ST. JUDE CATHOLIC COMMUNITY   PAGE EIGHT    MARCH 26, 2000

Every time we celebrate the Sacrament of Baptism or we renew our Baptismal vows, we ask the questions:  "Do you renounce Satan?'  "and all his works?"  "and all his empty promises?"   These are not empty questions.   Rather, these are extremely serious questions.   These are very important questions about how we intend to live and think, about the type of person we sincerely desire and want to become.   Not one of us should ever even consider attempting to answer these questions until he/she has very carefully, and very prayerfully, thought about these questions and what they really mean to his/her daily living.     

This is what our "Elect," those preparing to be baptized, confirmed and make their First Communion at the Easter Vigil, spend the next three weeks doing.

For those who are making their final preparations for the Sacraments of Initiation, Lent is a time of purification and it is also a time of enlightenment. They examine their lives in the light of God's holy Word and they ask our entire Catholic Christian community to pray that whatever is sinful and weak within them may be eliminated. They also pray that whatever is good and holy may be affirmed and strengthened.   And we do accomplish that for them during the Scrutinies.

After the homily, in a Litany of Intercessions, we proclaim the power of Jesus over all sin.   Then we (all who have received all the Sacraments of Initiation) pray over "the Elect" for their deliverance and their strengthening.    The Presider, the Catechists, the Sponsors and all the gathered assembly, as one family in Christ, stand and raise our right hands, as if to lay hands on the heads of "the Elect," in an ancient sign of forgiveness, healing, and empowerment.

Because all Catholic Christians, this entire community included, will renew their Baptismal Promises at Easter, we too must examine our lives during this Lent in the light of God's holy Word.    Of course, this is something we should be doing throughout the year, not only during Lent.    But there should be a special focus and a special effort made by each one of us regarding this self-examination during Lent.   

In every Catholic Christian Community throughout the world that will administer the Sacraments of Initiation at the Easter Vigil to adults and children, special Rites, known as "Scrutinies" are celebrated at the Sunday Liturgies on the Third, Fourth and Fifth Sundays of Lent.

On these three Lenten Sundays at those Masses where this takes place, the Readings are taken from Year "A".   All three Gospels proclaimed, come from St. John the Evangelist's Gospel.    First, on the Third Sunday of Lent, there is the story of the Samaritan woman whom Jesus meets at Jacob's well.   The next week, the Fourth Sunday of Lent, there is the healing and the coming to faith of the man born blind.   The final week, the Fifth Sunday of Lent, there is the story about the raising of Lazarus four days after his death from the dead.    These Readings have been used since the earliest days of the Church to prepare "the Elect" and the whole community of faith, the Church, for the Sacraments of Initiation, especially regarding Baptism.    Each one of us must take time to reflect upon these three Gospel accounts, and what they are asking of us.

The reasons this is done, is that these Readings focus on sin and redemption using the images of thirst and water, darkness and light, death and life.    By examining ourselves through these Readings, we come to know how we have allowed ourselves to become parched through sin, how we have allowed ourselves to be

blinded through our sins, how we have allowed ourselves to become deadened through our sinning.    It becomes so easy to justify our actions and our failures:  everybody else does it, you cannot be different from your neighbors, I'm not hurting anyone by what I do, etc.

Only, when we and "the Elect" have considered prayerfully and well these things, and then are asked at Easter to renounce Satan, and his evil works, and his empty promises, can our answer be a thoughtful, a strong, and a heartfelt:  "I do!"

The Scrutinies are not only for "the Elect."   The Scrutinies are for all of us.   How well am I scrutinizing myself during this Lenten Season.    How well am I preparing to answer these very serious questions on Easter?   Will my "I do" be empty words, or will my "I do" be filled with gusto from a Lent of purification and enlightenment?

"Lord, I thirst for the water of eternal life.   Lord, my life often is in darkness and error, fill it with your light and grace.    Lord, I am often a living sepulchre of death, raise me up to new life in You.    Amen"

Please come join us in preparing for next Sunday's Mass.     We meet to learn about and discuss the Readings for the upcoming Sunday Liturgy.    Each week we watch a 20 minute video, stopping the tape at appropriate moments to discuss the material presented.   We enjoy lively conversation, faith sharing moments, and good Christian fellowship, as we learn more about the Bible and thereby enable ourselves to be more fully prepared to celebrate next Sunday's Mass.

Tuesday mornings 9:00 to 10:00 a.m. in Room 7.       This week we will do the "Fourth Sunday in Lent" (B)."    All are welcome!   Come prepare for next Sunday's Mass!   

For more information, please contact Linda Odre at 805 - 373 - 1348, or Cathy Stobbe at 805 - 379 - 4064.

Sister Antonia Byrne, S.S.L., is leading us on a journey through this six weeks of Lent studying the Sunday Lenten Scriptures.     This takes place every Tuesday evening at 7:30 p.m. in the Media Room, and every Thursday morning from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. in the Parish Hall.    Sister Antonia is giving these sessions the week before each Sunday.

This is a wonderful opportunity to listen and learn more about the Readings that are presented to us during the Sundays of the Great Season of Lent.

For more information, please phone Jerry or Judy Sullivan at 805 - 495 - 1623.