+ Today the Joyful Servants of the Cross celebrates the beginning
of the great introspective yet calming season of Lent. Our overarching theme this
year will be: “Open Your Hearts To The Lord: Praising and Thanking him for
EVERYTHING!”
Of course, for us at the
abbey, it will be a different kind of Lent, and a different kind of
introspection and calming, as now one of our own, and a co-founder with + Fr.
Peter Anthony, JSC, Abbot Guardian, and that would be Brother Richard Paul
Andre Steinberg, JSC RN, is now safely across the finish line, after going
through his own Lent, Last Supper, Passion, Crucifixion and is now awaiting,
where souls of the faithful go to wait, for the General Resurrection from the
Dead at the Second Coming of Christ – where we all will be reunited with our
bodies – and then welcomed into the new heavens and the new earth! Wow! What a
great and awesome day that will be!
And so, the first reading from
the Book of Joel exhorts us to “rend”
(open) our hearts, not our garments – its what goes on on the inside, the
heart and what comes from the heart this is important. And so, Lent is a time
to see what comes out of our hearts – and not a lot, hopefully, glitzy and
glamorous kinds of selfish and self-seeking motivations and actions: but, and
Br. Richard would LOVE this part: actions
from the heart like setting the captives free, clothing the naked, feeding the
hungry, fighting for justice, truth, and mercy, and not turning our backs on
our own! These things are more difficult to do because the human heart is
very fragile, but strong, it can be fickle, but “locked on” to a project of
mercy (corporal or spiritual) and great things can happen when we allow Christ
the Good Shepherd to act through us for the good of another.
The responsorial psalm
encourages us to plead with God for
mercy, for we have sinned – and perhaps often – in not doing these common
sense “works of love, compassion, forgiveness and charity” and the greatest
work of all: just plain LISTENING TO
ANOTHER PERSON who has so much to share, so much to teach us, so much to
instruct us on exactly how they need to be treated, nurtured, attended to, and
healed.
Yes, now is the acceptable
time to do these things – now is the Day of Salvation: now is the time for
GREAT THINGS TO HAPPEN, ENGENDERING HOPE, and lighting the Lamp of Vision,
Goal, and Eternity!
So, the gospel tells us to: GO FOR IT! LIVE, LOVE, BE AT PEACE!
God bless you and yours this
holy day of the Lord.
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