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Dear friends,
We don't want to wear out your welcome in your inbox, but for the next few weeks, we have decided to publish our newsletter every Sunday rather than every other Sunday. We hope to offer some inspiration in these challenging times.
The past few weeks have been extraordinary. Every day, we hear of difficult-to-understand decisions that affect people's lives. My heart is often heavy, my mind boggled, and my spirit moves from hope to despair and worry sometimes within the same hour. I am not alone in this flurry of emotions. Maybe together, we can forge our way to better times by sharing stories, strategies for coping, and resources that offer a way to help others. We welcome your ideas.
This week, we move into Lent, a time of fasting, almsgiving, and prayer. In the “olden days,” as my children like to refer to them, we observed Lent with precise rules for fasting and abstaining. Sometimes, figuring out how to feed a family given the rules of fasting and abstaining overshadowed the reason for the practice. My mother struggled to prepare meals that six children and a husband could agree on during Lent. I do not remember much about almsgiving, but service was emphasized and prayer always ranked high during Lent. Daily Mass was a common practice. All of this was meant to remind us and engage us in the sacrifice Jesus made dying on the cross. Lent was serious business in our house.
The structure of Lent in my youth left no room for error. The rules were clear, and we followed them without question. Times have changed. Lent is still set aside each year to reflect with Jesus on his forty days in the desert, but we do it with more open and gentle hearts.
Pope Francis has offered creative ideas on fasting over the years, including:
· Fasting from hurting words to kind words.
· Fasting from sadness to the embrace of gratitude.
· Fasting from anger to patience.
· Fasting from pessimism to hope.
· Fasting from worries to trust in God.
· Fasting from complaints to the contemplation of simplicity.
Sirach, in today’s first reading and Jesus in the gospel, comment on speech that offers ideas for Lenten practices. Sirach, advises us, “ When a sieve is shaken, the husks appear; so do one’s faults when one speaks.” Jesus said, “A good person out of the store of goodness in his heart produces good, but an evil person out of a store of evil produces evil, for from the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks.”
Words mattered in ancient times, and they matter now. Words give us an indication of how a speaker thinks, perhaps a window into their soul. Our words give others a view of our souls.
Over the past few years, we have witnessed the misuse of words, words used publicly to humiliate or badger individuals or groups of people. We have seen civil discourse deteriorate into ugly shouting matches.
While all of Pope Francis's ideas listed above are worthwhile, adopting his concept of fasting from hurtful words to kind words might be a valuable practice to consider this Lent.
Peace to each of you as we approach Ash Wednesday,
Anne
Please scroll down for information about our pilgrimage to Italy and an upcoming Zoom meeting explaining the trip in detail.
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