FACING EVIL: The Power of Jesus Christ Helps Us Overcome It

A casual glance at the daily newspaper reminds us of the powers of evil at work around us: contempt for the poor and homeless; terrorism and warfare; division and conflict within families; substance abuse; exclusion of women and of minorities in society and even in the church; abortion, euthanasia, capital punishment; infidelity; deceit.
 
During Lent we are called to a keener awareness of the evils that stake their claim in our own lives.  For the elect (those preparing for Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist) Lent is a period of “purification and enlightenment.”  During this season, they come face to face with the powers of evil around them and within them.  They are asked where they encounter obstacles that seek to keep them from the way of Christ.
 
Lent is also a time for the whole community to reflect on our baptismal call and so join the elect in this conversion journey.  With them, we ponder the power of sin in the world around us and in our own lives and the need for God’s help.  We help them through our own prayer when we practice an annual rite during Lent called the Scrutinies.  
The Scrutinies are the primary ritual celebrations of the Lenten preparation of the elect. Designed to “uncover, then heal all that is weak, defective, or sinful in the hearts of the elect, and to bring out, then strengthen all that is upright, strong and good, the Scrutinies are directed to the conversion of the whole person.  In these rites, the elect and we, the community of the faithful, are invited – in the midst of the sin that lurks around us and within us – to look to Christ Jesus as our Savior. The Scrutinies build on one another.  They ask the elect (and us) what are our deepest thirsts, our areas of blindness, our places of death.  They call us to place our faith in Christ as the way to forgiveness, healing and freedom. 
 
Through the solemn laying on of hands by the presider and the community, we invoke the power of the Holy Spirit, so that the elect may be transformed and recreated. 
 
 

If you are present at the Scrutiny liturgies, please take part by laying your hands on the head of the Elect and praying over them. This ancient symbol of forgiveness, healing and empowerment speaks the truth that the church is a reconciling community.  It is also a humble gesture for us for we, too, acknowledge that we need to be reconciled.  We are not remade by our own efforts but by the power of the Spirit to whom we open ourselves even as we pray for these elect.

 
On the RCIA Kiosk in the Narthex.  Please feel free to take a sheet with their photo with their names. Pray for one or all of them in during this Lenten season. We also encourage you to write a note to them and place it in the box on the kiosk.