“Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.” This is a message we really need to hear this Lenten season. When we were interrupted in the middle of Lent last year by the pandemic, having to shelter at home and suspend so much of our life that was in-person, including Mass, little did we know that we would be commemorating the beginning of Lent this year still in the reality of the pandemic. It was surreal celebrating Holy Week last year with only the members of my parish staff present. This year, I was alone on Ash Wednesday, streaming the Mass myself, in the midst of the harsh winter weather that has us confined to our homes. Our parking lot has been so icy this week that I can barely get around. I was looking at my posts on my blog, and saw a post from this week in 2013, when we received the surprise announcement that Pope Benedict was stepping down. That I did not expect either. Life can deal us a lot of surprises, can’t it? There are some very happy surprises and some very troubling surprises. But, as it states in the first psalm, we are called to place our hope in the Lord in the midst of all of the reality of the world and the reality of our lives. We don’t always know what each day will bring, but the faith and hope we place in the Lord is always there.
I pray that Lent be a great opportunity for us this year as we practice our disciplines of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. We may be going through a good time in our lives right now or it may be in a time of struggle and great difficulty. Certainly the challenges and stresses of the pandemic are there with us, that is for sure. No matter where we are in our journey, we are called to place our trust in the Lord.
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