February 2020 archive of From the Desk of Fr. Mike
40 Day of Lent
Posted by Anne Serwe on 2/24/20
I thought this was a fun little article about Lent. It is from: ThoughtCo. "How Are the 40 Days of Lent Calculated?" Learn Religions, Feb. 11, 2020, learnreligions.com Lent, the period of prayer and fasting in preparation for Easter, is 40 days long, but there are 46 days between ... Read More »
Our Choices
Posted by Anne Serwe on 2/18/20
If you choose you can keep the commandments, they will save you;if you trust in God, you too shall live. He has set before you fire and waterto whichever you choose, stretch forth your hand.Before man are life and death, good and evil,whichever he chooses shall be given him. (Sir15:15-16)
I like the way that Sirach phrases our involvement in our eternal life. The way of life or death is chosen by us and God gives us what we choose. Going to hell is not a matter of punishment because we have done bad things, instead it is the consequence of our choices. I do not think God is asking perfection from us as we attempt to keep his commandments. In the daily readings of the past week we read about King David and his utterly evil action of taking another man’s wife for himself and then having the man murdered by his general during a battle. Even though David goes that far off from God’s commandments, his heart is still turned toward the Lord. When he is confronted by prophetic witness David turns to God and begs his pardon, and God gives it to ... Read More »
Giving to All
Posted by Anne Serwe on 2/10/20
Jesus says:4 But I say, love your enemies![a] Pray for those who persecute you! 45 In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. 46(Mt.5:44=45)
... Read More »