There is a story about my patron and favorite saint, the great female doctor of the Church, Teresa of Avila, and it’s centered on her encouraging her fellow Carmelites after they received the Sacrament of Reconciliation. The story goes that as the sisters would come out of the confessional she would tell them, one after the other, “Begin again.”
Those words are comforting not only after Confession, but also during Lent. In itself, the liturgical season of Lent is often associated with new beginnings. We go into to that dirty, cluttered spiritual closet of the soul, purge of all the junk that’s piling up; the stuff that’s putting more space between us and Jesus. As we move through these 40 days, we are hopefully beginning again and also moving closer to Christ.
But have we ever thought about beginning again during Holy Week? I hadn’t until this past weekend. The thought came to mind along with the story of St. Teresa of Avila as I listened to the homily of our associate pastor during Palm Sunday Mass. The homily hit home because, quite frankly, I’ve had quite the ho hum Lent. The idea of some simple steps to “begin again” so to speak, really gave me some needed encouragement. The main point of his homily was to make this Holy Week really count and he had three suggestions, or as Fr. Brian likes to call them – homework assignments to help make that happen…Continue Reading at Catholic World Report.
