Photo: Sunset at the Cathedral of Notre-Dame, Paris, France.

By Sister Nancy Liddy

No matter how many times I hear it told, this is one of the top ten more humorous community stories that never fails to make me laugh. As many of our friends and Associates who visit our Saint Joseph Villa know, daily Mass in our chapel is telecast into the Sister’s rooms. The Villa staff sometimes work with speed to get a Sister up and on time for Mass.

One morning years ago, the preparations with an infirm Sister had become slightly chaotic until, after considerable tugging and arranging, the staff finally had her dressed and ready. In an effort to calm the Sister and focus her attention the nurse gestured toward the TV informing her the Mass had begun. The Sister, slightly unnerved from the ordeal, waved her hand dismissively and announced, “I’ve seen it a thousand times!”

Of course, the Eucharist is the center of our lives, but the story is funny because most of us have been there. The story is a good reminder that in times of spiritual dryness – when it seems as though we have heard or “seen it a thousand times” before – the Church provides the season of Lent for a spiritual shake-up.

Sister Albertine, a “digital missionary” in France, said a record number of young people filled the churches in Paris for Ash Wednesday last year. She said the young look to practices for organizing daily life with God in mind and desire “ways to pray on a day-to-day basis.” Lent involves a consistent and faithful tuning to God. As spiritual elders we can model the Lenten disciplines as not only “giving up” certain things or habits, but also a “taking up” of a deeper awareness of the Divine.

As we begin our Lenten journey looking, listening and experiencing with our full attention, the familiar becomes fresh. Whoever tires of a sunrise or a sunset? Instead, even in the thousandth look, there is always something to see anew. This is the encounter with God that serves as the bridge to new life at Easter.

Something to Consider

The French have a common saying that may be helpful in deciding what you devote yourself to in this season of Lent:

Ce que tu fais, te fait! Which basically means, What you do, makes you!