Fr. Simon's Letter - February 11, 2024

Thank you for your many prayers and well wishes for a successful surgery. On January 29, I had revision surgery on my right knee, which was replaced in 2011. This surgery was necessary as the button behind the kneecap was loose. My recovery time also gives me time to ponder and prepare for the season of Lent. Each year, the season of Lent calls us to reflect on transformational change leading toward Easter. Springtime is lush with rebirth, new beginnings, and new growth. Too often, however, we want to race to the Easter Resurrection without fully embracing the Lenten process that leads us there. Lent reflects the forty days that Jesus wandered in the wilderness — tempted by Satan — in readiness for a ministry destined to end in tragedy. Few of us can relate to Jesus's sacrifice and commitment in his forty days. Yet, Lent allows us to deepen our spirituality by engaging in regular discipline from Ash Wednesday through Easter Sunday. The wilderness — the desert days of Lent — is the true path toward spiritual transformation.

I learned a few lessons during the rehab process. I cannot but think of what I learned in the light of the metaphor of the "seed" Jesus uses in his teaching. Here are four of the things I've learned so far…

First, to grow, the seed needs a rich, healthy environment. A seed that lacks appropriate soil may sprout but will quickly wither and die. Even in the best soil, its growth will be limited without water and nutrients. I am blessed with an excellent team of doctors, nurses, therapists, supportive friends, priests in the rectory, and staff, all of whom have been a great help, especially through this time. Together, they made things easy for me to continue to heal fully. Like the seed, we all need a healthy environment to grow as Christian disciples. Without that environment, our growth as disciples is stunted, and our faith will become stagnant or, worse, dead. We create an environment for spiritual formation through prayer, study, worship, fellowship, and service.

Second, growth and healing cannot be rushed. Would you ever yell at a seed that doesn't sprout, take root, or grow? Would yelling at seeds encourage them to grow? No one would ever think they could somehow rush the normal growing process. Seeds will sprout and develop only if they have the amount of time that, by nature, a seed requires. In God's plan, the time things take is the right time. My therapists advised me not to over-exercise as this could be counter-productive to the healing process. Unfortunately, we all tend to get impatient. Our culture puts pressure on us to rush through everything. We live in an age of instant gratification. Seeds teach us that we must learn to wait and be patient. Christian formation is a process of seed-like growth. Patience is the key ingredient to transformational growth.

Third, each one of us responds to growth and healing differently. When we plant a package of seeds, we immediately see diversity in their rate of growth. Some seeds sprout almost immediately and grow steadily, while other seeds from the same package will grow in fits and starts.  Growth is rarely even, and it is often chaotic, but nothing we do will change this diversity. I realize that thirteen years ago, the body was younger and could bounce back quickly. But now I have to listen to my body more closely. When Lent comes around, we often adopt a "cookie-cutter" approach to sacrifices. But as we grow older, we might look for new ways to make Lent meaningful, for instance, helping others by offering our time and talents to those in need. Growing as disciples matures to a life of service in the world. We move through ages and stages of faith development as we grow from seed to sapling to fruit-bearing trees.

Fourth, our growth and healing are linked to our past and the future. Each seed is the product of past generations and contains the genetic code for the future. Seeds are filled with information that will yield transformation. Each new generation builds upon the previous generation and lays the foundation for the next generation. As I compare the medical notes from my earlier surgery, some things are the same, while others have evolved to better manage pain and wound care. The Word of God is the information we contain - passed down throughout the ages and preserved in us for the future - it is the information that holds the power to transform us. When we give ourselves time to grow, we unleash the God-given power to become mature Christian disciples.

I hope the lessons of the seed help us to see Lent not as a time of sacrifice and denial but as a time of preparation and anticipation — preparation for the work to which God calls us and anticipation of the fullness of life that God promises.

Just as we did the past year, we will focus on the cross of Christ. Handheld crosses will be available in the basilica beginning Thursday, February 15, the day after Ash Wednesday. These crosses, made of olive wood from Jerusalem, are small enough to be carried in your pocket or bag. We invite you to take one. Let this cross remind you of the sufferings of Christ. May it encourage you to carry your own daily cross with joy, and may it also motivate you to help lighten someone else's burden by helping them carry their cross. 

Lastly, we kick off the annual United Parish Program this weekend. Our UPP committee members will introduce the UPP at all the Masses, and go on to host the Stefani Dinner on Monday, February 12. I want to thank our chairs, Jill Fowler and Carolyn Turner, our co-chairs, Kristen Henry and Katie Mackenzie, and coordinator, Laurie Vlasic, who have been working behind the scenes preparing for the gala event on Friday, May 17, 2024—details to follow.

Blessings!!