A Lenten Message from Father Brian
Dear Friends in Christ,
Our Lenten journey will soon begin. Ash Wednesday is February 17. So what is it that you are ready to meet and pray through in order to have the Paschal mystery unfold for you?
When we say, "Christ has died, Christ is risen, and Christ will come again," we come to know a spiritual truth that is both subtle and profound. We recognize that Jesus, after he had been baptized by John in the Jordan River, went off alone into the wilderness for 40 days, asking himself the question, "Who am I, this Jesus?" The answer he receives is the same one we too will receive. Everything that happened to Jesus will happen to us if we have a conversation with the Holy Spirit that draws on silence, honest deep questions, and human encounters.
Questions like: "Of all the things you have done in your life, which is the one you would most like to undo?" Which is the one that makes you happiest to remember? When you look at how you spend your time, what pleases you the most? Where do you feel most at home? What makes you sad? When do you know real joy? Is there any person in the world, or any cause, that if circumstances called for it, you would be willing to die for? If you had only one last message to leave to the handful of people who are most important to you, what would it be?
To hear yourself try to answer questions like these is to hear and meet the mystery of God in you. It is a way to live in faith and with Christ in our time. The answers reveal not only who you are, but also of what you are becoming and what you are failing to become.
It can be difficult to complete Lent alone. But if you keep the great tradition of sharing in the Sunday liturgy, make time to read inspirational accounts of other people’s relationships with God, look for more time to rest and pray, go for walks with a spiritual friend and offer yourself in service to others, then a holy Lent will emerge. If sackcloth and ashes begin the season and we keep spiritual disciplines along the way, then we are bound to find an Easter people at the end. Be sure to come along.
Prayerfully,
Fr. Brian
