Lent - More Than "Patch" Work

I write on the night of Ash Wednesday from the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception. We are winding up our Ash Wednesday Day of Quiet.  It’s a day here that is a radical contrast to most Catholic Churches today. Instead of thousands coming to the Church, we gather as a community of thirty or so to begin Lent in a solemn and contemplative way.  I wonder if the experiences of the Seminary today  might give each of us some good insight and ideas.

Msgr. Fink preaches on Good Friday, 2010.

Our day began, as most mornings do, with Morning Prayer. Msgr. Fink, the Director of Spiritual Formation and my Spiritual Director, presided and preached at Morning Prayer.  He spoke about the three traditions of the Lenten season – prayer, fasting and almsgiving. These are all things we try – in one way or another – to more actively engage in during Lent.  For example, today is a day of fast and we abstain from meat. We tend to pray more, publicly and privately. We often “go the extra mile” to help the other during the season. All good things! Msgr. Fink’s challenge acknowledged the goodness of these things. However, the hope of the Lenten journey is that these are not just Lenten things – or things that we add on for 40 days – but actions and habits that become a real part of our lives.  That they not just be “patches” but become part of the tapestry of who we are and who we seek to become.

We continued in silence after Morning Prayer and throughout the day, including meals. I have come to see the need for and to love the quiet in my life. It’s not something I can do all the time, but there’s a great value to it on so many levels.  There are fewer distractions and it makes it easier to focus. There are times, though, we need to be called to it. Even this morning, I spoke to a friend and said, “Let’s talk a little more about what we spoke about yesterday after lunch.” To which he replied, “I cannot speak to you today, I need to get myself together.” A good reminder for me!  How easy it is to slip out of the silence.

Bishop Murphy leads Ash Wednesday Prayer Services at St. John's.

During the day, too, we had the opportunity to go to Confession, to make appointments with our Spiritual Director or other faculty members to talk about whatever was on our mind or what we would like to work on in the upcoming season.  Bishop Murphy visited the Seminary today as he has done on Ash Wednesday for the last 10 years. It’s become a tradition for Bishop Murphy to begin his day at St. John the Baptist Diocesan High School in the morning and the Seminary in the afternoon. So for the past 10 years, Bishop Murphy and I have celebrated Ash Wednesday together – one way or another.

At the end of the day, Bishop Murphy celebrated Mass with us. He called on us to recognize the presence of failure in our lives, our world, even our Church.  In that recognition, we’re called to hope that like a common Lenten hymn contains, “We will rise again from ashes”.  The day concludes with the opportunity for Eucharistic Exposition and we will all gather for Night Prayer tonight in the Chapel.

Ash Wednesdays like today are good but for seminarians it’s probably not something we should get too used as this is one of the busiest days in parish life. Yet, in the time and space we are afforded here we can reflect on the call of Lent to not just add or simply take away things in our lives, but to acknowledge where work is needed and seek to not “patch” things up but transform them.

Happy Lent!

Here is a great video about Lent from Archbishop Dolan! Click here.