INBOX INSPIRATIONS
February 18, 2026
Lent – 1
Dear Friends,
Today is Ash Wednesday. I want to make some comments about one of the two options for the wording that is used as the ashes are placed on our foreheads. “Repent, and believe in the Gospel.” This is the wording being used in the parish where I assist and it is rich in what it conveys.
This missioning – “Repent, and believe in the Gospel” – focuses on life and how we live right now. Let’s look at what these words are really expressing.
v Our word “Repent” is the English translation of the Greek word “metanoia.” The word “repent” has come to convey a sense of regret, remorse, and sorrow for sin. The word “metanoia” is much fuller and, I think, more positive. It speaks of a change of mind and heart that leads to a transformed life. The focus is on openness to God and allowing God to transform us. That’s the real meaning behind our English word “Repent,” and not just the limited notion of sorrow for sin. It includes that but is not limited to that.
v Then there is the word “believe.” This means to live our faith. Faith is not just a heady or intellectual assent to a list of truths. It does mean that. But it goes beyond that and involves trust in God or entrusting one’s whole life to God and Jesus Christ. At its core, faith is a relationship with God, and trust or entrusting ourselves to God is an essential part of that.
v Finally, there is the word “Gospel.” This word comes from Old English and originally from the Greek that means “good news.” So, we are being asked to entrust ourselves not to the bad news of excessive guilt, shame, and fear of hell and of God. Instead, we are to “believe” or entrust ourselves to the “good news” of Jesus as God-with-us, revealing God as love itself, and even calling us his “friends.” This “good news” is about God’s initiative in loving us and about God’s always being there to forgive. It is about hope in the mystery of dying and rising, hope in the resurrection.
So, the words “Repent, and believe in the gospel” are very rich and very positive. Let’s allow them to shape our spirit and overall direction for this season of Lent.
Next week’s Inbox will contain some recommendations for observing Lent.
Father Michael Schleupner
February 25, 2026
Lent – 2
Dear Friends,
Last week’s Inbox encouraged a positive approach to the Season of Lent. I am picking up on that theme today first with two Do Not’s for Lent.
Do Not make this season burdensome. Don’t think that for the next six weeks, you have to do all kinds of special stuff, all kinds of add-ons to your normal life and routine or even to your usual faith practice. Relax. Don’t make Lent burdensome. Remember what Jesus says: “My yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Mattthew 28:30). He means what he says here, and we ought to remember this in the way we approach Lent.
It’s not the amount of stuff we do spiritually. Giving up a number of things or praying many extra prayers will not automatically make us closer to God. Beware of this: Lenten practices are not about earning God’s favor or earning our way to heaven, with the idea that the more we do, the better. That’s not what repentance and renewal is all about. It’s about letting God into our inner self. It’s about being aware of God and letting God’s grace work.
Do Not get down on yourself. Do not focus only on your sins – on bad things you have done or on good things you should have done but didn’t do. Look at your whole life in context. Yes, get in touch with your imperfections, your brokenness, your sinfulness, but remember the context of your total life and of who you are as a total person. Repentance isn’t about putting ourselves down or beating ourselves up. It’s about growing as persons or growing as God’s son or daughter.
So, sometimes guilt is appropriate as a feeling and response to our behavior. However, do not get into unnecessary or unhealthy guilt. Do not ruminate on guilt to the point of feeling shame. Remember that Jesus’ words in his farewell talk at the Last Supper were spoken to Peter, Judas and the other apostles, all of whom let Jesus down in one way or another. His words there are also spoken to all of us today, regardless. “I have called you my friends” (John 15:15). We are God’s friends now, regardless of what we have done or failed to do. Lent is about growing in our friendship with God, not staying stuck in guilt.
Next week I will make some positive recommendations for living Lent, some Do’s.
Father Michael Schleupner
March 4, 2026
Lent – 3
Dear Friends,
Today I want to make some recommendations on how to live Lent positively and realistically. My recommendations follow the three practices in the gospel for Ash Wednesday: almsgiving, prayer, and fasting (Matthew 6:1-6,16-18).
First, almsgiving – this means charitable giving.
