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Lent gets a mixed response. One the one hand, talk of ‘prayer, fasting and almsgiving’ sounds demanding when life is demanding enough! On the other hand, there is a deep resonance with the Lenten call to repent, or to "turn around". Lent calls us to reclaim our true self. Problem is that we procrastinate about change. Jesus addresses this in today’s Gospel. The Opening Prayer at the Friday Holy Trinity School staff meeting reflected on the biblical understanding of sin as being "to miss the mark". We all miss the mark or not be true to ourselves occasionally. Why? Well we succumb to bad habits, addictive behaviour, laziness, lust, a desire to be accepted, envy; the list is long and varied. Many think that the Church wants us to be perfect and after a while they walk away wearied by the struggle to get "their act together". The fact is that we do not have it together. The fact is that we will never get it "all together" this side of the grave. But there is one who has got it together and he walks with all of us. The ancient Greek ideal was to be perfect, and we have inherited much of that outlook in the Church. The positive aspect of this approach is that we are challenged to go beyond where we are. The downside is that we think it is all up to us and God only loves us when we have it "all together". However the Hebrew idea of righteousness is walking with the Lord. In the encounter we are transformed. In the encounter we see anew. In the movie ‘As Good As It Gets’ actor Jack Nicholson plays an obsessive compulsive novelist who wants to develop a relationship with a single mum played by Helen Hunt. At dinner she pushes him for a compliment. He responds nervously, "You make me want to be a better man". Lent is about being loved into life. We are more than we might think we are.

The dates for the Parent Information Night (PIN), followed by home preparation and then celebration of First Reconciliation, First Eucharist or First Holy Communion and Confirmation are:

The 1962 Valiant was the first car driven by this well known driver enthusiast.  Name?

Today’s Gospel about the ‘Prodigal Son’ could be more truly referred to as the story of the ‘Forgiving Father’. The younger son in effect wished his father dead by insisting on his inheritance. His father agrees, with a heavy heart no doubt. At this point, cultural norms would have insisted that the older son should have stepped in and rebuked his brother sternly. The fact that he did not indicates that he hoped to gain from the rashness of his younger sibling. The young fellow lives it up before coming to his senses. He then plans how he might return home as a servant, determining that he is no longer worthy of the status of a son. However, having acquiesced to his son’s request, the father runs to greet him on his return. He throws a party to celebrate his homecoming and status as a beloved son. All is forgiven, but the older son is ticked off and he refuses to be a part of the celebrations. Of course, and here is the rub, we are all the characters in the story. We are at times selfish and immature. We are at times two-faced in pursuit of self-interest. We are at times forgiving. The story ends before we hear if the older son went into the party. I hope he did.

Perhaps leaving it in the air, the question can be asked: Assured of the Father’s love, how loving and forgiving am I?