Lenten Reflection from Lou Anne Tighe

April 8, 2020

What is on my mind today?

What is on my heart today?

What challenges am I facing?

Who is my “elder” I can call?

On Ash Wednesday, the +Sign of the Cross+ was traced across our foreheads with “Remember you are dust and to dust you shall return,” or, “Repent and believe in the Gospel.”

On the First Sunday of Lent, the Gospel of Matthew was proclaimed at every Catholic mass throughout the world. After his baptism, Jesus, led by the Holy Spirit, retreated to the desert and fasted forty days and forty nights.  Not being tempted by three illusions offered by the devil, the angels waited on Him (MT 4.1-11).

Many of us have listened to this story numerous times. Maybe now we hear in a whole new context. Lent 2020 means living in a desert of unknowing. Advised by those concerned for humankind, we must keep a good distance, work and study from home and buy only one package of toilet paper per visit. Yet led by the Holy Spirit we are called to be visible, living signs of God’s unconditional love. Embrace this solitary time as blessed and not an imposed isolation. Let the distance become a concrete act of solidarity with those who are sick, those who are entrusted to our care and every dear neighbor throughout the world. 

Whether or not we welcome this time or endure these restrictions, we can learn from those who physically lived in the desert in order to seek God.

The Apophthegmata Patrum, the Sayings of the Fathers, was a collection of stories beginning in 4-5th centuries a.d. (n.b., the title is a misnomer:  the Desert Mothers also contributed to the Sayings but were not included at the time). They lived fully and faithfully by Christ’s beatitude: “Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God” (MT 5.8).

For in the desert, there can be clarity about what is true and what is illusion; what is essential to life and what is not. Amidst its stark beauty and vastness, all pretenses fall away and defense mechanisms become quite apparent. Realizing what was no longer, they discovered a deeper connection with others even though far apart. And they discovered the power of naming those falsehoods and distractions to an elder as a practice of solidarity and encounter with God’s immense grace.

Throughout these days and weeks of “Stay at Home,” we have the potential to face a radical self-honesty and an opportunity to express the thoughts of our hearts. This practice of the Desert Fathers and Mothers might truly bring spiritual renewal, i.e., a practical resurrection with Christ. Identifying our concerns, anxiety, and challenges, our joys, hopes, and promises with an elder can mean a new life. Elders are not necessarily therapists or doctors, they can be anyone with the capacity to listen without judgment; because it is one’s trust in God and naming out loud that holds liberation and grace. 

So…

What is on your mind today?

What is on your heart today?

What challenges are you facing?

Who is an “elder” you can call?

Gracious God, 

Create in us a pure heart and

May your steadfast Spirit dwell in us.

Lead us to embrace this day as an opportunity to see You

Within our world, communities, families, homes and especially within our hearts.

Help us to know what leads us away from You and

Offer us the grace to lean on our elders.

We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord,

Who knew exactly what it meant to dwell in the desert.

Amen.

Raiders are encouraged to check Instagram every school day for the school prayer or a daily reflection shared by members of our community.