Gratitude Amidst Change & Rebirth
Dear Fellow Parishioners of Our Lady of Divine Providence Family,
We are nearing Lent! This Wednesday, February 18, is Ash Wednesday. On Ash Wednesday, we are offering an experimental 6:30 AM Mass for those who would like to attend Mass before going to work. If it is popular, we may consider making that available more often.
I would encourage you to embrace the Lenten season to the fullest, to make the most of the possibilities it offers. When we fast, pray, and give alms, we open our hearts for change and transformation. Please make this Lent a meaningful one – don’t just give up chocolate, but rather, seek to truly challenge yourself. Prayer and penance is not about trying to get God’s attention or the attention of others, but rather it’s about disciplining our attention and our desires, so that we can give ourselves fully to God and our neighbor.
Everything we have is a gift, and so we owe an existential debt (that we can never fully repay) to God, the Church, our country, and our parents. This Lenten season is an opportunity for us to give our all in everything we do, to rededicate ourselves to acting in ways to bring out the best in us. If we give our best to everything and everyone, we begin to repay that debt. Giving our best to everything we do resets our attention and fuels our willingness to sacrifice, which sets us free from complaining and self-centeredness.
As a faith community, we can embrace our Mass schedule change with this attitude of gratitude and generosity, and that will produce greater vitality in our parishes. This is the last weekend of the old Mass schedule. Next week begins the new Family schedule, an important step forward in the unification of our Family and our mobilization for mission. As we welcome newcomers to our parishes or we find ourselves worshiping in a new space, let us turn outward toward our neighbors with generosity and gratitude.
The Holy Spirit is alive and well and renewing the Church in our time. One example of this is the rebirth of religious life. Though familiar orders are declining in many places, newer religious orders are flourishing. One beautiful example is The Consoling Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (consolingsisters.org). Originally based in Italy, they have expanded to America and India and are moving to Africa. They are dedicated to joy and reverence, and my friend Claire LaJoye recently joined them. You may recognize her name, as her parents requested that several Masses be said for her, and I’ve mentioned her in a homily or two. She composed a song about the challenge and joy of prayer (see video). The sisters in her order wear habits, a big sacrifice in hot weather, and she is filled to the brim with vitality, energy, and contagious joy. She and her religious sisters are only one example of holy renewal in the Church. Other religious orders, such as the Dominicans, Carmelites, Children of Mary, and many new and faithful orders are enjoying the same abundant life.
This abundant life comes from the Cross and flows through us by our union with the Cross. Consider these words from Fr. Donald Haggerty:
Mysteriously, if we give it lasting attention, a crucifix will compel a desire for some sort of immolation…. We will probably not find a saint in the Church’s history who did not at some point in life become fixated, consumed, conquered by the sight of Jesus as God on a Roman cross of crucifixion. The gazing on the crucifix remains a sacred entry into greater love for God.
Yours in Christ, with Mary,
Fr. Henry Hoffmann
Song by Claire LaJoye about the challenge and joy of prayer.
