February 25, 2018

Dear Parishioners and Friends of St. Mary’s of the Lake:

The 3 traditional Lenten disciplines are: PRAYING, FASTING and ALMSGIVING. In this Pastoral Note, I’d like to draw your attention to Prayer. Our prayer can take
various forms: In silence or out loud, formalor spontaneous, individual or communal.  

May I suggest that you take some time this Lent for some SILENT PRAYERS --maybe
for quiet reflections on some Bible passages, for being in church in front of
the Blessed Sacrament, for some spiritual readings, or just for personal reflections on the meanings of Lent and Easter. In our active culture and busy lifestyle, silence or tranquility can be seen just as a ‘waste of time’.
We may be tempted to think that our time would be better spent doing something more ‘productive!’ However, it does take effort for us to quiet down for some reflections; and silent prayers can be very ‘fruitful’ or ‘productive.’ In nourishing some silent prayer, may I invite you to reflect on what Pope Francis teaches us in his homily this past Ash Wed about ‘PAUSE A LITTLE’ as follows:

 PAUSE A LITTLE, leave behind the unrest and commotion that fill the soul with bitter feelings which never get us anywhere. Pause from this compulsion to a fast-paced life that scatters, divides and ultimately destroys time with family, with friends, with children, with grandparents, and time as a gift... time with God.

 PAUSE FOR A LITTLE WHILE, refrain from the need to show off and be seen by all, to continually appear on the ‘noticeboard’ that makes us forget the value of intimacy and recollection.

 PAUSE FOR A LITTLE WHILE, refrain from haughty looks, from fleeting and pejorative comments that arise from forgetting tenderness, compassion and reverence for the encounter with others, particularly those who are vulnerable, hurt and even immersed in sin and error.

 PAUSE FOR A LITTLE WHILE, refrain from the urge to want to control everything, know everything, destroy everything; this comes from overlooking gratitude for the gift of life and all the good we receive.

 PAUSE FOR A LITTLE WHILE, refrain from the deafening noise that weakens and confuses our hearing, that makes us forget the fruitful and creative power of silence.

 PAUSE FOR A LITTLE WHILE, refrain from the attitude which promotes sterile and unproductive thoughts that arise from isolation and self-pity, and that cause us to forget going out to encounter others to share their burdens and suffering.

 PAUSE FOR A LITTLE WHILE, refrain from the emptiness of everything that is instantaneous, momentary and fleeting, that deprives us of our roots, our ties, of the value of continuity and the awareness of our ongoing journey.

 PAUSE in order to look and contemplate!

 HOLY HOUR: Consider spending some time in front of the Blessed Sacrament for prayers & reflections during the Holy Hour FIRST FRIDAY March 3rd beginning at 9 am.

God Bless! 
Fr. Philip