…from your Pastor’s Desk
As I re-read this bulletin – I see a lot of reminders of the rules…let us not forget why we follow them.
Let our motivations be pure. It’s not sufficient to know the rules, let us live them — understanding the spirit in which these rules were fashioned.
Let us allow God’s spirit to penetrate our being so deeply… that our actions and God’s desires become one.
Let this obedience be rooted in a love for God, for others, and for self… rather than fear.
Yes, during Lent, it can be especially easy to get caught up in the rules. Guidelines abound for who should fast, what one should fast from, or when one can or cannot eat meat.
In this spiritual season, let us employ its rules and other offerings to gain a greater conversion of heart and soul.
May we be mindful of God’s spirit infusing the season so our obedience is not rooted in fear or guilt but in love and mercy, leading us always towards our Creator.
In the words of —Thomas Merton
“God makes us ask ourselves questions most often when God intends to resolve them. God gives us needs that God alone can satisfy and awakens capacities that God means to fulfill.”
Fr. Ron
2024 Lenten Regulations for the Diocese of Santa Rosa
The current discipline is as follows:
- Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are days of fast and abstinence, that is, limited to a single, full meal and abstinence from meat.
- The other Fridays of Lent are days of abstinence from meat.
- The law of fasting permits only one full meal a day, but it does allow the taking of some food in the morning and a second light meal at noon or in the evening, as you prefer. Persons who have completed their eighteenth year to the beginning of their sixtieth (60) year are obligated to fast.
- The law of abstinence from meat applies to all persons who have completed their fourteenth year of age. However, it is highly recommended that children from ages seven to fourteen years also follow the law of abstinence.
- All Catholics are encouraged to receive Holy Eucharist frequently during Lent and to receive the Sacrament of Penance so that all may be prepared to celebrate more fully the Paschal Mystery. Those who have received their first Holy Communion are to receive Holy Communion during the Easter season.
- The determination of these days of obligatory penance, as listed above, should not be understood as limiting the occasions for Christian penance. This penance is to help us see and shorten the distance between our present lives and the life God wants for each of us. “Penance should not be only internal and individual but external and social.” (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy #110)
- Marriages may be celebrated with Mass and the nuptial blessing should always be given. It is, however, contrary to the spirit of penance during Lent to plan an elaborate wedding with lavish decorations.