Gloria in Excelsis Deo: Letting Go In Lent

For my local readers and my far-distant readers, I want to share that our little parish has launched a campaign, "Letting Go In Lent." Maybe you don't live in Charlotte, but you still might get some great ideas from this Lenten project.

I read Fr. Dubay's book (below) a couple of years ago and am halfway through reading it again: I recommend it as a profound and thought-provoking work. Perhaps a more accessible work greatly useful for this campaign is "Simplifying Your Domestic Church" (downloadable for $10) from Project Nazareth.

Letting Go In Lent

The St. Ann Homeschool Ministry is sponsoring a program to help us all focus on the Christian principles of Letting Go and Living Simply with a contest for children and adults alike. [flier PDF available here] Lenten Schedule for St. Ann's Parish.

Dates: March 5 (Ash Wednesday) to April 13 (Palm Sunday)
By April 13, you will need to send an email explaining what you accomplished to: lettinggolent@gmail.com
April 27 (Divine Mercy Sunday) after the 12:30 Mass: potluck and awards

Rules: Honor System

There are three categories of competition with the judges choosing adult and child winners in each:

Best Before-and-After Picture: Organize the garage, junk drawer, storage closet or wherever you choose. Just end whatever is the worst of your cluttered nightmares. This could be computer clutter too.
Best Steward: Give us information on the way you charitably redistributed your stuff. This is to motivate all of us who want to just throw everything in the dump—though, if you think that is where some things simply belong, say so. Be creative and recycle too. Or let go of something you have held on to for far too long.
Longest List: Send us a list of the simplifying projects you completed during Lent.

Prizes: First place winners will each receive a $100 check written to the Catholic charity of their choice, and a gift, at the potluck dinner.

Book Discussion Group

We will be facilitating a book group on Happy Are You Poor by Fr. Dubay on Sundays 3/9, 3/16, 3/23 and 4/6 from 9:00-10:15 a.m. in the café. We strongly encourage married couples to attend this together so they will be "on the same page" as their family discerns how to let go and live more simply. We will have childcare available in the gym.

Fr. Dubay’s book is available at the Poor Clares’ St. Joseph Monastery Bookstore, at online sellers, or downloaded as a Kindle book.

St. Francis of Assisi is the patron saint of the Letting Go In Lent project. Please join us in praying for his intercession daily!

Prayer of St. Francis

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
Where there is hatred . . . let me sow love.
Where there is injury . . . pardon;
Where there is discord . . . unity;
Where there is doubt . . . faith;
Where there is error . . . truth;
Where there is despair . . . hope;
Where there is sadness . . . joy;
Where there is darkness . . . light.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled . . . as to console;
To be understood . . . as to understand;
To be loved . . . as to love.

For,
It is in giving . . . that we receive;
It is in pardoning . . . that we are pardoned;
It is in dying . . . that we are born to eternal life.
Amen.

Questions? Email: lettinggolent@gmail.com . Participate at the blog:http://www.happyareyoupoor.blogspot.com/