Readings: Isaiah 49:14-15; 1 Corinthians 4:1-5; Matthew 6:24-34
The community Mass will be celebrated at 11:00 AM; this is the last time we will celebrate Mass at 11:00. The following Sunday, the First Sunday of Lent, the community Mass will be celebrated at 10:00 AM. This hour of celebration should help the challenges of our limited and ageing monastic personnel and allow our guests to visit our shop after Mass, as many visitors have requested. Also, lunch at the Retreat House will be served at 12:00 noon as on every other day of the week.
This Sunday, Abbot Joseph Wittstock will preside and preach.
This coming Wednesday is Ash Wednesday and the beginning of the Lenten Observance. We will celebrate Lauds integrated with Mass on Wednesday at 7:00 AM; the blessing and distribution of ashes will follow the Gospel. Abbot Joseph will preside.
The norms for Lenten observance in the Roman Catholic Church are: Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are fast days. A fast day is one with only one full meal for those between the ages of 21 and 59. And all Fridays of Lent are days of Abstinence, meaning no meat for those over the age of 14.
Most of us at Holy Cross Abbey are “past” the age of fasting, but except for the seriously infirm, we observe the traditional fast of bread and water on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.