SABBATICAL GREETING AND ENCOURAGEMENT FOR LENT FROM FR. HOWE!
Dear brothers and sisters,
By now it has been several weeks since you have heard from me. This First Sunday of Lent seemed a good occasion to send along word that all has gone well in this first stretch of my sabbatical and encouragement for each of you as Lent gets underway.
While I had originally intended to spend the entire sabbatical in Rome, not being able to secure a long-stay visa necessitated some creativity and trust in the Lord’s plan to stay stateside until I head to Rome on March 24th. No doubt, I’ve enjoyed a much slower pace of life, daily opportunities to reflect, read and write, some time with my dear parents, visits to some friends I don’t often see, and some good outdoor activities such as snowshoeing, cross-country skiing and walking. In recent days, tuning in on the Olympics has brought back memories of childhood. It has been years since I took much time at all to appreciate what the Olympics represents as a global moment of solidarity.
While I didn’t immediately escape the cold of winter (staying so far in MN, NJ, NY and CT-where everyone has blamed me for bringing the cold and where I’ve heard the constant refrain, ‘it’s better to visit in the summer!’), I’m blessed now to be spending a couple of weeks in California including participating in a workshop about the process of ‘saint making’ through the newly formed Center for Sainthood Studies. While in the Bay Area I will enjoy as much time outside as possible and visit a few of the California Missions planted by the indefatigable St. Junipero Serra and his Franciscan confreres. I will even spend a few days near Santa Cruz praying for the good people of Holy Cross parish and watching surfers.
What has this all to do with Lent? Well, it occurs to me (and to Mother Church who has chosen our scriptural readings for each day of this season) that Lent is about getting back to fundamentals. The first reading takes us back to the beginning of Genesis and the Gospel to Christ in the wilderness where He overcame the devil’s temptations as a prelude to the definitive victory of the Cross.
The Genesis reading resonates deeply with me during this time of sabbatical, reminding me to pay attention to God’s original plan in the creation of human persons: to be, to flourish, to cultivate creation, to delight in being creatures, to be in tranquil communion with one another and with God. Although the cunning of the serpent led Adam and Eve to disobedience and grasping after happiness on their own terms and while they experience the alienation from one and other and God which is sin, God’s original intention is not definitively thwarted. No, God intends to undertake a rescue mission and in the fullness of time He sent His Son. This is a season to get back to fundamentals: Holy Mass, daily prayer, frequent Confession, mortification and self-denial, works of mercy and kindness, fellowship in faith with beloved occasions like Fish Frys, Soup Suppers and Forty Hours on the horizon. This is a truly holy season which calls us to holiness through three key fundamentals: prayer, fasting and almsgiving.
One of the distinctive privileges of this time has been to offer Mass intentions for those that I love, both the living and deceased. Please know of my nearness in prayer through this time of Lent which brings daily invitations to renewal, conversion and a return to what is most fundamental in life.
-Fr. Howe