RBWords - Volume 32 - Number 2: February 2019
Something to Think About
SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT:
I must confess that Lent has caught me by surprise this year. I don't know if it is a matter of aging (I turned 77 on Feb. 25) or inattention or spending more time at home and not being on the road fulltime anymore. I find myself asking, "What am I going to DO for Lent?" Maybe a better question might be, "What (or Who) am I going to BE for Lent?"
We here at St. Elizabeth University Parish are bracing for the biggest attendance crowd of the whole calendar or liturgical year. There is something about Ash Wednesday that brings people out of the woodwork to church that even Christmas and Easter cannot match. If they all intend to have a serious Lent and not just create 40 days of craving for what they are "giving up," then there will be some good ''rending of hearts" as the prophet Joel speaks about in the first scripture of the day.
My Dominican heritage directs me to four important "pillars" in our life: Prayer, Study, Community and Ministry. I make questions of them, like How am I praying, How am I learning, How am I loving, How am I serving. These questions can help me to BE a better Dominican friar, but I think anyone could use them. I pray that all my Beloved Readers will have a fruitful Lent! IT'S SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT.
It Has Been Said
"To be able to enjoy fully the many good things the world has to offer, we must be detached from them. To be detached does not mean to be indifferent or uninterested. It means to be nonpossessive. Life is a gift to be grateful for and not a property to cling to."
a quotation from Henri Nouwen, in BREAD FOR THE JOURNEY