Lent

FROM THE DESK OF FATHER HAAN - February 15, 2026
Lent Fundamentals
 
This is a big week for Major League Baseball players. Athletes from all 30 teams report to either Arizona or Florida for Spring Training to prepare for the 2026 season. The Los Angeles Dodgers are once again the team to beat, having become the first back-to-back World Series Champs in twenty-five years and reloading their already expensive roster. Even so, this time of year, hope and optimism fill every clubhouse.
 
You might think that these professional athletes—who have spent their entire lives playing baseball and make an average of $5 million per year—would spend Spring Training on highly specialized situational drills or practicing extraordinary throws. Instead, they are mostly doing the same drills they’ve been doing since Little League. You’ll find them playing catch, throwing from one knee, fielding ground balls with two hands, catching pop flies, and running sprint drills between bases. They are working on the fundamentals. While not flashy, they return to the basics as building blocks each and every year. Once the fundamentals are mastered, great things can happen.
 
Sound familiar? It is precisely what Holy Mother Church prescribes for us during the Lenten season, which begins this Wednesday.
 
Over time, we can forget essential practices and develop bad spiritual habits. We can become distracted by what is flashy but neglect what is foundational. Thank God for Lent. It calls us back to the fundamentals, most especially of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. If one (or more) of these is not intentionally part of your Lenten plans and resolutions, then something essential is missing. Lent doesn’t need to be flashy, but it does need to be deliberate. Perhaps your daily prayer needs to be more consistent or focused. Perhaps your fasting should more directly challenge your attachments to comfort or convenience. Perhaps your almsgiving needs to reach those most in need.
 
Another essential and basic practice of the Lenten season is the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Some find confession intimidating, allowing fear or shame to keep them away. To those folks I say: Do not be afraid! The priest stands in the person of Christ—the Good Shepherd and the Divine Physician. He desires only to heal and be a conduit of God’s mercy. Others see confession as unnecessary, assuming they “aren’t that bad.” This posture risks spiritual pride and deprives the soul of the sacrament’s healing and strengthening graces. If we wish to grow as disciples and draw nearer to Christ in this
life, confession is truly a tremendous gift. Our parish penance service is Tuesday, March 10th, but the full area schedule is included elsewhere in the bulletin. Make your plan now.

Finally, our Lenten Parish Mission has become a foundational part of Lent here at Saint Louis de Montfort. This year, Father Daniel Scheidt—the pastor at Saint Vincent de Paul parish in Fort Wayne—will preach the mission at 7pm on March 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. He’s an outstanding priest and preacher, and I invite and strongly encourage everyone to attend.

If each parishioner commits these fundamental Lenten drills—prayer, fasting, almsgiving, confession, and the parish mission— we can be confident that our Spring Training will be successful. Our parish will be filled with people prepared, renewed, and ready for God to do great things.
 
Under the Mercy,
Father Haan