Fr. James Martin, SJ from America Magazine shares his recommendation for what to do for Lent:

From National Catholic Register:

On Ash Wednesday, the Holy Father reflected: 'In these 40 days that will lead us to Easter, may we find new courage to accept with patience and with faith situations of difficulty, of affliction and trial, knowing that from the darkness the Lord will make a new day dawn.' He also commented on the meaning of ashes.

VATICAN CITY (EWTN NEWS)—As he observed Ash Wednesday, Pope Benedict XVI urged Christians to live the 40 days of Lent with faith and patience, aware that God will bring light, truth and joy into the darkness.

“In these 40 days that will lead us to Easter, may we find new courage to accept with patience and with faith situations of difficulty, of affliction and trial, knowing that from the darkness the Lord will make a new day dawn,” the Pope said Feb. 22, the first day of Lent.

“And if we are faithful to Jesus and follow him on the way of the cross, the bright world of God, the world of light, truth and joy will be gifted to us once more.”

The Pope delivered his comments at his weekly general audience, which was held in the Vatican’s Pope Paul VI hall and attended by more than 7,500 pilgrims.

He explained that in the early Church it was only those preparing to be baptized who would observe the 40 days of Lenten preparation. Subsequently, however, all Christians were invited “to experience this journey of spiritual renewal, to conform themselves and their lives to that of Christ,” including those who had fallen away from the Church.

The Pope said that the “participation of the whole community” emphasizes that “redemption is not available to only a few, but to all, through the death and resurrection of Christ.”

“The time leading up to Easter is a time of ‘metanoia,’ a time of change and penance, a time which identifies our human lives and our entire history as a process of conversion, which begins to move now in order to meet the Lord at the end of time,” he said.

Pope Benedict noted that the Church calls the 40 days leading up to  Easter “Quadragesima.” And it does so with a “clear reference to sacred Scripture,” where the number 40 is often symbolically used to express “a time of expectation, purification and return to the Lord,” he taught.

The Pope said that the “Christian liturgy of Lent” is meant to spur a “journey of spiritual renewal” and time more focused on learning how to imitate Jesus, who showed Christians “how to overcome temptation with the word of God.”

The Pope asked those at today’s audience to note how God sustained his people, even in the wilderness. After their exodus from Egypt, for example, God preceded the Jewish people “in a cloud or a pillar of fire, ensured their daily nourishment, showering manna upon them and bringing forth water from rock.” It was, in many ways, a “time of the special election of God,” or, added the Pope, “the time of first love,” of a people for their God.

But time spent in the desert can also be “the time of the greatest temptations and dangers,” Pope Benedict observed, pointing out that this happened to Jesus, but “without any compromise with sin.” Jesus always sought “moments of solitude to pray to his Father,” but it is in those moments he was most assailed by “temptation and the seduction of (the) devil.” It was there, for example, that he was offered “another messianic way, far from God’s plan.”

Just as this dynamic is found in the Old and New Testaments, the Pope said, it can also be found in the “condition of the pilgrim Church” as it makes its way through “the “wilderness’ of the world and history.”

This wilderness is made up of “the aridity and poverty of words, life and values, of secularism” and the “culture of materialism which encloses people within a worldly horizon and detaches them from any reference to the transcendent,” he said.

It is in such an atmosphere that “the sky above us is dark, because it is veiled with clouds of selfishness, misunderstanding and deceit.”

At the same time, “the wilderness can become a period of grace” for the Church, because “we have the certainty that even from the hardest rock God can cause the living water to gush forth, water which quenches  thirst and restores strength.”

Pope Benedict finished by saying that this hope in God’s power should sustain the Church and each Christian during the following 40 days.

Like millions of Catholics around the world, Pope Benedict XVI received ashes on Ash Wednesday. He said that they become a “sacred symbol” of austerity which reflects both the “curse” of sin and the promise of the Resurrection in a fallen world.

The Ash Wednesday words from Scripture (“Dust you are and unto dust you shall return”) are “an invitation to penance, humility and an awareness of our mortal state,” the Pope said.

“We are not to despair, but to welcome in this mortal state of ours the unthinkable nearness of God, who opens the way to resurrection, to paradise regained, beyond death. … The same spirit that resurrected Jesus from the dead can transform our hearts from hearts of stone to hearts of flesh,” he said in his homily at the fifth-century Basilica of Santa Sabina, where he received ashes.

Lent is thus a journey towards the “Easter of resurrection.”

