Anointing of the Sick Mass, Lenten Reflection, and Pope Leo XIV's Call to Listen and Fast
A look at Pope Leo XIV's inspiring 2026 Lenten message, "Listening and Fasting: Lent as a Time of Conversion" which emphasizes the Church's maternal care in refocusing our lives on God amid worldly distractions. The Holy Father highlights listening—to God's word, to the cry of the poor, and to those in suffering—as essential to prayer. He encourages fasting not only from food (which orders our appetites and reveals true hungers) but also from hurtful words.
Episode Transcript
Welcome to the Saint John the Baptist Catholic Parish podcast from Fort Lauderdale. Be sure to spread the word about our podcast and follow us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. That way you'll be notified every time we release a new episode.
Welcome to episode 26 of our parish podcast. Hey. Coming up on Saturday, we're going to have an anointing of the sick mass at 11AM. It is for those who are experiencing illness and for parishioners 65 and older. Through this sacrament, special graces are bestowed to bring comfort, strength, and healing.
We're gonna have a luncheon immediately following the mass. You'll need to RSVP to attend the luncheon. Call the church office for more details. On Wednesday, March 11, we're having our parish Lenten reflection. It will be at 09:45AM, brought to you by the Saint John the Baptist Women's Guild.
The reflection is entitled Divine Mercy and the Sacred Heart, presented by father Kazimir Kaz Shwalek. Take this opportunity during Lent to pause, reflect, and deepen your relationship with Christ through a meaningful presentation on the divine mercy and the Sacred Heart. Following the reflection, father Kaz will be available for the sacrament of reconciliation. Alright. Lent is moving right along.
And I don't know if you've had a chance to read Pope Leo the fourteenth's Lenten message to the faithful yet, but it's really good. The first part of his message is about the maternal care of the church and how the church calls us to recenter our lives on the mystery of God during this season. We live in a world full of anxieties and endless distractions, and Lent is a good time to get ourselves refocused on what matters. It's a pause in a world moving at breakneck speed. Only through silence and focusing on our faith can we move into deeper conversion.
Lent is a good time to begin reading scripture if it's not part of our daily lives, and get to confession if it's been a while. Pope Leo really puts a focus on the importance of listening. We all know good relationships require everyone to listen. He pointed out that in the account of Moses meeting God in the burning bush, God declared, I have observed the misery of my people. I have heard their cry.
Pope Leo is pointing out that God listens to us when we pray. Listening is fundamental to his nature. And he invites us to listen. To scripture, yes, but also to the cries of those in anguish around us. In a world full of division and arguments, the word of God allows us to discern the voices that truly matter.
The poor, the suffering, the forgotten. He really wants us to listen to the cry of the poor. And we remember Lent has three pillars. Prayer, which is both talking and listening to God, fasting, and almsgiving. That last one is about loving and serving the poor.
Pope Leo also talks about fasting and how it's concrete preparation for receiving God's word. Fasting literally has a physical and spiritual effect on us. It reveals our deepest hungers. When we abstain from food, we become aware of what we really crave, what we consider essential, and what we can live without. It's a way of ordering our appetites, engaging the cardinal virtue of temperance in a greater way.
But the most interesting part of his message is this idea of fasting from words that hurt other people. I don't have to tell you that we live in a day and age when words can be weaponized and then magnified immensely on social media. But it doesn't have to be that overt. Even quiet gossip in social circles, or work, or even the parish can hurt others and damage our relationship with God. Pope Leo urges us this Lent to disarm our language.
Avoid harsh words, rash judgments, slander, and speaking ill of those absent. Instead, let us measure our speech and choose kindness and respect in our homes, workplaces, friendships, social media, and in debates. When we fast from hurtful words, hatred recedes and space opens for peace. The last part of the pope's message this Lent is to remind us that our Lenten journey is not an individual journey. There's a communal dimension to Lent.
We gather together as Catholics every week at Mass, and maybe in some other ways like prayer groups and Bible studies. We listen together, encourage one another, and conversion comes not just to individuals, but to the whole church. So, as we go through Lent, let's take these words to heart. If you haven't read the 2026 Lenten message from Pope Leo the fourteenth, please look it up on the Vatican website. It's definitely worth the time and will be a great inspiration.
Speaker 0: Thanks for listening to the Saint John the Baptist Catholic Parish podcast from Fort Lauderdale. Be sure to follow our show on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, And that way, you'll be notified every time we release a new episode. This has been a production of The Parish Podcast Project.