All the faithful are encouraged to participate in Mass and
to
receive the Most Holy Eucharist daily, to celebrate
frequently
the Sacrament of Penance, to undertake spiritual
readings, especially
the study of the Sacred Scriptures, and
to participate in parish Lenten
devotions as well as Lenten
education programs.
All are
encouraged to participate in Operation Rice Bowl,
which has aided
countless hungry persons here in the
archdiocese as well as throughout
our nation and the world.
SPECIAL NOTE; Because the Feast of Saint
Patrick will be
on a Friday in Lent this year, Cardinal Bevilacqua of
Philadelphia, PA.
has granted a dispensation from the obligation to
abstain from
eating meat on Friday, March 17, 2000 for all Catholics
in
the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. Anyone who wishes to take
advantage of this dispensation is encouraged to perform
some other
work of piety or charity.
To Mark the beginning of Lent on Wednesday, March 8, 2000,
ashes will be
blessed and distributed.
Now this little boy didn't have
a lot of great friends,
but the little bird and the
boy were inseparable friends.
The boy loved the little
hummingbird so,
he built him a home.
The bird also loved the boy
and would follow him wherever
he would go.
As time went
by their love grew and grew.
Then one day the young lad
met a pretty young girl in school.
The girl had long blonde hair,
blue eyes,
and a cute little smile.
This was about the time
of the biggest dance of the year.
All the boy could think about
was how he would love
to take the girl to the dance.
He gathered his courage all day
and at the end of school
confronted the girl
and asked her to go with him
to the dance.
Now this young girl was
very popular and felt
she did not want to be seen
with the boy who cared for her so,
but she did not want to hurt
his feelings and so
figured out a way to avoid
saying no or yes.
She told the boy
if he brought her a red rose
she would allow him to escort her
to the dance.
This hurt the little boy
because he knew that in the land
of Tandow there had never been
a red rose,
in fact the only roses
in the land of Tandow were white.
On the way home the boy
kept mumbling to himself
why couldn't she have asked
for a white rose.
There were hundreds of them
in his front yard.
Feeling sorry for himself
the boy didn't even notice
his friend the hummingbird
fluttering above him.
Now the bird loved him so,
that it could tell instantly
the boy was troubled.
The bird hovered closer
as the boy mumbled on home.
Now the bird knew why
the boy was so troubled.
The bird could not rest
all the night long,
it pondered all night,
a solution to the boy's problem.
Finally as the sun began to rise
the answer to how the bird
could help his best friend
entered his mind.
The little blue hummingbird
flew to a rose bush
and searched for a large rose
with a stem bearing thorns
directly above it.
Now the bird chose a thorn
and with all the power
in his wings cast his small body
against the sharp thorn.
It entered with great pain,
as the tear drops of blood
fell upon the white petals
of the rose.
Now as the boy
was ready for school,
as he left the house
he saw a red rose,
he could hardly believe it,
he ran to the bush
and plucked the red rose.
In his excitement
he failed to notice
the lifeless little body
that lay below the bush
in a puddle of blood.
Happy as could be,
he began with his red rose
on his way to school.
Before he got there
some other boys playing football
in a field called to him
and asked him to come and play.
His first thought was,
no, he had something
more important to do.
But they begged him and said
they really needed him
to even the teams.
He looked at the rose,
then them,
then back at the rose.
He said to himself.
Awe...She didn't really
want to go with me anyway.
Then, throwing the rose down,
the boy went and played football.
| You've probably already figured out the allegory... | |||
The Christian Sabbath
The Sabbath was the sign of freedom that God had accorded to His people
by |