Dean of Identity | Mr Terry Thompson

Focusing on someone other than ourselves

I was fortunate to attend the Year 10 Ash Wednesday liturgy a week ago at Waterford Place. Year 10 teacher Mr Peter Ernst broke open the word for the students. This special and meaningful recount (repeated below) provided students in all stages of their faith journey with honest and practical advice to be the best version of themselves during this Lenten period. I hope you enjoy it and thank you, Peter.

Lent is a season where we find ourselves being invited by God in a profoundly personal way. Jesus invites us through the words, Come back to me, with all of your heart. And to the best of our ability, we respond we will! But sadly, we are human, and we are not quite ready yet; our hearts are not always in it. We avoid Jesus, we make up excuses, and we most often take the easy road. Simply put, we are not ready for God to love us. Today, we hear Matthew’s Gospel reading which challenges us to do three things during Lent as we try our best to respond to this call.

Almsgiving

The first is called almsgiving. This simply means that in a special way, during Lent, we are called to give all we can to people in need. That can be by helping, by sharing or by giving generously without the thought of receiving anything in return. And in today’s Gospel, Jesus reminds us not to blow our own trumpet about what we give but to do it humbly and quietly doing something without expecting anything in return. This makes volunteering for the Eddie’s Van an obvious choice or maybe organising some fundraising activities through our Lenten Appeal which is launched today. It truly will not be hard to find something we can do! Our Waterford Council may be able to direct our efforts over the next few weeks.

Praying

The second thing we are invited to do during Lent is to pray. Matthew’s Gospel reminds me that prayer is not for show but is a genuine time for reflection, quietness, and connection with self, family, and community. It is time to spend connecting with and understanding our spirituality. We are in prayer right now, and throughout this day, we might think about how we can take the time to privately pray during Lent. This can be in the morning, or maybe before we go to bed, or even taking what we do each afternoon a little more seriously when we pray The College Prayer.

Fasting

The third opportunity to join the Lenten journey is to fast. Fasting means going without and letting go of things that we don’t need in our lives. It means to cleanse and to simplify. The trick is that like Jesus’ time in the desert; we need to feel vulnerable; it has to be a sacrifice that pulls each of us out of our comfort zone. Perhaps we could help the environment by using less electricity. Maybe we could simplify our diets, spend less money, or become more socially conscious about the products that we purchase. Again, it is not difficult!

It doesn’t matter what we choose to do in any of these areas. Our choice will help us re-focus on someone other than ourselves. God is there with us, gently guiding us. In these next six weeks of Lent, we will journey with Jesus. We will be tempted together, pray together, and in doing so, we will touch our most inner thoughts and feelings, and finally, we will share in Jesus’ suffering and death on a cross. We will continue our journey, knowing that in six weeks, we will experience the joy of the resurrection at Easter.

Live Jesus in our Hearts…Forever.

Next Week

Monday: 7 Xavier Camp and Retreat at Maroon (all week)
Tuesday: Buckley House Mass – 7.45am (Chapel of the Holy Family)
Sunday: Kairos 2 at Maroon commences