The Catholic Sun Digital Update for
Mar. 6 – Mar. 19
Preview edition
Celebrating the vocation of sisterhood during National Catholic Sisters Week
By Elizabeth Landry
Staff writer
Every year, National Catholic Sisters Week is celebrated from March 8 to 14. During this designated time each year, a spotlight is shone on the spirituality, mission and community building of the many women religious in our Catholic communities.
One congregation of Catholic sisters that has been active within the Diocese of Syracuse for many years is the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet. Founded in Le Puy, France in 1650, this community of sisters offers their lives in service to God and dear neighbors without distinction. The first sisters arrived in St. Louis, Missouri in 1836, forming their first province there, and additional provinces have since been established, with the closest to Central New York being in Albany. Their work is rooted in the gospel call to social justice, striving to love freely, live simply and listen attentively.
Regulations for Lent 2025
March 5, 2025, is Ash Wednesday, marking the beginning of the season of Lent.
THE CALL TO DO PENANCE
All of Christ’s faithful are obliged by divine law, each in his or her own way, to do penance. However, so that all may be united in a certain common practice of penance, days of penance are prescribed. On these days Christ’s faithful are to devote themselves in a special manner to prayer, to engage in works of piety and charity, and to deny themselves, by fulfilling more faithfully their obligations and especially by observing the laws of fast and abstinence. The season of Lent is observed as a time of penance for the universal Church. Thus, during these 40 days individuals are encouraged to attend daily Mass, set aside increased time for personal prayer and the study of scripture, give alms to the poor, perform voluntary acts of mortification, as well as show special
Lent – Jubilee Year 2025: ‘Ambassadors of Hope’
Dear Diocesan Family,
The holy season of Lent begins on Wednesday, March 5th, with the observance of Ash Wednesday. This day of Fast (Ages 18-59) and of Abstinence (No Meat) (Age 14 and above) embarks us on a journey into the depths of our souls to meet up with the God who comes to save us. Every one of us is an earthen vessel created by God and in which God dwells through the grace of Baptism.
With that in mind, the Church from her earliest days has invited her members to use the forty days ahead to reconnect with God, neighbor, and self. This is the meaning behind the Lenten practices of Prayer, Fasting, and Charitable Works. Prayer waters the Holy Ground from which our lives arise from the earth. Fasting connects us with this Holy Ground helping us not to take it for granted or to abuse it. Charitable Works till the Holy Ground and makes it fruitful in its produce, especially through the call to be Christ’s ambassadors in the world (2 Cor 5:20).
Welcome to SunSpeak…
Each Digital Update from the Catholic Sun features…
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A timely column from Bishop Douglas J. Lucia.
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Ordinary Time” with Lucia Silechia, (the “Lucia” theme is purely concidental).
From time to time we will feature other columns of note. Let us know if you like the service we are providing; email us at [email protected].
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“They left everything and followed him” (Lk 5:11)
Editor’s note: The following is Bishop Lucia’s Feb. 9 homily from World Marriage Day at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.
One Sunday a visiting businessman went to church, and after the service congratulated the minister on his sermon. But he added a bit of constructive criticism: “If you were one of my salespeople, I’d have a talk with you. Your appearance and voice get my attention. Your delivery aroused my interest. What you said needed to be said. It made a lot of common sense. But then you stopped. You didn’t go on to ask me to do something about it. In business you have to get people to sign on the dotted line; otherwise, you will soon be out of business.”
The baggage of Ordinary Time
By Lucia A. Silecchia
Anyone who has ever had the misfortune to drive me to an airport, meet me at a train station or share the trunk of a car with me on a road trip can tell you one thing: I do not travel lightly. Whether a journey is two days, two weeks or two months, my bulging bags and stuffed suitcases defy the saying that “you can’t take it with you.” I do.
Alas, however, there are those times when a clerk at an airport tells me that my suitcase is too heavy and something has to go. There are also the times when the simple laws of physics tell me that a suitcase cannot be bigger than the luggage rack that will hold it. So, then, it is time to leave something behind.
Life, in many ways, is the same. We each carry much with us — the habits, temptations, opinions, grudges, ambitions, regrets, hopes, memories, relationships, doubts, worries, certainties, foibles, mistakes and triumphs of our lives. Some of those things are well worth clinging to with all our strength — but not everything.
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