Bottom line: Less e-mail, more knee-mail

You may have heard about a way of communicating even better than e-mail. It is called "knee-mail." It involves getting down on one's knees and speaking directly to God. You can send messages like this: "God, help my friend who has this terrible problem...Jesus, give that young person peace and hope...Guide our leaders...Help me. I don't know what to do."

Knee mail, of course, is another name for prayer. On this First Sunday of Lent we see the greatest example. Before uttering a single word in his public ministry, Jesus spent forty days in silent prayer - focused on the Father. This Sunday I ask you to follow Jesus' example. Put God the Father first in your life.

As I explained on Ash Wednesday, we have Stewardship of Time pledge cards to help you in your spiritual, family and community life. Be sure to check the basics - Sunday Mass, daily personal prayer and prayer with one's family, especially before meals. Then consider what else you might do: a retreat, a novena, an adult education class.

This Sunday we will have a testimony on the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Next Sunday on a program to read the Bible (and Catechism) in one year. And on the Third Sunday, Eucharistic Adoration.

I know what some of you are thinking: Sounds good, but where could I find time for those things? That's where fasting comes in. I asked our middle school students to give examples of fasting. They of course suggested things like giving up ice cream, chocolates and desert, but they other things: video games, chat rooms, television and the Internet. Less e-mail, more knee-mail. Lent is a time to re-order our lives - by praying, fasting and giving - to put God first.

Consider Jesus' words, his first public words after forty days of prayer and fasting: "This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel."

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