Pope Leo's Lenten Message

Welcome to the Saint Coleman Catholic Church podcast from Pompano Beach. Be sure to follow us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify so that you could be notified every time we release a new episode from Saint Coleman.

Alright. We're back with another episode of the Saint Coleman Podcast. We've been doing this a while now. This is episode 74. So we're in the midst of Lent.

More on that in a moment. But first, some upcoming events. Bingo night is returning, not once, not twice, but three more times. Join us for a night of fun, fellowship, and cash prizes in the parish hall on Wednesday, March 19, Wednesday, April 16, and Wednesday, May 21. You get 10 cards for $20 and there'll be 10 games in total.

You can buy individual game cards that night. Drinks and snacks will be available. We are ordering lilies that will adorn our church during the Easter season. Your donation will help us pay for the decorations. Your offering may be in remembrance of loved ones, in thanksgiving for prayers answered, or as a special intention.

The names will be published in the Easter bulletin. Our Holy Week Mass schedule is up on the website. Be sure to check it out at saintcolman.org. One thing to remember. The most important thing to remember about the Holy Week schedule is that the solemn Easter vigil can only occur at sundown.

And since the Easter vigil is always on a Saturday, this means the Saturday evening vigil is not at its normal time. There is only one Mass that day, at 8PM. Check the website for more details about Holy Week. Don't forget that one of the pillars of Lent is almsgiving. And you can help the poor right here in Pompano who are struggling by putting a donation in the pour box in the back of the church.

Our thanks to the Saint Vincent de Paul Society, who handles the outreach to the poor in our community. Well, we are well into Lent. And I don't know if you've had a chance to read Pope Leo the fourteenth's Lenten message to the faithful yet, but it's really good. The first part of his message is about the maternal care of the church and how the church calls us to recenter our lives on the mystery of God during this season. We live in a world full of anxieties and endless distractions, and Lent is a good time to get ourselves refocused on what matters.

It's a pause in a world moving at breakneck speed. Only through silence and focusing on our faith can we move into deeper conversion. Lent is a good time to begin reading scripture if it's not part of our daily lives, and get to confession if it's been a while. Pope Leo really puts a focus on the importance of listening. We all know good relationships require everyone to listen.

He pointed out that in the account of Moses meeting God in the burning bush, God declared, I have observed the misery of my people. I have heard their cry. Pope Leo is pointing out that God listens to us when we pray. Listening is fundamental to his nature. And he invites us to listen.

To scripture, yes, but also to the cries of those in anguish around us. In a world full of division and arguments, the word of God allows us to discern the voices that truly matter. The poor, the suffering, the forgotten. He really wants us to listen to the cry of the poor. And we remember Lent has three pillars.

Prayer, which is both talking and listening to God, fasting, and almsgiving. That last one is about loving and serving the poor. Pope Leo also talks about fasting and how it's concrete preparation for receiving God's word. Fasting literally has a physical and spiritual effect on us. It reveals our deepest hungers.

When we abstain from food, we become aware of what we really crave, what we consider essential, and what we can live without. It's a way of ordering our appetites, engaging the cardinal virtue of temperance in a greater way. But the most interesting part of his message is this idea of fasting from words that hurt other people. I don't have to tell you that we live in a day and age when words can be weaponized and then magnified immensely on social media. But it doesn't have to be that overt.

Even quiet gossip in social circles, or work, or even the parish can hurt others and damage our relationship with God. Pope Leo urges us this Lent to disarm our language. Avoid harsh words, rash judgments, slander, and speaking ill of those absent. Instead, let us measure our speech and choose kindness and respect in our homes, workplaces, friendships, social media, and in debates. When we fast from hurtful words, hatred recedes and space opens for peace.

The last part of the pope's message this Lent is to remind us that our Lenten journey is not an individual journey. There's a communal dimension to Lent. We gather together as Catholics every week at Mass, and maybe in some other ways like prayer groups and Bible studies. We listen together, encourage one another, and conversion comes not just to individuals, but to the whole church. So, as we go through Lent, let's take these words to heart.

If you haven't read the 2026 Lenten message from Pope Leo the fourteenth, please look it up on the Vatican website. It's definitely worth the time and will be a great inspiration.

Speaker 0: Thanks for listening to the Saint Coleman Catholic Church podcast. If you wanna be notified every time we release a new episode, you can follow us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. And be sure to spread the word about our parish podcast.