May I make a public confession? Since I was little I have struggled with Lent. I am not exactly sure why, but I suspect many others do too. Perhaps it is the long 40 days contemplating our Blessed Lord and all that he suffered and the reminder of our own mortality. But Lent always comes exactly when I need it and most, especially Ash Wednesday. This past Ash Wednesday was especially meaningful for me at my parish, St. Paul’s in Edgewood. We had the privilege of having the Chancellor of our Diocese, Father Timothy D. Reilly, celebrate the noontime Mass. As I looked around our full church, I was filled with joy that so many were in attendance. And, when Father came out to celebrate the Mass, he had so much joy about saying Mass at St. Paul’s I wanted to stand up and cheer! I know, it was the beginning of Lent, something I struggle with, but I believe Father was seeing the whole “story” and I was focusing on the reality of our own mortality a little too much.
As Father started saying the Mass with that joyful presence overflowing, I could recall two homilies I heard, one long ago as a student at Providence College from Father Thomas Urban Mullaney, O.P., and one recently in January at St. Paul’s from our very own shepherd, Bishop Thomas J. Tobin. Father Mullaney reminded us as his students and also in his preaching we are “Easter” people and Jesus would never abandon his people. And, Bishop Tobin at the annual Pro-life Mass reminded us that our church has a legacy of pro-Life courage and the Holy Spirit is fueling us with Grace to fight the good fight and to know He is victorious. Both of those messages came flooding into my heart as Father Reilly celebrated Mass.
But then something quite odd happened as Father began his homily. He told us about when his nephew Cam was five years old. He said Cam was afraid to get ashes on Ash Wednesday and asked Father: “Will it hurt me?” Father looked at us at St. Paul’s and then said: “Maybe Cam’s reaction is the reaction we should all have in a way. That the ashes should make us feel a little uncomfortable because we all have the sting of sin and death as part of our lives too.” But then Father reminded us that the English word “Lent” means “spring season” and we have “forty days to give blossom to his deepening love in our hearts and the Holy Spirit is with us each step of the way; and we know He will never leave his people orphaned.”
I shall continue to ponder Father Reilly’s words and the words of Father Mullaney and Bishop Tobin as I am struggling less now with Lent. It took the “words” of three wise priests and even a little five-year-old to renew my spirit this Lenten season. Thank you Bishop Tobin, Father Reilly, my beloved Dominican professor, Father Mullaney, O.P. , and Cam.
Robert E. Burns, a parishioner at St. Paul’s Parish in Edgewood, is a professor of speech and communication at Bridgewater State University in Massachusetts.
