Sunday, March 16, 2025, Second Sunday of Lent

[00:00:00] Foreign welcome back. It's March 16th, the second Sunday of Lent. [00:00:22] Did you attend Mass this morning? [00:00:24] Did you participate? [00:00:26] You may ask, what's the difference? [00:00:31] There is a key document from the Second Vatican Council that highlights the need for our full, conscious, active participation in the Mass. [00:00:42] The encyclical Sacro Sanctum Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy was approved by the Council and promoted by Pope Paul VI in 1963. [00:00:58] As you'll hear from our reflection today, active participation means more than simply being physically present. [00:01:07] It involves opening our hearts and engaging with the prayers, hymns and responses. [00:01:16] The encyclical emphasizes that the Mass is a communal celebration. [00:01:21] It calls upon us to be well prepared and involved and highlights the responsibility of pastors in fostering community. [00:01:33] Full, active participation in the Mass helps us to make room for the transformative work the Lord desires all of us to experience. [00:01:45] One of the ways we can be active participants in Mass is by being a part of liturgical prayer. [00:01:54] It's the strangest thing. Liturgical prayer is one of our Catholic trademarks. Yet it may be the form of prayer we need to brush up on the most. [00:02:06] We know how to pray privately during Mass. [00:02:09] What we need to relearn is how to pray the Mass together. [00:02:16] The difference between most forms of prayer and liturgical prayer is something like the difference between singing a solo and singing with a group or in sports, the difference between competing as an individual and being part of a team. [00:02:48] When a family gathers on Thanksgiving, there is a certain spirit in the air, and you can sense it. The same is meant to happen when we gather for liturgy. [00:03:00] We are fed by the presence and spirit and participation of one another. [00:03:08] Liturgical prayer is not hard to do, not complicated to make it happen. However, those present have to enter into the spirit of the gathering rather than turn in on themselves. [00:03:23] If a group gathered to celebrate a friend's birthday, not a person there would simply stare straight ahead in silence while everyone sang Happy Birthday. [00:03:35] But for some reason, we can find ourselves doing just that at a liturgy when a song is being sung to the Lord. [00:03:46] The liturgies in the seasons of Lent and Easter are rich and full. The beginning of Lent is a good time for us to take a look at our level of participation at liturgy. Or even more basic, how often we go. [00:04:04] There are five more weeks in Lent. It's not too late to create new goals for yourself. [00:04:17] Spend some quiet time with the Lord.