Weekly Reflections

Last week, I returned from a week-long Credo conference at the Trinity Retreat Center in Pine Knolls, North Carolina.  What a wonderful place!!! If it were closer, we’d be going on parish retreats every year! 26 clergy from all over the country gathered to think about their core values and to construct a Rule of Life, as we continue with our life of serving God and God’s people.

During Lent and the earliest part of Easter, a group of people from St. Margaret’s and a few other parishes met weekly for a class called “Words from the Soul” which explored some of the types of psalms. As a way of experiencing the power of the Psalms, participants were encouraged to write a psalm in that format, based on their own lives.

It’s finally happening!!!! The great, orange, concrete-eating dinosaurs are here, along with the colorful fat-bellied cement-dispensing trucks, carrying anti-cancer slogans. Workers are digging, raking, smoothing, driving, measuring, pounding. It is a VERY busy day here at St. Margaret’s. And a very noisy one!

There are many mysteries in the world. How can a big, fat cat fit into a tiny box? How does a toddler manage to get a child-proof lock open? For that matter, how does an adult manage to get a child-proof pill bottle open? AND HOW DOES A SMALL PARISH HAVE SO MUCH GOING ON???? 

Just giving you all a quick update on my health and thanking you for your support during Holy Week and Easter. Keep the Easter celebrations going strong during the next few Sundays with lots of joy and excitement!

In some ways, Palm Sunday/Passion Sunday is almost like Cliff’s Notes of the Week.  We begin with the wildly glorious celebration of Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem. Then, WHAM! We walk straight into the rock wall of the Passion Gospel

I hope that since it’s Lent, you are finding some quiet time to rest and ponder where you are in your life, secular and spiritual. But even though it’s a time for a “bit less”, things aren’t stopping at St. Margaret’s. Take a look at some upcoming news and fundraisers.

For me, Lent is about change and obedience. As we journey through Lent, consider if God might be calling us to some kind of change. Maybe something small that only you would notice. A very helpful question to ask the Holy One in prayer is, “What is the next good thing you would like me to do?” Then, be sure you listen for a few moments for God’s guidance.

Sometimes as I got older, it almost seemed to me that the focus of Lent was more on the technicality of what we were giving up, and less on the spiritual meaning of Lent. Last week, I saw a wonderful bit of advice from Pope Francis. It has stayed with me day after day. Read what Pope Francis says about fasting for Lent.

This week’s reflection letter includes our Ash Wednesday programs and our Lenten class on the Psalms called “Words from the Soul”. In the meantime… Get ready for Lent with an explosion of ALLELUIAS!