Take a look at what you are giving to charity or to your church right now and see if it is enough. Maybe it is and you cannot afford to give more. Then, for Lent, just make sure you give prayerfully, also praying for those whom your gifts are benefitting.
If you think you could give more, then decide on that amount and start doing it. Either make it a special sacrifice just for Lent or begin this with the intention of continuing it, making it part of your ongoing life and giving.
Second, prayer.
Are you doing some kind of prayer each day? If so, great. If not, begin some prayer now, during Lent. A good way to start is a brief morning prayer, offering the day ahead to God and thanking God for your life, for the day, and for other blessings that you can name.
If you already are praying and praying enough, maybe do one add-on just for Lent. Like going to the Stations of the Cross once or even every Friday of Lent. Or getting a copy of the parish Lenten book and reading it for spiritual enrichment.
Third, fasting.
The Church asks all of us to do two things: eat less on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday and abstain from eating meat on all the Fridays of Lent. This isn’t burdensome. I encourage us to do it.
I think it is a good idea to introduce our children to some modest self-denial. Maybe giving up candy or sodas or desserts on some days of the week. But don’t make it so difficult that it’s a turn-off for them.
For us adults, maybe the best fasting is to straighten out our diet. Maybe we need to lose a few pounds or eat more nutritional foods. Use Lent as a time to do this because it is part of being a good steward of our God-given bodies.
I think you can see my approach. Make Lent special but not burdensome. Be practical. Make it an experience of positive renewal or growth.
Next week, more on Lent – how to make an examination of conscience.
Father Michael Schleupner
March 11, 2026
Lent – 4
Dear Friends,
Part of our spiritual tradition, especially during the season of Lent is to do an examination of conscience. “Conscience represents both the general ability we have as human beings to know what is good and right and the concrete judgment we make in particular situations concerning what we should do or about what we have already done.” (United States Catholic Catechism for Adults)
An examination of our conscience means that we reflect on what we have done and discern whether or not we are living according to the teachings of Christ and the Church. We discern our virtues or good qualities, and also our sinfulness or elements of our lives not in keeping with God’s will. We reflect on both our feelings of peace and our feelings of guilt.
I recommend four areas as the guides for our examination of conscience.
The first is obvious: the Ten Commandments. We find these in two places in the Old Testament: Exodus 20:2-17 and Deuteronomy 5:6-21. At some other time, I will do a series of Inbox Inspirations on each of these commandments more in-depth.
For now, it is important to know that these commandments are basics for our relationship with God (Commandments 1-3), like having no one or nothing as more important than God in our life and keeping holy the sabbath. Then the Commandments turn to our ethical or moral behavior with one another (Commandments 4-10), like respecting our parents, not stealing, and not killing.
As we look at ourselves in relation to the Ten Commandments, we have to remember Jesus’ words: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.” (Matthew 5:17) Jesus then gives examples of what he means. For example, not only are we not to kill. We are not even to act at all out of destructive anger. The point is that we are to examine our conscience not just about our keeping the literal wording of the Ten Commandments. We are also to see if we have kept their spirit and the values underlying them – what Jesus means by fulfilling the law.
Next week we will look at the other three areas that are the sources for an examination of conscience.
Father Michael Schleupner
March 18, 2026
Lent – 5
Dear Friends,
Last Wednesday’s Inbox Inspirations focused on the Ten Commandments as the first source for an examination of conscience. Today’s column looks at three other sources.
Jesus’ teaching at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew’s Gospel is crucial. Jesus calls “Blessed” those who know their need for God, those who are compassionate, meek, hungering for what is right and good, merciful, clear about having God as their priority, peacemakers, and even persecuted for following his way (Matthew 5:3-10). The question is: How well am I embracing and living each of these qualities?
Next, looking at Jesus’ teaching about the final judgment should be part of our examination of conscience. What will be the criterion for judgment? Jesus says that it will be whether we fed the hungry, gave drink to the thirsty, welcomed the stranger, clothed the naked, cared for the sick, and visited the imprisoned (Matthew 25:31-46). This is a big one! It takes us beyond the realm of my personal life and beyond my one-on-one relationships. It takes us to the realm of society or the entire human community. The question is: How am I responding to those who are the last, the least, and lost in our world?
