Lent has started. The ashes have been given out, you’ve gone without meat on Friday and have already decided what you’ll be giving up.
But do you still need some help getting into the full spiritual meaning of the season? Check out two nationally known Catholic speakers giving special Lenten programs:
Jeff Cavins will speak March 6-7 at St. Benedict Church, 950 Darrell Creek Trail in Mount Pleasant.
Cavins, based in Minnesota, has developed a wide following through his speeches and seminars focused on the basics of the faith and Scripture. He has hosted the live show “My Life on the Rock” on Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) and the “Morning Air” program on Relevant Radio. He is also the author of several books, including his most recent “Praise God and Thank Him: Biblical Keys for a Joyful Life” (2014, Servant Books).
Cavins is especially relevant to those who have left the Church and want to return because he served as a Protestant pastor for 12 years before coming back, which he describes in his book, “My Life on the Rock: A Rebel Returns to the Faith.”
On March 6, he will speak on “I’m Not Being Fed: Discovering the Food that Satisfies the Soul” beginning at 6 p.m., and “Walking Toward Eternity” from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. March 7. It is $35 to attend both, with an optional $10 for boxed lunch. Limited space is available. Call 843-216-0039.
Cavins said the March 6 session focuses on the Eucharist because he wants the faithful to realize the importance of the sacrament.
In recent years, he met people who said they left the Church “because they weren’t being fed.”
“I want them to look at those feelings and try to understand what does it mean to be fed? We need to investigate who has the responsibility to feed you and who really can,” he said. “Jesus Christ can feed you. He’s the shepherd, and he feeds you His body and blood through the Eucharist. My hope is that people will come into a new appreciation for the Eucharist and how much God wants to love them and shepherd them. You don’t need to look outside the Church for answers.”
On March 7, Cavins will lead participants through a one-day retreat focused on helping them develop a relationship with God through forms of prayer, including praying through scripture with lectio divina.
Author and radio host Patrick Madrid will give a Lenten mission March 16-18 at St. Theresa the Little Flower Church, 11001 Dorchester Road in Summerville.
His talks will be at 7 p.m. each night. Topics are “Why Be Catholic (When You Can be Anything Else)?” on March 16; “Answers to Lies Society Tells You” on March 17; and “Search and Rescue: How You can Help People Come Home to the Church” on March 18. Admission is free; an offering will be taken.
Madrid is based in Ohio, where he hosts the daily “Patrick Madrid Show” on Immaculate Heart Radio and publishes Envoy magazine (www.envoymagazine.com). He has also written 16 books and numerous articles on church history, apologetics and prayer.
He said he hopes to reach both active Catholics and those who may have lapsed by showing them different ways of considering their faith. Madrid said “Search and Rescue” will be especially helpful for those who are trying to learn new ways to handle apologetics as they try to encourage friends or loved ones to join or come back to the faith.
“My goal is to help people, either for their own sake or for someone they know, to look at the Church from a perspective that will help it click for them,” he said.
