Dear Brothers and Lasallian Partners,
Dorothy Day once famously said, “My strength returns to me with my cup of coffee and the reading of the Psalms.” I am hoping that during the coming forty days of Lent you will be able to set aside a bit of time each day to meditate—perhaps with a cup of java!
We are still living during what is arguably the most taxing period of the past hundred years. When we feel lost and disheartened, where do we look for hope and strength? Does our suffering separate us or lead us out to encounter others? Where might the Spirit be calling us to greater courage, community, and creativity in times of dryness and struggle, so that we can share the way together?
We are all living a type of “desert” experience these days, challenging times of confusion, deep dissatisfaction, and struggle, when life seems to have lost its vivacity and promise.
“But with their patience worn out by the journey,
the people complained against God and Moses,
“Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in this desert, where there is no food or water?
We are disgusted with this wretched food!”
The Book of Numbers
There is something disarmingly honest about these complaints. We can create our own litanies: fears about the coronavirus; disappointment in our leadership; hateful immigration policies at our border; the still uncertainty in some quarters of the recent election; disregard for the environment—all of this and more—on top of the personal woes and stresses that might be troubling us.
So, this Lent, let’s try our best to set aside some time each day—maybe with a cup of coffee in hand–to take the time to find our way back to God as well as find our way back to hope. Please know that our Brother Visitor, Dennis Lee, and our Auxiliary Visitor, Rich Galvin, join with me in wishing you a holy season.
Be assured of our prayers as we journey through these forty days together.
Your brother,
Larry Goyette, FSC
Auxiliary Visitor
I will indeed take the time. With or without coffee, to lift my heart to God with hope thru this valley of tears. Gratefully
Who can be judged for the “disarmingly honest complaints” of this past twelve months?
They have tried the souls of the saintly among us. This message is heartening for me.
I have often caught myself reciting the litanies of fear, lack of hope or lack of trust in God to deliver us from evil. Dorothy Day exemplified in periods of Darkness that the “Spirit was calling her to other, higher litanies of greater courage, community and creativity in community with others.” I am grateful for this reminder of the choices I have had in creating my own litanies. Approaching Easter this year, like none other, I will meditate and elevate in prayer those who are no longer here with us, and ask comfort for the bereaved.