Dear Courage and EnCourage family,

It is a special gift of Divine Providence that the sixth commandment and the sixth beatitude are linked. In the Mosaic law, God commands his people to respect the covenant of marriage and to avoid sexual immorality — “You shall not commit adultery” (Ex 20:14). The virtue of continence enables one to practice self-control and abstain from sinful desires and actions. In the Sermon on the Mount, He invites us to go deeper, to grow from continence to chastity, which is “the successful integration of sexuality within the person and thus the inner unity of man in his bodily and spiritual being” (Catechism, 2337). And he promises that our efforts to be integrated, authentic and chaste will be rewarded with the ability to “see God” — to understand ourselves, our relationships with God and others, and God’s plan for our lives, from His perspective. Impure thoughts and desires cloud our vision and become obstacles. When we are able to put them aside, we can see more clearly what God sees. We can “see God.”
“As we turn away from the world and towards the Cross, we rely less on earthly pleasures to provide comfort and security, and find our consolation and peace more completely in God alone. ”

Here is the secret to all of our Lenten observances. Over the next six weeks, we will make many sacrifices: setting aside more time for prayer; fasting and giving up favorite treats; donating time and resources to those in need. All of these traditional Lenten practices are beneficial, but only if we recognize that they are not ends in themselves. They are meant to lead us deeper in our relationship with God.

The Church reminds us that we “are called to enact the will of God” in our lives “by joining whatever sufferings and difficulties” we experience “to the sacrifice of the Lord’s Cross” (CDF, Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons, 1986, no. 11). We are familiar with this idea of “offering up” our daily pains and struggles as a sacrifice, and Lent is a time to do that more intentionally. This sacrifice “is easily misunderstood, however, if it is merely seen as a pointless effort at self-denial. The Cross is a denial of self, but in service to the will of God himself, who makes life come from death and empowers those who trust in him to practice virtue in place of vice” (ibid.). In other words, we do not make Lenten sacrifices for their own sake, but because making such sacrifices makes way for a new way of life to emerge. As we turn away from the world and towards the Cross, we rely less on earthly pleasures to provide comfort and security, and find our consolation and peace more completely in God alone. As we take our eyes off of earthly things, we see God and his plan for us more clearly.

I pray that this season of Lent will be peaceful and fruitful for you, a time of conversion, healing and enlightenment, and that our sacrifices of prayer, fasting and almsgiving will strengthen and purify the whole Courage and EnCourage family, with whom each of us is united by the love that binds us together in Christ. Be sure of my prayers for you and your loved ones, especially when the Courage Office team gathers in our chapel for daily Mass. May this sacred time purify your heart, so that with eyes renewed you may see as never before the glory of the Risen Lord at Easter.

Sincerely,
Father Philip Bochanski
Executive Director