The Pope spoke after leading the Ash Wednesday evening procession on Rome’s Aventine Hill, a tradition revived by Pope John Paul II in 1979.

The papal homily included a short reflection on the meaning of ashes in Scripture and in Christian thought.

While the ashes are not a sacramental sign, they are linked with “prayer and the sanctification of the Christian people,” he said.

In Genesis, God created man out of dust from the soil and breathed a “breath of life” into him. The Ash Wednesday ashes, therefore, recall the creation of mankind. 

Being human means uniting matter with the “Divine breath.” However, the symbol of dust takes on a negative connotation because of sin.

“Before the Fall, the soil is totally good,” the Pope said. But after the Fall, dust produces “only thorns and brambles.” Rather than recalling the “creative hand of God” that is open to life, dust becomes “a sign of death.”

Pope Benedict said that this change shows that the earth itself participates in man’s destiny. The cursing of the soil helps man recognize his limitations and his own human nature.

This curse comes from sin, not from God, he explained. Even within  this punishment, there is “a good intention that comes from God.”

When God says in Genesis, “Dust you are and unto dust you shall return,” he intends not only a just punishment, but also an announcement of the path to salvation, the Pope preached.

This salvation “will pass through the earth, through that same dust, that same flesh which will be assumed by the Word incarnate.”

http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/pope-benedict-encourages-faithful-on-lenten-journey-of-spiritual-renewal/

• Jacques Berthieu, French martyr and priest of the Society of Jesus
• Giovanni Battista Piamarta, Italian priest and founder of the Congregation of the Holy Family of Nazareth and of the Congregation of the Humble Sister Servants of the Lord
• Maria del Carmen, Spanish founder of the Conceptionist Missionary Sisters of Teaching
• Marianne Cope, German religious of the Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis in Syracuse, N.Y.
• Kateri Tekakwitha, American laywoman
• Anna Schäffer, German laywoman

Judging by the abundance of stories in the New Testament involving food and eating, Jesus and the early Christians placed great emphasis on community meals. All four Gospels feature stories of Jesus sharing meals with Jews and non-Jews alike. At the Last Supper, Jesus teaches the disciples to connect with Him through the Bread and the Wine of the Eucharist. On the road to Emmaus, Jesus meets two believers who do not recognize Him until He sits down and breaks bread with them.

In your volunteer community, take turns talking about mealtime rituals in your family of origin or another community to which you belonged. Who was there? Did you say grace before the meal? Any favorite foods? Use this time of sharing as a chance to get to know one another better and to reflect on the ways in which sharing a meal builds community.

Now, discuss your hopes and ideas for mealtimes in your new community. How often do you want to eat together? Who will buy and prepare the food? Who will set the table and clean up afterward? Take a few minutes to write down the results of your discussion. You can use this 'community meal contract' to guide your first meals together, and re-visit it later to make changes if necessary.

http://www.pallotticenter.org/index.php?m=ca

Dear Friends of the Pallotti Center:

It is with a sense of regret but also profound gratitude to you that we announce the closing of the St. Vincent Pallotti Center, to take place effective June 30, 2012. Our Board of Directors has decided that, after 27 years of service to prospective, current and former volunteers and to the Catholic lay mission programs that support volunteers, our organization has completed its mission.

When the Center was formed by the Immaculate Conception Province of Pallottine Priests and Brothers in 1984, long-term volunteer service was a unique, under-utilized option for recent college graduates. There were few ways for people to learn about how to volunteer or for lay mission programs to get the word out and bring the news of their mission to Catholics. At that time, there was no user-friendly access to the internet and there were few publications and resources to support volunteers, missioners and programs. That is why we established six fully staffed offices in dioceses throughout the country.

Today, in contrast, people of all ages are more aware of the many opportunities to serve through organizations both secular and sacred, and thousands annually seize those opportunities. We hope that to some extent, it was our partnership with you, diocesan offices, campus ministers and other national programs that has helped bring volunteer service into greater awareness in the Church in the United States. And for that collaboration with you and others, we are deeply grateful.

Be assured that though the Center will close in 2012, in the interim we remain committed to your program. We will strive to honor all our commitments to you for the current program year. During this past fall, for example, we attended as many as 20 college fairs promoting the work of our member organizations in hopes of finding you volunteers for the 2012-13 program year.

It is our goal to wind up the Center’s work with no disruption to our services through the end of June 2012, though likely with a gradually shrinking staff. Upon that date, day-to-day operations will cease but our website will continue to be available to programs as well as to prospective, current and former volunteers until the end of September 2012. You will continue to receive Shared Visions and Staying Connected through the spring of 2012 and we continue to provide valuable e-mail job listings to support former volunteers who are seeking meaningful employment. This year we will update our What’s Next? Notebook and, as usual, make it available to you.

