We begin our forty day journey this Wednesday, February 26
th a.k.a. Ash Wednesday. These forty days are a microcosm of our entire life’s journey. The disciplines of Lent, namely, prayer, fasting, and almsgiving are aimed at bringing our life back into balance. I think we can all agree that it is all too easy to lose our focus and can find ourselves overindulging in or becoming consumed by work, worry, fear, money, video games, food, “smart” phones, social media, bad habits etc. …things that little by little shift more and more of our attention from God to ourselves. Left unchecked, there is a danger that we may become so hooked or addicted to these things that we may be left forever staring into our screens (television or cellphone) living in a virtual reality munching on the forbidden apples from the tree of the Garden of Eden. We can almost hear the echo of the evil one’s voice whispering or hissing into our ear, “Never mind what God wants, what about you? Here have a look…take a bite.”
Thank you God…there is
another voice calling us to “come away with Me to a deserted place.” It is the voice of our Lord and Brother, calling us away from the fleeting, distracting, and often poisonous things of the world into the desert. This desert is called LENT. Does fasting from the comforts of the world, moderating our intake of essentials like food, giving away our treasured commodities like time and money sound daunting? Fearful? Unpleasant? Unwanted? Unattractive? Great! These are all signs that you and I both really in need of a good trip into the desert!! Creating a desert space like this is not a
fun experience. It is most definitely a
needed experience, however. In this barren desert, away from the smog of the world, we are able to see and hear more clearly. It may help us to realize just how barren and empty our lives and hearts have become…that the things we thought nourished or completed us in the world have left us quite empty. It is here that we can discover or re-discover that our
true food is the Word of God…that all that we will ever need is found in Christ. Do we
really believe this? Do we really believe He is our all and our everything?
Lent is a wonderful opportunity to discover and embrace this very reality. The disciplines of Lent (prayer, fasting, and almsgiving) are not ends in themselves. They are tools and means to create a little space for the Lord. In other words, Lent isn’t simply about self-improvement. It’s not about finally getting on to that healthy diet (fasting) we’ve been meaning to follow to trim off a few pounds (or in my case to add a few?!). It’s not about ending forty days with a fit body, mastery over a language, a completed reading list, all “to-do” list items checked-off, bills paid, and being caught up on all mail and social correspondences. None of those things are bad…they can certainly be a part of the Lenten experience but they shouldn’t become the goal. The goal is to fill the desert space with conversations with the Lord (prayer), to allow Him to fill the emptiness of our hearts with His peace, His joy, His love i.e. HIMSELF. In fact, He wishes to give Himself to us over and over again throughout the
entire year, not
just during Lent. How many times have we inadvertently pushed Him aside for the sake of: (
insert your own false gods here)? In the desert of Lent we have the opportunity to realize just how sick we have become from all of those “rotten apples” we have been consuming. In this gift of the desert of Lent, let us allow the Lord to feed us, His sheep, with true food: the very Bread of Life…Himself…the One who literally loved us to death. There is
nothing that gives Him greater joy.
Let us begin our Lenten journey together this Wednesday by not only marking ourselves with ashes but by marking and nourishing our souls with the Bread of Life in Holy Communion during our Ash Wednesday Masses. The dust/ashes on our heads remind us that we are nothing without Christ. So let us receive The Christ at Mass in His Word and the Holy Eucharist so that we may know true food and have eternal life. For those who would like to begin the day with a prayer and imposition of ashes before school or work, feel free to stop by the church between 6:00 am and 8:00 am. Hopefully you will be able to join us later in the day for our Masses at: 8 am, 12 pm, 4 pm, 7 pm, or 8 pm in Spanish. Please note as well, to enrich your desert experience, every Friday during Lent we have Stations of the Cross at 7 pm, Mass at 7:30 pm, and a Holy Hour with confessions from 8 pm – 9 pm. Confessions are also every Saturday from 4 pm – 5 pm and/or by appointment at any time day or night. Please mark Monday April 6
th on your calendar as well. Confessions will be heard all day from 3 pm – 9 pm in every Catholic Church in the Archdiocese of New York including St. Anthony’ of course. There will be a special “LENT” link on the home page of our website:
www.sapwh.org with all kinds of resources and reminders to help you on your Lenten journey.
Know that I will be keeping all of you in prayer and will be counting on yours as well. Please pray as well for all of our high school and adult candidates who are preparing to celebrate the Sacraments of Initiation at Easter this year.