Finally, the Precepts of the Church constitute a final area for an examination of conscience. We probably know these but don’t think of them collectively with the title Precepts of the Church. There are five of them.
Attend Mass on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation.
Confess our sins once a year especially if we are conscious of serious sin.
Receive the Sacrament of the Eucharist at least during the Easter Season.
Observe the prescribed days of fasting and abstinence.
Provide for or contribute to the needs of the Church.
(United States Catholic Catechism for Adults).
So, four sources for a thorough examination of conscience. Next week, we will take a look at repentance and the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
Father Michael Schleupner
March 25, 2026
Lent – 6
Dear Friends,
Every year, on the Second Sunday of Lent, we hear the gospel story of the Transfiguration of Jesus. Peter, James, and John experienced Jesus transformed on the mountain top. They saw him for who he really is – the One sent by God, the beloved Son. Why do we hear this every year during Lent? I suggest that the reason is that this season is to be about our transformation into the likeness of Jesus. The focus is to be on our own spiritual and personal growth.
I want to propose three practices that will help us with this: 1) daily, 2) weekly, and 3) seasonal. While these practices are especially good for Lent, they can become part of our life year-round.
1) Daily practice. Do a daily review of your day. Preferably, do this in the evening or before going to bed. If the evening doesn’t work for you, then maybe in the morning do a review of the preceding day. Look at how you spent your time and how you interacted with others. Does anything pop up as something you feel guilty about, something that you wish you had not done, or something you wish you had done and didn’t do? Make this a brief examination of conscience, following some of the recommendations I made in the Inbox Inspirations of March 11 and 18. Then offer a Prayer or Act of Contrition. This can be one you have learned, or it can be in your own words, right from your heart, speaking to God. This daily practice will be a great way of keeping focused on Christ and continuing to grow in his way.
2) Weekly practice. Every Sunday, in the Penitential Prayer at the beginning of Mass, bring just one thing to God. Bring the number one area where you need to grow spiritually, the number one thing for which you need God’s forgiveness. Bring the same thing week after week. Why? Because most of us change slowly. Our transformation, unlike Jesus’ on the mountain, is not instant. It takes time. So, bring this one thing to God week after week and hear the words of God’s forgiveness through the priest. In doing this, we allow the grace of God to slowly work with us and help us to grow.
I will continue and conclude these thoughts next week.
Father Michael Schleupner
April 1, 2026
Lent – 7
Dear Friends,
The season of Lent is to be about our transformation (see Inbox Inspirations of March 25). Whatever Lenten practices we adopt, the purpose is our spiritual and personal growth. Last week I proposed the first two of three practices that will help us with this: 1) daily – a brief review of the day and a Prayer or Act of Contrition, and 2) weekly – bringing to the beginning of Mass every Sunday the number one area where we need to grow in the way of Jesus.
Today, I am proposing the third practice which is 3) seasonal – the possibility of the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
I suggest that we consider celebrating this sacrament during the season of Lent. By the way, it’s not too late since some parishes have the practice of offering this sacrament for several hours on Good Friday.
Notice that I use the term Sacrament of Reconciliation and not Sacrament of Penance or Confession. Many of our Catholic theologians see Reconciliation as the most appropriate title for this sacrament. It names the sacrament by what it is intended to do, its purpose, and not by one of its parts. It is about my reconciliation with God, with myself, and with others. The confession of my sins or the praying of my penance afterwards are just parts of the sacrament.
The Church teaches that we must receive this sacrament if we are guilty of something serious. Traditionally, we have used the term mortal sin. So, something like being unfaithful to our vocation and basic life commitment would be serious and is to be brought to Reconciliation.
The Church also encourages us to use this sacrament for lesser sins, like impatience or injuring the good name of another. gossip. Reconciliation can help us in our overall personal and spiritual growth. Many people use the sacrament for this purpose.
The choice to utilize the opportunity for Reconciliation or the frequency of this is up to us. I am encouraging us to place this sacrament in our awareness in this season or in other seasons of the year (like Advent) and discern if it has a place for us. Hearing God’s word of forgiveness in the words of absolution of the priest can be a powerful experience for us.
Father Michael Schleupner
