Mardi Gras is Saturday; Lent starts next week

Why would God let bad things happen to good people?

We want to make sense of the earthquake in Haiti, and that question seems like a good place to start. The answer depends on two things: who or what you believe God to be, and how you believe God interacts with the world.

If you are wondering where God is in all of this, remember that God breathes in each of us – in the Haitians who are homeless and hungry, in the rescue workers offering aid and comfort, and in the students on our campus in New London. We must, then, inevitably ask about our own responsibility for doing God’s work.

We might be tempted to turn away from Haiti. The problems there are enormous. We are so far away. And what can we possibly do to help? We are looking at that question in many ways this semester. Most fundamentally, our weekly collection is going to Catholic Relief Services for their work in Haiti. But charity is not enough. We must see with compassionate eyes, and we must recognize our own hand in the suffering of the poor.

We are called to live our faith, and the challenge of this life is to discern how to do that. We need to act. In doing so, we often find that we are not as powerless as we thought.

Lent starts next week. It is a time to think hard about how we live our faith and to renew our commitment to it. At Easter we enter a renewed world through the gateway of the empty tomb. The risen Jesus calls us out of the tomb and into the garden through the revival of our own spirits. All we have to do is want it.

A note about Mardi Gras, Lent & Holy Week

I hope you will join us for our annual Mardi Gras festivities this Saturday, Feb. 13. Mass is at 5 in Harkness Chapel. Our celebration, with a world-class lasagna, will follow in the Hood Dining Room of Blaustein. Bring your friends, whatever their faith – or no faith.We will inaugurate Lent with Mass and Distribution of Ashes at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 17 in the Chapel. We will continue to celebrate Mass throughout Lent each Wednesday and Saturday at 5 p.m. in the Chapel while classes are in session.

Bishop Michael Cote will be with us for Mass on Feb. 20. We’ll welcome him with a reception afterward in the Chapel library.

We will observe Holy Week – our first week back after Spring break – with a series of services that focus on the meaning of this extraordinary season. A full schedule is posted on our web site, http://www.conncatholics.com/. You can also find links to some inspiring and thought provoking Lent sites there.

I am on campus every Wednesday and Saturday afternoon and evening. Please don’t hesitate to stop by my office in the basement of the Chapel or call me at extension 2452 if you’d like to talk. Other times I can be reached at 860-423-0856.

Devotedly yours,

Father Larry