Homily for February 21

Dear Parish Family:

Welcome to the desert of Lent! Imagine hovering by a cave in the cold of night on the edge of a vast wilderness. The wind is howling; nearby noises remind you of the wild beasts that are lurking in the darkness. You are hungry and thirsty. As your stomach growls, you wonder when the light of day will come. Our Lenten journey is both deeply personal and communal. We are all tempted or tested differently; but together we confront the evils (many of which have been caused by humans) which afflict our environment. Lent is not an endurance test, but, rather an opportunity to reflect on our need for conversion, to acknowledge the source of salvation, and to recommit once again to the process of dying and rising with Christ. This is why baptism is so central to this season and to the Scriptures we hear proclaimed today.

Some years ago, I visited the place where it is likely that Paul baptized his first European convert, Lydia. It was a cold mountain stream that flowed rapidly through a narrow passage. The candidate would descend one set of stairs with the baptizer, be plunged three times into the frigid water, and walk up another stairway on the opposite shore. There the newly-baptized would be anointed with the oil of chrism and clothed with the white robe of purity. We have, in a sense, been immersed in a rather long Lenten atmosphere for the past year with the isolation, fear and death caused by the pandemic. This year there are signs of hope; but we are reminded that the wild beasts are still in our midst. Perhaps their most obvious manifestation has come in the form of division and alienation. Might our conversion involve reaching out to someone or some group from whom we have grown distant? Who might they be?

Blessed Lent,
Fr. Bill Foley