“THE GOSPEL OF THE LORD,” I intone after I finish reading the Gospel passage for today.
The congregation responds, “Praise to You, Lord Jesus Christ.”
As they sit down, dads trying to corral squirming toddlers and moms trying to hush crying babies, I kiss the Gospel book and mutter, “Through the words of the Gospel, may our sins be wiped away.” I close the book and pull the sheets of my homily out from under it.
I look down at the pages, then up at the people assembled to hear me expound on today's readings and what they teach us about how to have a good and profitable Lent. Were this any other Sunday, that’s what they’d be getting—a clean, clear, ten-minute exposition of the words read so far this morning.
But this is not any other Sunday.
I look around for a moment. I see the Conway
