Happy Lent?

My Dear Parishioners,

I don’t know, is it right to say Happy Lent? Happy walking around with ashes on your head? Happy fasting? Happy abstaining? Happy giving things up? I think so.

We are happy when we are satisfied. If we have taken our Lenten disciplines of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving seriously, we should be satisfied by the end of Lent. We should be satisfied that we have done the best we can. We then should be happy. We should be happy that our Lenten disciplines have opened our hearts to receive more of God’s Love. We should be happy that we will then be ready for a worthy celebration of Easter and the Resurrection.

This week we hear of the Temptations of Jesus Christ in the desert. The Fathers of the Church saw the three temptations as a summary of all of the possible temptations that one can face in one’s lifetime—really a summary of the seven deadly sins.

The Fathers also saw this passage as a passage of great hope. As Our Blessed Savior overcame the devil’s temptations, so we can too, through Him and with Him and in Him.

Our lesson for this week’s Gospel is this:

• that the devil is real
• that the devil is the father of all lies
• that the devil comes after us when we are at our weakest
• that just as Our Blessed Savior was tempted, so we too, the members of His Body, should expect to be tempted
• that the Saints have seen moments of temptation as opportunities to grow in God’s Love and Mercy—to let go and let God.
• that the devil was no match for Our Blessed Savior
• that the devil still is no match for Our Blessed Savior
• that through and in Jesus Christ we too can overcome temptation
• that we should give praise and thanksgiving to God Our Father and Our Lord Jesus Christ for all of the Love, and Grace, and Heavenly helps constantly poured down upon us.
• that these Heavenly helps do keep us always close to God and close to Heaven

We give further praise to God for the Sacrament of Confession. Our Blessed Savior is not happy when we sin. However, Jesus is very, very, happy when we bring our sins to Him in the Sacrament of Confession. This is because His greatest desire is to replace our sin, to replace our shame, with His Love, His Mercy, His Forgiveness!!!!!!!! So let us get to the Confessional. Let us let Jesus fill us with Grace. Let us leave the Confessional with our heads held high and a smile on our face, knowing that we belong to Jesus, and to no one else!!!!!!

Confessions are on Saturday morning from about 8:30-9:00 and Saturday afternoon at 3:30-4:30.

Praised be Jesus Christ, now and forever!!!!!

St. Joseph, our Patron, pray for us!

Fr. Michael J Pawelko, Pastor

My dear parishioners, you may remember the “Safe Haven Sundays” from about 5 or 6 years ago. This was an initiative by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia to make people more aware of the dangers of internet pornography and to offer hope in the face of this rapidly growing addiction and to offer some resources to help individuals and families to stay safe and healthy.

This type of temptation is probably the fastest growing addiction in our society today. Shockingly, more and more women are falling for this temptation and becoming addicted to internet pornography. Even more shockingly, children of ever younger and younger ages are being exposed to it and, yes, getting addicted to it.

Scientific studies show that an addiction to internet pornography affects the entire person, mind, body, and soul. The use of internet pornography changes the chemistry of the brain. It also effects relationships as it promotes immaturity and causes one to have an unhealthy and unrealistic view of the opposite sex. In the end, it trains a person to treat those of the opposite sex as mere objects to be used and not children of God to be loved. Evil.

Thankfully, along with the Sacraments and our powerful devotions, there is a lot of help to protect ourselves and our families from this evil. Some helpful websites are:

Covenant Eyes: https://www.covenanteyes.com Sexaholics Anonymous Support Groups: https://www.sa.org

Of course, there are many other helpful links out there, along with many counselors, support groups, and internet filters of different types, that offer help and hope.

It is important for anyone who is trying to overcome an addiction to anything to remember that Jesus loves you and that His Church loves you, is praying for you, is here for you, and maybe most importantly of all, wants you, and wants you healthy, whole, and Holy.

“A pure soul is like a fine pearl. As long as it is hidden in the shell, at the bottom of the sea, no one thinks of admiring it. But if you bring it into the sunshine, this pearl will shine and attract all eyes. Thus the pure soul, which is hidden from the eyes of the world, will one day shine before the Angels in the sunshine of eternity.”
St John Vianney