The Musical Priest

Tomorrow we begin our annual Lenten journey. I often find it helpful to have a guide in my prayer, someone to help me along as I walk with the Lord toward the awful triumph of Calvary.  This year, I would like to recommend a series of Lenten Reflections done by Father Pat McGrath, SJ. Pat is a recently ordained Jesuit priest and is a gifted homilist. These seven reflections offer an opportunity to reflect on the meaning and importance of Lent in our lives.  I've said this before, and I'll say it again: if we've entered into it with an open heart, our Lenten journey will not leave us unscathed ...there will be no "back to business as usual" on Easter Monday. Over these weeks, each of us has an opportunity to take stock of our relationship with the Lord and to ask how we might come to know Jesus more deeply, to follow him more nearly, and and to love him more dearly. If you can say, "AH!!! Now, back to normal" then you've missed the point of Lent. Our...

I went last night to a Taize prayer service held here at Mercy Center. Leading us in prayer was the venerable Sister Suzanne Toolan, RSM (Religious Sister of Mercy) perhaps known best for the composition of the hymn "I am the Bread of Life." Sister is one of the gentlest, most prayerful souls I have ever encountered. She's also fairly blunt: after impressing me an Jake Martin into service to move a cross, she informed us that "we were not brats" like two other Jesuit scholastics who had been enrolled in the program a few years ago. Knowing that Sister does not consider me "a brat" counts, in my book, as high praise! Our prayer began last night in the darkness of the chapel. A lone overhead light illuminated the crucifix while several small candles cast their light from the altar. There were quite a few people present: young and old, many of us interns, many of our directees. The first song we sang may be familiar to you: "Jesus, remember me when y...

Due to sickness, the priest who was to give a talk to a group of students last night was unable to attend and, upon the suggestion of a student in Gospel Explorations, I was invited to fill in. I had a really nice time chatting with the students and spent a great deal of time listening to them articulate their experience(s) of faith as college students. A quick poll indicated that every one of the students gathered owned an iPod. What I extended to them as advice for this season of Lent I will extend here as well: Often enough, we judge our Lenten journey on what we have given up. Surely, there is much to be said by the asceticism of denying oneself sweets or alcohol or refraining from swearing. But I think that the time of Lent can also be a period of deepening our relationship, of taking a little bit of time each day in order to place ourselves more closely by the side of Christ. I would suggest that this season each of us try to make some time for prayer. The website run by the Brit...