Dear Parishioners,

      Last week, as I mentioned in the bulletin, we celebrated Catholic Schools Week. We also began the month of February, which in the Church is dedicated to the Holy Family. Why? Because forty days after Christmas, February 2nd, we celebrate the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, which commemorates the day when Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the Temple in Jerusalem. They brought Him there because according to the Mosaic Law, the firstborn male was to be presented to the Lord on the fortieth day after his birth.

      Among the many things we could say about the Presentation, I’d like to point out that the Holy Family, in this action, shows us that they are meticulously observant Jews. Here we see highlighted clearly that Mary and Joseph did everything in their power to follow the law of the Lord, and I think this example is so necessary for us these days.

      Quite often I’ve heard people say the Catholic Church is simply a Church of rules, which is an unfortunate oversimplification. Sure, we have rules, and rules that fly in the face of our society, but those rules don’t exist to oppress people or make them miserable. The ultimate rule is the rule of charity;  love of God above all and love your neighbor as yourself. The rest of the rules of the Church are derived from these two and are meant to help us to live out Christian charity and become authentic disciples of Jesus. The truth is, being a disciple of Jesus is difficult. It means dying to self, it means metanoia or changing our direction to follow not our own way, but that of Christ. The teachings and rules of our Church help us to do that.

      The Presentation teaches us to take more seriously the teachings of the Church on morality. The Catechism is a great source to help us understand them better, and better understanding will help us to live out our faith more sincerely. But we can’t stop there; we also need to pray, that is talk to God about those teachings and what that would mean for our lives. The example of the Holy Family points us to conversion so that we more fully live a Christ-like life with Christ reigning in our hearts. Consequently, this deeper conversion is what Lent is all about, so as we begin February, we ask the Holy Family to guide us to deeper conversion of heart!

Have a blessed week!
Fr. Jim Theby