Ash Wednesday arrives this week…finally!  Across the nation we have experienced a very wintry season, and Lent and Easter are coming about as late as they can in the liturgical calendar this year.  Somehow, in the Providence of God, I believe these two events are connected.  Winter tends to create a sense of solitude within us, and solitude can call us back to the essential realities of life.  Such is the goal of Lent.

As I was sitting in Mass one day recently, listening to an old friend read the first reading, I was mindful of the importance of “sitting with the Word of God”.  This friend is a man who has dedicated his life to the Church, and to listening to God’s Word.  A simple Truth flooded my soul as I listened to him read the scripture: Time and Silence with God’s Word are essential.

Nothing can take the place of time.  Nothing can create a sacred space like silence.  Granted, all of life experience is sacred and shot through with the presence of God, but life experience is to be seasoned with the wisdom that can only come from time spent in silence with God’s Word.  In a world that is ever more stimulating with many different messages, we need such wisdom.  We need such time and silence.

Someone once said “Prayer is wasting time with God.”  In a world where “time is money”, time is indeed precious, and “wasting it with God” is time well spent.  As we enter into this Lenten season, I offer this reflection giving you a clear idea of what will be a priority for me this Lent, and suggesting to all to spend some time in silence with God’s Word.

Peace,

+pde

0