Dear Family of God,

This Sunday is the Fourth Sunday of Lent which we also call Laetare Sunday. “Laetare” is the Latin word for ‘’rejoice,” which is the first word in the Entrance Antiphon. We can rejoice because we are midway thru our Lenten journey towards Christ’s Passion, Death, and Resurrection. The Gospel for this weekend is the Parable of the Prodigal son.

Dear Family of God,

Jesus’ message this third Sunday of Lent is that we acknowledge our need of repentance and do it. We may ask, what is repentance?

The Catechism of the Catholic Church says: “Interior repentance is a radical reorientation of our whole life, a return, a conversion to God with all our heart, an end of sin, a turning away from evil, with repugnance toward the evil actions we have committed.

St. Thomas Aquinas said that friends share three things: time, possessions, and secrets. For example, how do I know if you’re my friend? Well, let’s say we’ve been to Mexico together, you’ve tried my shaky attempts at pasta carbonara, and you know what ridiculous costume I wore in a music video I filmed in my early twenties. We, dear reader, are definitely friends. We’ve shared time, possessions, and secrets.

One of the most fascinating moments in American history is when George Washington could have become the king of the newly liberated United States and didn’t. At the height of his power and fame, on Dec. 23, 1783, he resigned his commission as Commander-in-Chief, and went home. The astonished King of England remarked that in doing so, Washington was “the greatest man in the world.” Greatness is often defined by what we could do but don’t. Greatness is measured by the temptations we overcome.

Dear Christians of Our Lady of Joy Catholic Parish,

Greetings to you all. Many of you have been asking about me. I am Fr. John Paul Aisu of Soroti Catholic Diocese in Uganda. I was ordained on July 31, 2010. I come from a family of 7 siblings, four girls and 3 boys. Unfortunately, one girl passed on at the age of 12.

One of my favorite new singers/songwriters is Noah Kahan. I’m a little biased because, like me, he is originally from Vermont. In a fine song entitled “Stick Season,” he sings of his hope to “cancel out the darkness I inherited from dad.” This lyric articulates his painful recognition of a dark spiritual “inheritance” from his father, and his hope to be free of it. We all inherit some degree of evil from our earthly forebears. It’s easy to feel doomed to repeat their darknesses.

I craved four things as a teenager: success in sports, food, fun, and the attention of popular people. However, I noticed that as I acquired them, I was more unsatisfied than before. So, I’d strive even more energetically, achieve more, and the sense of emptiness was greater still. These four things started to feel like burdens or even curses. Soon after, I encountered Christ in my high school youth group. Experiencing his love was totally different than anything those four things previously produced. It produced a lasting happiness.

My parents’ garage is full of old junk that no longer serves any purpose in my life. As a 46-year-old man, I admit that’s pretty lame. Either due to my sentimentality or laziness (or both, probably), I just couldn’t get myself to throw things away. But a few days ago, by a grace of God, I thought: “I’ll hire my nephew Ryan to throw a bunch of my stuff away — he couldn’t care less about my junk!” And you know what? It worked.

What is the secret to sharing in God’s power to overcome our difficulties? Mary teaches us this in the prophecy of her pierced heart. This Sunday, the old man Simeon prophecies that when her son faces opposition, Mary’s soul will be pierced by a sword. The seemingly pointless agony of a mother helplessly watching her son be mocked, tortured, killed, and then cruelly desecrated in death by a spear — somehow this piercing of her heart releases a power by which “the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed” (Luke 2:35). What to make of this?

A young couple in my parish told me they were expecting their second child, a baby boy. I knew that their five-year old only child Emma had been desperately wanting to be a big sister for years, so I said, “Emma must have been so happy when you told her the news.” “Actually,” they said, “she burst into tears. She wanted a baby sister!” How often in life God wonderfully fulfills our desires and we are sad because we don’t approve of the way he does it. We want to control the gift and the delivery method.

Dear Family of God,

Why is the Marital Relationship important in our Lives here on earth and in the next?

God in Jesus is our true husband. He is the Bridegroom that is eternally faithful to His Bride, the Church, that is, all of us. Even when we are unfaithful, turning away from Him, committing adultery by worshiping other gods, He remains faithful to us. He does not abandon us.

In my second year of theology studies, I went to confession to a priest visiting the seminary for a three-day retreat. My heart wasn’t in it. I was going through the motions. I confessed my sins and waited for his response. The priest said, “For your penance, I’d like you to go into the chapel and repeat the words ‘You are my beloved Son, with you I am well pleased’ (Luke 3:22) until they mean something to you.” Easy penance, I thought.

For the past week, Our Holy Mother, the Church gave us St. John’s letter on all first readings on weekday Masses to reflect on. After encountering Jesus, the light of the world, he wants us to see and teaches us how to live in the light. Just like the Magi in our Gospel, after encountering Jesus, they went home in another way.