Holy Week

Friends, we are fully in Holy Week. Oh boy!

First, I’d like to catch you up on a few things, particularly recent radio interview. Three to catch up on:

Monday, March 8: It' ain’t too late to Lent. Listen here.

Thursday, March 18: How to prepare for Easter and not get all whiplashed by going from fast to feast. Listen here. (starts at ~20:58)

Monday, March 29: Reflecting on spiritual lessons of the past year, and how this Easter is different than last. Listen here. (starts at about 24:00 minutes)

The other thing is, I cannot help but be a tiny bit sad that March is coming to an end and therefore so is the time of extra special devotion to St. Joseph. Now, obviously, one can honor him any ol’ time. But March is his month, and so I will just say, I am glad for his presence and patronage.

And now, we enter Holy Week. As I said in the interview this morning, a church I sometimes attend in DC would have had all kinds of fancy stuff going on this week. Masses and lectures and confessions and things involving bells and incense. But I don’t mind. I will stick with my humble and beloved home parish, and do the Triduum, and be really dang grateful for the fact my church is even open. Last year it wasn’t. Yikes.

Further, I realize I no longer have the need to reflect on the way things were, or to even miss them. They just aren’t like that anymore; what’s the point of living in the past? All things are in God’s hands, everything eventually renews itself, the seasons pass, the leaves change, the flowers come up, our lives go on. This, too, shall pass, as they say.

May you have a blessed, peaceful, fruitful Holy Week.

Audio of a conversation about how you're entering Lent

And I mean entering in a rather literal way! The topic of my discussion with John and Glen on Morning Air yesterday was about your disposition going into Lent. As I wrote in my last post, it is as if you are entering a room, and must be properly attired, and carrying the right things.

Here’s the audio, and my part start around 24:36. Note the moment at the end when I introduce our hosts to the term “accountabilibuddy” - an accountability buddy. Chuckles ensue.

I received ashes last night. I know many places were just sprinkling on the head, but we did the full on cross. It was nice, and normal. Amazing to think we are creeping up on the one year anniversary of all this, and to recall how last year’s Lent was spent alone, at home. Ah, the things I now know better than to take for granted.

Lastly, Pray More Novenas is starting their novena to St. Michael the Archangel tomorrow, and you can sign up here. I wonder if with his sword he can end this pandemic, and its restrictions on life.

Preparing for Lent

Well, we are here. I will first say, somehow, this Lent feels different from last year, despite it still occurring during the unusual events of the now year-long pandemic and all its accompanying restrictions. It is different both because at least churches - or my church, anyway - are open, so I can attend Mass and adoration, and pray the Stations of the Cross, and overall generally properly observe this liturgical season, which was not possible in 2020.

It is also different, though, because I am used to all the “this.” And I have noticed in the past few weeks that, surprisingly, I have experienced an interior change as a result. It is mostly about patience and trust in God. And I will leave it at that.

So this Wednesday, February 17, which is Ash Wednesday, I will be on Morning Air at 8:30 am eastern to talk about Lent. For reference, you can check out an article I wrote a couple year ago, called Rethinking Lent. The contents of that article are basically what I’ll be talking about with John and Glen: that Lent is not just about giving up, but about adding, and it is never intended to be a test of your will and self-control - so don’t treat it that way.

To that end, a few thoughts: I am thinking of the days leading up to this major liturgical season as if I were preparing to enter a room. And it is as if in order to enter that room - the room in which you meet Jesus, in which you become closer to God - you must be properly dressed and carrying the proper things.

So, to prepare: there are ways to physically prepare for Lent. Remove or hide (or consume!) all the sweets and alcohol. Set your Faith Direct account up for additional almsgiving. Buy a new rosary. Remove the books, movies, or entertainment subscription services which will distract you (same goes for social media). Enter the time now in your calendar that you will spend in prayer each day, or the weekday Mass you will attend each week. And so on.

But one must also prepare interiorly: sweet out the cobwebs, look directly at your relationship with Jesus and see it for what it is, and make time to ask God for the grace that you seek during this time. Ask it now. Identify your ideals and carry them into the room you are entering.

For me, I will be doing the usual abstaining from sweets and alcohol, and I am “adding” a prayer retreat of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. I may choose to fast from other things, like music, or TV during the week, but it won’t be as important.

This removing of comforts and attachments serves to clear the landing for God to enter. So if you give these things up, have them again on Sundays, because it keeps you from the vanity of weight loss and impressing yourself with the strength of your own strong will, or believing you give things up as a result of your own strength, as opposed to God’s.

If you’d like to listen Wednesday, you can do that here.

One last thought, on intentions and ideals: for some reason this morning in my usual daily prayer, as I was thinking about Lent, I had the urge to pray for honesty, specifically within the Church. Recall that during Lent, ALL of the Church is praying, and you are united in that way. So I pray for the grace of honesty, including in myself, but particularly in our Church and the leaders of this country. Not in a, and let them be punished, kind of way. But that our leaders would sincerely feel in their hearts the desire for honesty. Seems a good request to take into the room of Lent.