.  There are actually several Saint Valentines whose names are recorded in lists of early Church martyrs who have a connection with February 14 and who lived in the second half of the third century.  One of them is described as a priest of Rome, another as a bishop in central Italy.  They are described in different narratives as having been martyred near Rome.  They may actually refer to the same person, but historians are not sure.  Pope Julius I (d. 352) reportedly built a basilica over the grave where Saint Valentine was buried.  The fact that all we know for certain is that he was a martyr is the reason for his removal from the official calendar of feast days in 1969.              How did Saint Valentine become associated with a day devoted to lovers?  The Catholic Encyclopedia suggests that the roots are found in a common belief in England and France in the Middle Ages

  WHAT’S IN A CANDLE?             Every year, forty days after Christmas, the Church celebrated the Presentation of the Lord.   This feast used to be called the Purification of Mary because the Law of Moses required the mother of a newborn son to make an offering in the Temple for her ritual purification forty days after giving birth.   A year-old lamb was the prescribed sacrifice except for those who could not afford it, in which case “a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons” could replace the lamb.   This is   what Mary and Joseph offered.   Moreover, the Law also required that the firstborn male be consecrated to the Lord, even though this did not have to take place in the Temple (cf. Lk 2,22-24).               Mary had no need to be ritually purified, having given birth to the sinless Son of God, but she and Joseph were faithful observers of the Law and fulfilled all its requirements.   Perhaps without realizing it, they fulfilled the prophecy of Malachi: “And suddenly there