The Lenten folder is dated by the days of the week, starting with Ash Wednesday and going through Holy Saturday, excluding Sundays. The semi-dating computing coin slot pattern is an easy and efficient method to fill $15.00 yield folders. Each panel is filled from top to bottom before filling the next panel. The Special Offering slot accommodates check or currency for even greater returns. The back panel also has space for amount enclosed, name, address, city, state and the folder or envelope account number.
Below is the text featured on the coin folder:
Symbols of His Sacrifice
Lent is not an especially "happy" time, nor was it, in the ancient wisdom of the Church, ever intended to be. However, it can be one of the most worthwhile, encouraging and hopeful times of our life. This is the time in which we honestly look at ourselves. "Lent", as you know, comes from the old Anglo-Saxon word "lengthen", signifying the lengthening of the time of light in each day. By Christ's tremendous sacrifice on the Cross of Calvary we are assured of forgiveness, as in repentance and faith we come humbly to Him.
Then, making grateful use of "the means of Grace" the sacraments, the Scriptures, the fellowship of "the Beloved Community", His Church, and devoted service, we grow in deeper discipleship.
Each day, as we make our Lenten Offering, let us meditate on the "Symbols of His Sacrifice". Think about each one of them for as much time as you can.
On one panel is the palm frond, reminding us of Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem which we commemorate on Palm Sunday. His ultimate triumph was the royal dignity with which He bore the savage cruelty of His tormentors, His sacrificial death for us, and His rising again from the dead.
Other symbols about which we should think reverently are the crown of sharp thorns pressed down in mockery upon His bleeding head, and the spikes that were driven into His hands and feet as He lay there upon the rough Cross, shuddering as each brutal blow was driven into His quivering flesh. Think about that for a while?
INRI - "Jesous Nazarenos Rex Judaeorum" - Jesus of Nazareth King of the Jews" - was the mocking title the cynical Roman governor Pontius Pilate had affixed to the Cross.
The use of the winding sheet was the means by which His friends tenderly and lovingly let down His dead body from that horrible gibbet. Yet through it all the Father in Heaven did not abandon His Son. His love was in it all.
Beyond and material gifts we can ever bring to Him is our renewed resolve to depend more on His Grace, to live better lives, and to serve His Church and our fellow-men more effectively. In this dedicated spirit we bring our Lenten and Easter offering.
