Third Sunday of Lent

We are now upon the Third Sunday of Lent. FWe are now upon the Third Sunday of Lent. For sixteen days now we have been carrying our crosses with Christ and gathering each Sunday at the Lord’s Table in a state of rest and relaxation. We have drawn comfort and instruction from Sacred Scripture, gathered together in community to break bread, and enjoyed each other within the spirit of our faith in so many different ways. I feel that as each year passes, this wonderful place that defines our Christian Family only gets better. It provides peace, comfort, solace, and love enriched by the Living Water of Our Lord Jesus Christ mentioned in the Scriptures today.

As I reflect on our journey thus far, my mind goes back to the First Sunday of Lent and the Gospel Reading with Jesus going out in the desert for 40 days. My heart sunk a little bit because I realize that I am doing the same thing this weekend. As you read this pastoral letter, I will already be gone, gathering with my Deacon Brothers on our yearly retreat. We will be at Campion, the former location of the Jesuits’ Weston School of Theology and its current Provincial Headquarters (there is a general feeling that Father Walsh knows everyone here). Even though this is necessary and will be a wonderful experience, it is still strange and unique to be away from my parish and family homes during this Lenten Season. I will not be breaking bread at the Lenten Supper or be at the Stations of the Cross. I will not be at mass and my weekend will not scheduled around various appointments and activities at the church. I will be withdrawn from the world and, in some aspects, alone with Christ in my own spiritual desert oasis. This in itself is a perfect image for Lent and I will definitely carry it with me.

It is truly beautiful how the Gospel Reading from the First Sunday of Lent fits perfectly with that of the third. We have that vision of the parched, barren desert with Christ being at its center. Then we have Jesus professing that He is that Living Water which we all must quench our thirst with. All the more, we are challenged to place ourselves in that desert and suffer the sweltering heat and the merciless winds that cause the sand to rip into our flesh. We are laid bare and helpless against the elements; our sins and humanness exposed as what they are. Then, at that very moment where we feel our lives coming to an end, there is Christ to quench our thirst and give it back to us. He is there is cradle us and tend to our wounds. Through Him, we become whole again.

During this season, there should be times such as these where we strip ourselves bare before Christ and surrender ourselves to His will. Through this exercise, we are more susceptible to Him: we answer His call to love Him and He touches us. We then wait in anticipation for the Spirit to move us and for us to feel Christ’s love. There is a special grace through suffering and sacrifice. Saint John of the Cross taught this and the Book of Job reflects on this. This is also what the Church teaches us through the Season of Lent: loss is actually gain and sacrifice is actually reward. And the ultimate reward comes with the Easter Joy but only after the Passion of the Christ.

I invite you all to take these images from the Gospels and meditate on them. Those that are read in the coming weeks should also be contemplated. Believe me, they all fit together. It is a wonderful exercise to actually meditate on the scripture throughout the week and have it enrich your Lenten Journey. No one can even begin to comprehend the journey without including Sacred Scripture. It is part of the Living Water which nourishes our soul.

The third full week is before us. Our journey has just begun. Let us go back out into the desert to find that Spiritual Oasis. There, I can promise you there is one very special friend waiting there for us.

I hope you are having a wonderful weekend. Pray for me and I shall be praying for you.

Yours in Christ,

Deacon Tom

Lent 2011

I truly hope you all are experiencing a truly fulfilling Lenten Season thus far. This past week we have had a 24 Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament to mark the beginning of Lent, Exposition and Stations of the Cross on Friday, and our traditional Lenten Soup Supper. What a wonderful way to celebrate a wonderful season. For many of us, there seems to be a convergence of many different duties and obligations this time of year and these celebrations offer a welcome escape from a life that can oftentimes be overbearing and demanding. I encourage everyone to participate in what your individual parishes offer to more fully experience what Christ and the Church has to offer.

Winter is receding and the weather in changing. As you can see, there is not much snow left on the ground. This is where the sins of Autumn are revealed: the unraked leaves and clutter in the yard are now fully exposed again. Our “To Do Lists” become a little longer while to good weather beckons us outside. We are called forth from our caves. Spring Clean-Up is close at hand as well as Opening Day, fishing, and other activities. At the same time, we are called to examine our faith, our life, and all of our relationships; especially with Our Lord Jesus Christ. There is a lot there, especially when you factor in the state of the economy and current events that offer the possibility of a loved-one going overseas or being an obstacle in front of some natural disaster.

As it does in so many different circumstances, Sacred Scripture offers us some valuable insight into this season. Immediately following His Baptism, Jesus goes off into the desert and disappears from public view. Imagine the impact this had. His baptism was a public event where the Trinity appears it all its glory: the Spirit Descending in the form of a dove and God the Father proclaiming, “This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.” Then, He was gone; alone in the wilderness.

We are invited to do the same. We are encouraged to remove ourselves from our worldly surroundings and find our own spiritual wilderness; just us and Christ. We are encouraged to visualize Christ before us, waiting for us to talk to Him, to open our hearts, and bring forth all that we keep inside: our faults, our sins, shortcomings, and pain. He wants us to lay everything bare and empty ourselves completely. Christ becomes our oasis, our central focus; a place of security and safety. From there, we can truly get to know Him and deepen our relationship with Him.

The visualization of a desert is perfect. There are no distractions or obstacles. There is only emptiness except for Christ. Our eyes and attention are naturally transfixed on Him. We examine Him in all of His humanness. What a wonderful state of being that is: to be alone with Christ and to break bread with Him. As we surrender something to God this Lenten Season, thee is an emptiness that brings us back to the reason why we sacrifice: the emptiness REMINDS us of Christ constantly. You see, when we fast we are hungry. Why are hungry? Because we chose to surrender something to God to share in His Eternal Sacrifice. His words should ring all the more true: “You cannot live on bread alone.” If we choose, we can truly try. There are those who do. They cloud their lives with worldly surroundings and indulge themselves constantly. In the end, they only encounter emptiness, for what they are pursuing is something that ends as quickly as it began. As Ecclesiastes says: “The sun rises and the sun sets,

and hurries back to where it rises.” Why chase after something that is gone almost as soon as you get it?

Here, we are building a home. We lay the foundation by practicing our faith and living our faith. Together, we continue to build that house intricately putting the pieces together. The skills in one area that one may lack another has and shares. We all help each other in our own way. As the house rises from its foundations, we invite others to come and join us. Through this process, we get to know each other more and understand ourselves all the more.

Just as in any major project, everyone gets tired. There are those who will slow down or start getting sloppy. There there are those who will abruptly say, “I quite,” throw down their hammer, and walk away. I can safely say that we all have been there. That is the exact time when we need to take that journey into the desert and be tended to by Christ; to be given that Living Water and to be nourished by Him. We can lay our heads gently on His lap and be comforted. Then He can lift us up and together we can carry our crosses to continue our journey.

We all need that time in the desert; a time away from responsibilities and pressures. Here, we can truely examine our conscious and open ourselves up to Christ. There, things become all the more clearer.

As well, we should keep all of ourselves in our prayers as we journey forward to build up what no man can tear down: our home.