Reflections by Bishop Gerald. F. KicanasReflections by Bishop Gerald. F. Kicanas
The Church’s liturgical year begins with the longing and waiting of the Advent season. It draws us into the awesome mystery of God, made man on Christmas. Such is God’s love for us that he sent His only Son, One like us in all things but sin.
We celebrated just a few weeks ago the octave of important and festive feasts that come with Christmas – Holy Innocents, Mary, the Mother of God, The Epiphany, the Baptism of the Lord. It is that feast which teaches us that Christ came to carry out a mission that He has passed on to us.
That mission? We are to live as He lived. We are to love as He loved. We are to serve as He served.
After a period of Ordinary time, a sort of breather in the liturgical year, we now are on the threshold of the penitential season of Lent. White and green will turn to purple. From the childlike joys of Christmas, we now are preparing to be somber and reflective. We lament how far we are from the beloved sons and daughters of God that we are called to be. We seek “metanoia.”
All of us need Lent, a time to take stock of our lives as disciples of Christ commissioned by our baptism, as Christ was commissioned by His, to be instruments of God’s love in our day and in our time.
All of us need Lent to be in greater communion with God. Just as friends need to spend time together, need to talk together and need to grow closer to one another, so does Lent involve seeking increased opportunities for prayer, for dialogue with God.
All of us need Lent to become more focused, more disciplined, more attentive to what matters in life – what sustains, what is worth living for. So, Lent involves more focus, more discipline, more attention. Lent means making sacrifices, doing penance, putting our priorities in line, letting go, emptying our cluttered lives to focus on the essentials – faith, hope and love.
All of us need Lent to become less self-seeking and more self-giving. So, Lent involves almsgiving, seeing beyond ones own needs, to do for others. We seek to move our attention from our own needs to see more vividly the needs of others. The Church invites us to make this season a time for more intense prayer, a time of doing penance and of giving alms.
I feel the need for Lent. Bishops don’t get a “pass” on needing Lent. I need to grow in my union with God.
As I look at my life, I see how busyness far too often robs me of time for prayer and reflection. I need to pause, to spend time with the Lord. I feel that my greatest gift as bishop to our Diocese is not what I accomplish, as important as that is, but my example as a person of prayer.
I can be self-referred, self-centered and tire of giving, tire of serving. I can put my own needs and concerns first, like the hired hand who is not the shepherd. I need this season to put my priorities in line. I need this season to live more fully Christ’s charge, “the one who loses their life finds it and the one who holds on to their life loses it.”
I need this season to open my eyes to see other’s need, to open my ears to hear others cries that call out for a response. Seize the opportunity this Lent to make even the smallest step forward with God’s grace to grow as a disciple by intensifying prayer, by doing penance and by making sacrifices for others and by sharing the bountiful gifts God has given you for those who have so little. Make Lent matter.
This week, on Ash Wednesday, we will become people of Lent, people who look within.
Across the nearly 43,000 square miles of our Diocese, we will gather in our parishes and missions to present ourselves to be signed with ashes to signify that we are people of Lent, that we identify ourselves with Christ and His mission.
We will hear the striking, sobering words, "Remember that you are dust and unto dust you shall return." We will be reminded of our mortality and of the call Christ gives us to live our lives as He lived, helping and serving others.
The penitential season of Lent invites us to look within -- to examine through the lens of Lent how we are living our lives. The liturgies of Lent provide this lens, calling us to look within, to consider those areas in our lives that need the light of Christ.
Looking within ourselves can help us bring into the light those areas of our lives that are disoriented. We can see dimensions of ourselves that need conversion, renewal, metanoia. Like the Prodigal Son who looked within himself and decided to return home to give himself to his father's love and mercy, we look within ourselves and decide to return to our Father's house. He is waiting for us, with His mercy and love. He is watching for us.
During Lent, we are invited to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation from which we receive God's pardon and forgiveness and the grace to begin again. It is this Sacrament that helps us focus the lens of Lent to look within.
Our parishes will all be holding penance services and providing opportunities for the Sacrament during Lent. You are most welcome. The Father will welcome you home as he did the Prodigal Son.
Feb. 22, 2010
As we "Look Within" during this first full week of Lent, remember this message from Deuteronomy that we heard yesterday at Mass: All that we have and all that we are is a gift from God for which we should be grateful.
As a Lenten exercise this week, you might list the gifts God has given you.
Think of the people in your life who have been there for you, inspired you, supported you. If you can, call or write or talk to them and express your gratitude for what they have meant to you. If you can reach them, or, if they are deceased, pray for them in gratitude for what they have shared with you.
