LENTEN SEASON UPON US
As I have written in one of my recent written columns, Lent is the Old English word for spring. Just as spring is a time for cleaning out the clutter of our homes and looking forward to brighter skies and warmer days, so it is during the Lenten spring cleaning of our souls,
After all, Jesus didn't just say "if you pray, fast and give alms", he said "when you fast, when you pray, when you give alms" (from Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21). He doesn't specify how we fast, how we give alms or what form of prayer is the only way to pray. Rather, we are called to come to a place of solitude, step away a bit from the hustle and bustle of our daily lives, and reflect within, as did Our Lord in the desert, what are the great temptations with which we have to wrestle. Each one of us have our own unique demons or addictions that set to trip us up.
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Perhaps the most important fast I can undertake is to cut back from time I devote to television or the internet. Perhaps the most important prayer I can do is to take that extra time away from the television and spend it reading the Bible 15 minutes extra each day of Lent. Or, as one priest I heard suggest, perhaps we can take an electricity fast during Lent. That is, perhaps we can take at least a couple of days per week during the Lenten season where we can take a break from anything that involves electricity - dinner by candlelight, no television or computer during the week, going to bed when the sun goes down, and spend that extra time talking with family members, taking a walk, reading a book, etc.
Almsgiving can take the form of volunteering at a ministry or even taking the time to visit someone we know who is a shut-in or confined to a nursing home in addition to increased support of your parish and charity. It can also mean taking the time to contact your representative at the State or your U.S. Senator on an issue that has a clear justice component.
Here at St. Mary we have a number of activities that will help you get in touch with your deeper self - from Stations of the Cross on Fridays to Presentations on how we can be freer in our physical, mental and spiritual health, to Vespers and to the showing of the Sultan and the Saint. If you haven't been to our church lately come and experience exciting liturgies accompanied by our brand-new piano.
May your journey of these forty days be both light and joyful.
Father Charles Morris
