From Father Grassi - March 11, 2007
A friend of mine, a father of two sons and two daughters, says his quiet time is at the end of the day when everyone else has gone to bed. He cleans the kitchen, lights two candles on the island, and then sits and reads or prays or writes. A retired priest I know uses his morning walking of his English Shepherd as a time for quiet time and solitude. I am up at 5:15am every morning and spend time before coming down for the 7am Mass to read, reflect or write. I also cherish special times like Taizé Prayer or listening to music while I am making a long drive like I did this past week to Union City, Pennsylvania. There is precious little opportunity for quiet and solitude in our lives. The television, the computer, the iPod, the cell phone, all of this and so much more make it difficult to journey inward. So we tend to live life on the surface, constantly distracted by the stimuli and the noises around us. Even as you read this, pause for a second and listen to all that you have subconsciously tuned out.
Lent, with its forty days, has always struck me as a mirror of Jesus’ forty days in the desert. I am also mindful of all the other times scripture tells us that Jesus went off to pray in the desert or on the mountain or even walking on the water.
There is still time this Lent for some serious solitude. I invite you to set aside a chunk of time where you can slow down your pace and your breathing, clear your mind, and open yourselves up to the presence of our loving God. Be creative. Take a walk. Lock yourself in your bedroom. Come to the rectory and ask to be let into the church to pray. Light a candle in a quiet corner of your house. Wake up early and sit in the usually noisy and busy kitchen. Go off by yourself on your lunch hour and sit alone sipping a hot tea.
You get the idea. Let’s all turn our Lenten journey quietly inward.
DJG
Filed under: From Fr. Grassi
