Celebrating Mass for the Third Sunday of Lent in St. William the Abbot Parish, Howell, Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., spoke about the need for a personal assessment of how one’s Lenten journey is proceeding.

PHOTO GALLERY: Bishop's Mass in St. William the Abbot Church

“We might pause to ask ourselves, ‘how am I doing? Have I made progress in my spiritual life during these past three weeks?’” he queried. “ ‘Have I accomplished anything to advance my relationship with God and with others?’ If you have, that’s a blessing. If you have not, it’s not too late. And if you’ve stalled, plug in the charger, get moving again.”

Pointing out the journey the Sunday Lenten Gospels have taken thus far – beginning with the temptation of Jesus in the desert, followed by the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor, the Bishop drove home the point of conversion exemplified in the Third Sunday’s Gospel.

“Jesus talks about the fig tree … again and again, year after year, it bore no fruit. What was the point?” he asked. “People wanted to cut it down; the gardener said, ‘wait, give it a chance.’ He gives it one more opportunity to bear fruit.

“So, we have to ask ourselves today… are the fig trees of our own Christian lives bearing fruit?” Bishop O’Connell continued. “Has the time come for us to put it on the line, once and for all, as Jesus said in the Gospel? How many more chances will we get? … What are we waiting for?”

He stressed the need to make Lent mean something more, and not to waste any time making it count.

“It’s not just about going through the motions,” he said. “Lent is about being the person that God has called us to be. Lent is about believing in the possibilities, to be better, to be holier, to be converted in heart and mind by the conviction of faith.

“Whatever stage you find yourself in your Christian life at this moment in Lent,” he concluded, “as your Bishop, I ask you to continue the journey. Easter’s waiting for us.”

More to come on this story.