Think of the talents and abilities that you have. Name them and give thanks to God for them. They, too, are blessings given to you, entrusted to you.
Think of the opportunities you have been given and that have happened for your family. Give thanks!
Think of the times you struggled, failed, suffered and how the Lord was there at your side, loving, supporting, accompanying you.
Give Him your thanks by loving and serving others.
March 1, 2010
Already, we have passed the Second Sunday of Lent. How quickly this holy and special penitential season moves along. Don't let it pass without some time to look within.
Like Peter, James, and John of Sunday's Gospel, we hope during Lent to have a deeper encounter with Christ. The Father in the Gospel tells us to listen to His Son. That is exactly what we are striving to do this Lent, to open our eyes and ears and hearts to see, hear and love Christ more fully. The Apostles' experience of the transfigured Christ made them long to stay with Him. He alone can satisfy our longings and fulfill our desires.
That longing to meet Christ was apparent in the Catechumens and Candidates who gathered at St. Joseph Church yesterday afternoon for the second of our three celebrations of the Rite of Election and Call to Continuing Conversion. They came from many parishes, were of different ages and have varied histories. But all who came have a desire to make the Lord more central in their lives. They can encourage us to make a journey within this Lent to find the Lord waiting for us.
Poet Francis Thompson wrote of God as the "Hound of Heaven," always in pursuit of us, never giving up on us. Lent is the time for us to turn around and run to meet Him.
People of Lent
During my visit to Douglas last week, I had a chance to greet children from Loretto School who were gathered in St. Luke Church to pray the Way of the Cross. I encouraged them in their Lenten journey, and some of the children shared what they are doing this Lent to grow closer to the Lord.
Sister Aloysius Marques, O.C.D., the principal and one of our wonderful Carmelite Sisters who teach at Loretto, presented me with a check for $2,000 collected by the children over the last several weeks. She asked that $1,500 be given for Haiti earthquake relief and $500 be given to the Annual Catholic Appeal. The young people wanted to do their part to help those harmed by the devastating earthquake and to do their part to help support the 26 charities and ministries in our Diocese that depend upon the Appeal. Such sacrificial giving by these young people is what almsgiving during Lent is really all about.
"One Day At A Time"
I was humbled, moved and inspired during my visit to the Arizona State Prison Complex in Douglas last week to witness the Lenten Spirit of Repentance being embraced by an extraordinary group of people of Lent.
Almost a year ago, I confirmed a group of 14 inmates there. They wanted to receive the Spirit, and as I anointed them with the Chrism I could see the sincerity of their desire.
After their Confirmation, they asked to work with Father Arnie Noriega and Deacons Luciano Gonzalez and Rocky Yanez to practice a number of hymns that touched them. They wanted to record the hymns as a gift to me.
After receiving permission to set up a recording studio at the prison, the 14 put up sound deadening liners for the walls. For the recording session that took place during my visit last week, Rogelio, a recording technician, brought his sound equipment from Tucson. He set up four microphones around which the men gathered with volunteer Gilbert Guttierez of St. Bernard's Parish in Pirtleville as their guitarist.
They sang "Amazing Grace," reflecting on how God loved even them and showered them with his grace. They sang "Be Not Afraid," reflecting on how life in prison is tough and hard, but Christ is there at their side. They sang "Here I Am Lord," suggesting that they were giving themselves to God just as they are with all their shortcomings, the wrongs they have done, the ways they have hurt their wives, children, parents. They sang "How Great Thou Art," marveling at how powerful and strong is God's love for them. They sang a hymn I had not heard before, "New Hope, New Life, A New Heart," which said to them that God would form in them a new heart. They sang "One Day At A Time," which gave them hope that one day at a time they might turn their lives around. They ended with "Why Me Lord," questioning why God has seized them and called them back home.
Dressed in orange jump suits stenciled with the large letters "ADC," the men gave their all in singing the hymns with just right with reverence and faith. Before each hymn they were asked to be totally quiet. They were serious and intent on making the recording perfect.
After the recording session, we celebrated Mass together. We prayed for their families and loved ones. They prayed for each other. After Communion, the men committed themselves to be "prayer warriors." Being a "prayer warrior" means that they will offer prayers every day for their wives and children they had hurt, for their parents, for people with addictions, for those with cancer and for all of us. Each man came forward and knelt before me to receive God's blessing and a "prayer warrior" card. I pray they will persevere in their commitment.