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I went to mass this morning at San Xavier Mission. I live literally 4 minutes from there, and having grown up Catholic, I sometimes enjoy the familiarity of mass every now and again.
I always love walking into that building and sitting in a place that people have been worshiping Jesus for 250 years. One of the lecterns read out of Joel 2, the passage Jimmy spoke on a while ago.
I sat there and cried, realizing how much God desires us to know him for the magnificent, loving, compassionate God that he is, and how we turn from him for such lesser things. I've had a hard time figuring out what I thought God was calling me to fast this Lenten season...but I now I realize I was just to stubborn to hear.
He longs to be gracious to us, giving us not only what we need, but so much more beyond that. He longs to be a dad that just pours blessings on us, giving us awesome gifts just because he can! And not only that, he wants to remove our shame, heal us, and bring us back into communion with him and the community. Lent is supposed to be about turning to God and supporting the community of believers, like Eric said about baptism, and I'm very encouraged this morning to begin this journey with you guys. I sat there in the pew feeling a little anxious because I didn't know anyone and remembering what it was like to belong to a Catholic parish...no one knew my family, not really. No one knew our struggles and our issues. I liked getting to see people, but I could always feel the distance between people and God. I kept thinking, "I wish I knew some people", only to have God say, "Layne, you'll be with your people tonight, mourning and celebrating" - I'm so grateful for you all and that we get to share in life together!
12 "Even now," declares the Lord,
"return to me with all your heart,
with fasting and weeping and mourning."
13 Rend your heart
and not your garments.
Return to the Lord your God,
for he is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and abounding in love,
and he relents from sending calamity.
14 Who knows? He may turn and relent
and leave behind a blessing—
grain offerings and drink offerings
for the Lord your God.
15 Blow the trumpet in Zion,
declare a holy fast,
call a sacred assembly.
16 Gather the people,
consecrate the assembly;
bring together the elders,
gather the children,
those nursing at the breast.
Let the bridegroom leave his room
and the bride her chamber.
17 Let the priests, who minister before the Lord,
weep between the portico and the altar.
Let them say, "Spare your people, Lord.
Do not make your inheritance an object of scorn,
a byword among the nations.
Why should they say among the peoples,
'Where is their God?'"
The Lord's Answer
18 Then the Lord was jealous for his land
and took pity on his people.
19 The Lord replied to them:
"I am sending you grain, new wine and olive oil,
enough to satisfy you fully;
never again will I make you
an object of scorn to the nations.
20 "I will drive the northern horde far from you,
pushing it into a parched and barren land;
its eastern ranks will drown in the Dead Sea
and its western ranks in the Mediterranean Sea.
And its stench will go up;
its smell will rise."
Surely he has done great things!
21 Do not be afraid, land of Judah;
be glad and rejoice.
Surely the Lord has done great things!
22 Do not be afraid, you wild animals,
for the pastures in the wilderness are becoming green.
The trees are bearing their fruit;
the fig tree and the vine yield their riches.
23 Be glad, people of Zion,
rejoice in the Lord your God,
for he has given you the autumn rains
because he is faithful.
He sends you abundant showers,
both autumn and spring rains, as before.
24 The threshing floors will be filled with grain;
the vats will overflow with new wine and oil.
25 "I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten—
the great locust and the young locust,
the other locusts and the locust swarmt—
my great army that I sent among you.
26 You will have plenty to eat, until you are full,
and you will praise the name of the Lord your God,
who has worked wonders for you;
never again will my people be shamed.
27 Then you will know that I am in Israel,
that I am the Lord your God,
and that there is no other;
never again will my people be shamed. | 
