Our Lenten journey is enhanced by all our senses as we gather during this 40-day communal desert experience. It starts as we enter the church and reach into the holy water font. The pebbles remind us that we in the dryness of the desert; we need to thirst for a deeper relationship with God and deepen our spiritual selves. The absence of candles reminds us that without the light of Christ we stumble in the darkness of sin.
The absence of the Gloria and Alleluia remind us that we are searching and desiring to be more attentive to seeing, hearing, touching, tasting, speaking, sensing the presence of God in the desert experience of our hearts and busy lives. Our use of Latin and Greek connects us to the original languages of the scriptures and the founding of the church in the Roman Empire. The Latin and Greek were once the universal languages and we are reminded that we are “Catholic” universal; we are larger than ourselves, our parish, our Diocese, our country. Millions of people throughout the world are making the same journey with us. We are not in isolation; this is a communal experience.
Catholics throughout the world are listening to the same readings we hear as we gather as the Catholic Community of Sacred Heart. They are listening in the many languages of the world. Each person on the journey is allowing their senses to fully enter into the Lenten experience, striving to “be open” to all that God has in store for us on this 40-day retreat.
As we gather for Mass, I encourage us all to be aware of the many ways our senses are being swept into the fullness of our experience of temptation, transfiguration, outcast, blindness, death, and passion. All these experiences are part of everyone’s life if we are open to the spiritual happenings on a daily basis.