Please remember that we have archived more than twenty years worth of supportive Pallotti publications on our website: http://pallotticenter.org. If you would like a DVD of these resources for your future use, please let us know. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions. We can be reached at 1-877-VOL-LINK or Pallotti@pallotticenter.org.


We thank you for your partnership and support over the past 27 years.



With Gratitude,

Fr. Peter Sticco, S.A.C.
Chairperson of the Board of Directors

Michael J. Goggin
National Director

Romero Center Ministries and NCYAMA (National Catholic Young Adult Ministry Association) invites those in ministry to young adults to attend this year's "Integrating Faith, Service, and Social Justice" Conference. This conference, hosted at Romero Center Ministries in Camden, NJ, offers you an opportunity to:


o Network and share resources with others in ministry to young adults
o Explore how to invite young adults involved in service to work for justice
o Consider ways to integrate prayer and action groups
o Discover how to bring Catholic Social Teaching to life
o Share promising practices for guiding theological reflection
o Discuss ways that service can bridge college campus ministry with parish life


The conference will be held Thursday, May 17, 5pm - Sunday, May 21, 10am will include:

o Workshop presentations
o Symposium discussions
o Service experience and group theological reflection
o Opportunities for Liturgical worship

Cost before or on March 17 is $235 and is all inclusive (accommodations - simple, dormitory style rooms, all meals, all programming, printed and online copies of resources, access to Internet, discussion group for attendees). The cost for the conference if registering on or after March 18 is $280.

http://www.romero-center.org/

For the Least Social Justice Retreats
Saturday, February 25 at St. Ignatius Prep 5th Floor Chapel and
Saturday, March 10 at Simpson Living Learning Center - Multi Purpose Room

One of Charis’ most popular retreats - join us for one of these day long retreats that focus on Catholic Social Teaching and the Gospel call to lead lives rooted in social justice. A great team of young adults will share their experiences and lead small group reflections. Join us to relax, reflect, pray, and celebrate Mass and Reconciliation. For more info or to register, visit http://www.charisministries.org/!


Journey with Jesus: Lenten Guided Prayer Group
February 22 - April 4, 2012 - Wednesdays at 6:30pm
Loyola's Water Tower Campus – Terry Student Center

Lent offers us the opportunity to come to know Jesus better as a true companion. In this Lenten program we encounter Jesus in Scripture and through prayer and reflection, deepen our relationship with Christ.

Each participant prays daily for 20 to 30 minutes over selected Scripture texts, and then meets weekly with a group to review prayer, discuss the Scripture texts, and receive direction for the following week’s exercises. For more info or to register, visit www.charisministries.org!


Gospel Reflection Email Series
Sign-up to receive Gospel reflection emails direct to your inbox! Beginning Ash Wednesday through the beginning of the Easter Season, Charis Ministries will send you a weekly email with a Gospel reflection written by a young adult. This is a great way to keep God present in your life through this holy time! To sign up, visit www.charisministries.org!


Are you seeking a volunteer opportunity?
Want to get involved with Charis Ministries and help inspire other young adults to grow in their faith? Do you enjoy writing and reflecting on the gospel? Charis Ministries is looking for young adults interested in volunteering to write spiritual reflections for various times throughout the year. If you are interested or would like more information, please contact Stephanie Scherra, at stephanie@charisministries.org or at 773-508-2843.

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Charis Ministries is a Jesuit ministry to those in their 20s & 30s. A ministry of the Chicago-Detroit Provinces of the Society of Jesus, Charis offers retreats, service, leadership, and speaker opportunities that bring the gifts of Ignatian Spirituality to the lives of young adults.

Brief Description: Understanding people is not always easy, especially when they come from different backgrounds and experiences

Activity:  Think of someone that you would like to better understand-it could be a community member or a co-worker that you are having trouble communicating with. Ask yourself, "What's it like to be__________? How can I better understand him/her?"

Use this exercise below to help you walk a few steps where this person has walked.

How did the journey begin for this person? What do you know about he/she grew up? What is her cultural/ethnic background?

What difficulties or challenges has this person faced in his/her life? During the past months as a volunteer? How do these affect who he or she is?

In what ways do the two of you differ? How are you alike?

If there is a certain level of trust between you and the person that you would like to understand, consider partnering up to answer these questions together.