By Fr. Frederick Edlefsen

During this mid-stage of Lent, the Church throughout the world prepares “catechumens” – adults on the path to Baptism – to live in the Way of the Lord Jesus. This preparation is called “Scrutinies” or “Penitential Rites.” They take place during the three middle-Sundays of Lent. In prayer, catechumens open their hearts and minds to the Gifts of the Holy Spirit they will receive in Baptism and Confirmation, and the Gift of the Risen Christ in Holy Communion. They reflect on how they will avoid sin’s darkness and live in Gifts of the Spirit. The Scrutinies entail ancient liturgical rites, which take place at the 10:00 AM Mass on the third, fourth, and fifth Sundays of Lent at Our Lady of Lourdes.

While the Penitential Rites, or Scrutinies, are properly for catechumens, in one sense they are for all of us. Whether you are a baptized OCIA candidate preparing for Confirmation and First Communion or a fully initiated Catholic, we all need to return to the innocence of our Baptism. Like the Prodigal Son who “returned to himself” (Luke 15:17), we all need to take stock of our lives and examine where we need to realign our attitudes, habits, and actions to the Gospel. An awareness of our weaknesses and egoism brings Faith alive because a living Faith gives God permission to heal us. As for our virtues, our good side, we can thank God for that. But Christ intimately encounters us in the doorway of weakness. Brokenness is the opening through which Christ enters our hearts and “dines with us” (Revelation 3:20).

When Jesus encountered the woman at the well, she asked, “Why do you, a Jew, ask me for a drink” (John 4:9)? Jesus revealed her sins to her. She acknowledged them. She felt love and peace. She was elated. She told her neighbors. They called Jesus the “Savior of the world” (John 4:42). The point: When we confess our sins, the Holy Spirit gives us new life that, in turn, gives life new life to others. The Kingdom of Heaven gets bigger. More people share in the joy of the “wedding feast of the Lamb.”