Fr. Don's Daily Reflection - April 4, 2024
Psalm 62: “In you alone is my soul at rest. My help comes from you.”
Here is a practice any of us might think about for Lent (and beyond) which does a lot of good for others and demands something of ourselves. Susan writes: "This is a Lenten idea I employ. A woman, now 93, used to have me to dinner quite frequently; she has been in a nursing home now for some years. I started writing her once a week 12 years ago." (We’re talking here about a letter, sent in a stamped envelope to a street address, even handwritten! Typed, of course, is better than nothing.) Similarly she began writing to some nuns who shared her interest in making greeting cards. "I sent each a box at Easter with candy, rubber stamps and card-making supplies. One was 98 and had never gotten a package before. It made her cry. So I sent the package yearly and wrote once a week."
The particular practice might suggest any number of variations in frequency or to whom. E.g., to some homebound friend, family member or neglected old man or woman, a prisoner, a service person in the Middle East, a disabled person, someone who did us a great favor once upon a time, a parent (!), etc., etc. Or a call, an email, a text message. Or a visit with some regularity, a card, a letter, a gift. With a little imagination we could all think of something similar which would mean so much to someone or brighten his or her life. A phone call to a friend from years ago or far away. Chapter 25 of the Gospel of Matthew will suggest some other possibilities.
Psalm 27: “I believe I shall see the Lord’s goodness / in the land of the living.
Wait for the Lord; be strong; / be stouthearted, and wait for the Lord!”
