Lenten Newsletter - 2004
Dear Friends in Christ’s Divine Mercy:
This season of Lent is a great gift to us, although we don’t always feel
it as such. It is a great gift to us because it is a time of preparation. As
you know, the two great ‘major’ feasts in the Church year are Christmas
and Easter. And before each of these feasts, the whole church enters into a period
of reflection, preparation, and of retreat. Each of us individually, and all
of us collectively, go on a retreat to prepare to celebrate the most sacred mysteries
of our faith – the Easter Triduum. We prepare to celebrate the Last Supper
of Jesus in which he instituted the Mass, and commemorate good Friday in which
Jesus died and suffered so much out love for us, and of course the great celebration
of Easter. So our journey really begins today, already in anticipation of this
great feast. Preparation is such an important thing in our life. You probably
remember sitting down for an exam and thinking (at least I’ve thought it
before) “I wish I studied a little more last night.” We want to be
prepared. We want to be ready. The way that we ready ourselves in the spiritual
sense is traditionally through prayer, fasting, penance, and almsgiving. Let
me briefly try to give you some practical thoughts about each of those.
Prayer – we all pray. But, prayer is our lifeline to God and
it is important that we keep that line of communication going. I
realize how busy you are. It’s one of the things I find most
remarkable about many of you – how FULL your day is. And so
you may think “Prayer - now here’s another thing on top
of everything else!” But, I’d like for you to think about
it this way. In each day, there are 144 10-minute periods. There
are 144 blocks of time, only 10 minutes long. And maybe God is only
asking you for one of those. All of us should be able to do at least
that. Even if you think, “How can I do that?” You can
do it while you’re doing something else. Take, for instance,
getting ready in the morning. While you are getting ready – you
can be already praying, already opening your mind and heart to God
for just ten minutes.
Fasting - this is more than just the absence of something, like food.
We fast in order to be more aware and open to something else. I think
one of the best ways to fast is turn off the radio in our cars. Give
yourself just a little space, a little quiet, a little time to be
empty of noise and maybe to be open to something else. Maybe you
will hear a bird chirping or something else in nature, or the voice
of God or even your own thoughts and feelings that can quickly be
turned into prayer.
Penance – the awareness of our sinfulness. While for most of
us it is not a happy event, it is truly a gift. God allows us to
see the ways in which we are hurting ourselves and hurting others
and He invites us to be reconciled. It is much like when we become
aware of a medical condition. For example, we may realize we have
a sore throat and go to the doctor. The doctor writes a prescription
for some antibiotic and then we are healed. The awareness of our
sickness can be a gift because it can lead to healing. In the same
way, the awareness of the fact that we are sinners can lead to healing.
As we become aware of it, then we can turn to our Divine Physician
and ask for mercy and forgiveness. So during Lent, this is an opportunity
for us to bring our sins to the surface and to bring them to God
and be forgiven and be restored. I know you will have opportunities
this Lent to do that.
Almsgiving – it is not always just the big things we do. It
is not always about the big service events, the big projects. It
is often just being aware of what is around us. Maybe it is being
aware of the elderly couple across the street. Maybe it is a family
member that may be in a nursing home or in the hospital. Maybe it
is somebody who is going through a difficult time - one of your friends,
one of your peers. Almsgiving, in that sense, is becoming more aware
of others with an eye towards bringing them God’s love. Left
to ourselves, we can become too preoccupied with ourselves and miss
things that are right in front of us. Through our Lenten observance
we hope to be more aware of ways that we can be ambassadors of Christ
and bring His love to others.
I would just ask you to think about these things and what they mean
to you and try to make some practical resolution. It may mean going
to Mass one extra day a week. It might mean looking across the street
and thinking, “Can I help that person more?” It might
mean helping your family more, “Can I do something good?” Can
you clear out some thing in your life that is blocking you from having
a better relationship with God and with others?
May God bless you and may each of us, and all of us, use this time
wisely so that we may be prepared to celebrate with great joy the
great gift of Easter.
God Bless,
Rev. Richard F. Clancy
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