Dear Brothers & Sisters in Christ,

We fail, we sin, we fall and who picks us up?  It is the Lord!  God knows how prone we are to let the world have its way with us.  Why else would He have given us the Ten Commandments.  They are for OUR benefit – to keep us safe and sound.  They promote the dignity of the human person reminding the glory of God.  But, as we know, these fragile temples can easily accumulate that which dims its beauty, i.e., sin.  Just as Our Lord cleansed the temple of Jerusalem so, too, He is ready to cleanse us in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  He uses His sweepers, his priests, to take care of the “dirty work” and restore the pristine glory of our souls.  No one likes a dirty house, much less a dirty soul.  Let the cleaners in.  They are happy to do the work of the Lord.

On Monday afternoon this past week, I had the pleasure of meeting with two young men, David and Adrian, who have passed through the “valley of the shadow of death” and by the grace of Almighty God have been restored to the joyful life of being a child of God.  These men have courageously shared with me their history, of alcohol and drug addiction and their years of sobriety and interior peace.  The Corona Self-Help Center, Inc. (Drogadictos Anonimos/Drug Addicts Anonymous) is a non-profit association that offers all of its services free of charge.   Their mission is to help people with problems of addiction to recover, regardless of their legal, or economic status of ethnicity.  Primarily, its focus is on people who cannot receive help because of their legal situation and do not have resources to solicit help in places that require payment.

They support themselves by producing very beautiful tee shirts and donations from the neighboring communities.

So impressed was I by their presentation that I have invited them to give a short presentation following the weekend Masses of March 20-21.

Hopefully you will be able to support their good and noble work either with a donation or the purchase of their tee shirts.

Blessings on your Lenten journey,

Father Langan