Lenten Series A Father Who Keeps His Promises

by Fr. John Granato  |  01/28/2024  |  Words from Fr. John

My Dear Friends,

In the bulletin this weekend you will see an ad for a Lenten series that I will be offering on Scott Hahn’s book, A Father Who Keeps His Promises. It is a book about salvation history and God’s unchanging covenantal love, beginning with Adam and following Noah, Abraham, Moses, David and culminating with our Lord Jesus Christ.

The readings for Sunday Mass in this cycle B follows through these same covenants, so on the Sundays of Lent I will be preaching on salvation history and each individual covenant, and on Tuesdays beginning at 7:00pm in the social center at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Harwinton, I will break these same covenants open given that will have more time. Scott Hahn is a brilliant Scripture scholar, a former Presbyterian minister who became Catholic through attending Mass and experiencing the Eucharist while trying to make sense of what he learned through the early Church Fathers and the reading of Scripture. His conversion story is detailed in the book, Rome, Sweet Home. He understood the Eucharist and the Real Presence through the simple phrase of the priest right before Holy Communion when the priest says, “Behold the Lamb of God.” The parish did buy thirty copies of the book that we will be selling for $15, or you could buy your own copy over the internet. The last two years in which I have been here I neglected a Lenten series, so I thought it was opportune to offer you something this year. Lent is a good time for all of us to grow in our spiritual life by adding activities to our daily lives.

During Lent many people make an effort to attend daily Mass. Others will pray an extra rosary. Still others try to attend Eucharistic Adoration, which is offered on Mondays from 5:00-6:00pm and on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 5:00-7:00pm. There are also the Stations of the Cross on Fridays. A wonderful way to really grow in our love of Jesus Christ is also to meditate on the four Passion accounts of the four Gospels. I realize that 7:00pm is late for some people, but Lent does require a little amount of sacrifice. If you are able to attend, please make every effort. If you cannot make it because of the late time, I am not opposed to having someone tape the talks so that the talk can be shared. God bless.