HOMEPAGE for this issue: February 20, 2013 Download PDF Version Click to install/update Adobe Reader on your computer

Lenten aids for a fruitful season

By Nissa LaPoint

Lent is an invitation to nourish our faith in  preparation for Easter.

Pope Benedict XVI announced in his 2013 Lenten message, “Lent invites us, through the traditional practices of the Christian life, to nourish our faith by careful and extended listening to the word of God and by receiving the sacraments, and at the same time to grow in charity and in love for God and neighbor, not least through the specific practices of fasting, penance and almsgiving.”

He continued that nourishing this faith demands works, which are like a tree with fruit: the two virtues imply one another. To help make the 40-day penitential season fruitful, below are a list of retreats, sacramental opportunities, charities and multimedia to aid faithful in their Lenten journey.

Lenten retreats Many parishes in the Denver Archdiocese offer retreats to help nourish the spirit and guide the faithful on their Lenten  journey.
 
Best-selling author Community of the Beatitudes Father Jacques Philippe will lead a weeklong retreat during Lent. The Beatitudes community will host the priest who authored the books “Called to Life,” “Time for God,” “Interior Freedom,” “Searching for and Maintaining Peace: A Small Treatise on Peace of Heart,” and “In the School of the Holy Spirit.”

From March 5-9, he will lead evening discussion on topics from discerning vocations, the saints, growing in the midst of life’s trials and will end with a day of reflection.

The retreat will be held at St. Catherine of Siena Parish, 4200 N. Federal Blvd., Denver. The cost is $20 for each talk. The day of reflection is $50. For details and to register, visit www.beatitudes.us.

The sacraments

Parishes in the Denver Archdiocese are making available more opportunities for Mass and the sacrament of reconciliation during Lent. “The Light is on for You” is an annual archdiocesan campaign when churches will be open at the same time for penitents who want to seek Christ’s  mercy. The campaign is for all Catholics and
especially those who’ve been absent from the confessional for a while.

Rediscover the sacrament at a parish near you from 4:30 p.m.-7 p.m. Feb. 28. For more information and tips on making a good  confession, visit www.archden.org/light.

Charitable opportunities

Catholic Relief Services is offering meaningful ways for Catholics to embrace Lent this year. Its Rice Bowl mission underwent a redesign and new
message: “For Lent, For Life: What you give up for Lent changes lives.”

Rice Bowl is a program under CRS, an international humanitarian agency. The program provides assistance in nearly 100 counties. A Lenten gift of $10 will provide food for a family of six for two weeks. A donation of $100 provides immunizations for 157 newborn babies. The program offers videos, photos and an interactive website to learn about those who benefit from these donations.

Twenty-five percent of the monies collected stay in the diocese where it was collected to address local needs. The other 75 percent supports CRS’s programs around the world.

To learn more and to donate, visit crsricebowl.org.

Smartphone applications

Check a smartphone for a myriad of apps to keep Lenten promises.

Laudate is an all-inclusive app with a daily Liturgy of the Hours guide, Stations of the Cross, rosary meditations, prayers, a guide to confession and Vatican documents.

The Ave Maria Press also publishes a Stations of the Cross guide. Other options abound, including “Reflections for Lent 2013,” “Lenten Magnificat Companion 2013” and “Catholic Meditation for  Lent” by St. Thomas Aquinas Lite.