The bishop, a priest, a deacon, a brother, a sister, the diocesan hermit and a laywoman all reflect on what they’re planning to do this year to enter into the spirit of the Lenten season
Compiled by Anna Weaver
Hawaii Catholic Herald
Doing the usual, and more
By Bishop Larry Silva
Diocese of Honolulu
As I prepare for Lent, I will do my usual practices of doubling my tithe on all income and refraining from the computer solitaire games that help me clear my mind when I am overwhelmed with work. Instead I will turn to more prayer time. I will also try to do more exercise and eat fewer sweets (not so easy when I go to so many festive functions in the parishes!)
My prayer will be to ask the Lord to strengthen me in the prophetic role, and to follow his footsteps of speaking the truth in love, even when it is difficult to do so. I will be more aware of the victims of clergy sexual abuse and pray for the healing that only Christ himself can give.
I ask special prayers during Lent as I prepare for the retreat I will give in June to the priests of the Archdiocese of San Francisco.
It is my greatest hope that I will have a renewed sense of the meaning of the Lord’s death and resurrection for me today and for the people of this beloved Diocese of Honolulu.
Something a little different
By Chantal A. Duarte
Parish volunteer, St. Theresa Parish, Kekaha, Kauai
I make all these grandiose plans for exactly what I’m going to “give up” for Lent, then I quit, with much guilt, half way through the Lenten season, justifying to myself that I made it that far!
Well, after giving it some thought, I will do something a little different this year. I will pray the Penitential Act (“I confess to almighty God…”) and pray it slowly, while thinking of “what I have done and what I have failed to do.”
I also plan to pray more, attending our weekly rosary and novena, Church Mice (our parish weekly Bible study), Stations of the Cross and other opportunities for spiritual growth.
Lent wouldn’t be Lent; however, if I didn’t try to give up something that I humanly love, my iced mocha! Did I really say that?! Well, I shall try, and I hope that the Holy Spirit will nudge me when I want to give in.
May this Lenten season be a wonderful time of reflection and growth that brings us closer to our Risen Savior, Jesus Christ, on Easter Sunday and every day!
To more healthfully serve
By Father EJ Resinto
Pastor, Sacred Heart Parish, Punahou, Oahu
Lent is always a beautiful season to look interiorly into our spiritual lives as a church and as individual members of the church. I always try to do something that’ll help me to grow in my spiritual, intellectual and physical life through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.
So for this Lent I am seriously taking a look at my physical life by going on a serious program to look at my weight and overall health. I am doing this with the moral support of my priest mentor Father Pascual Abaya, who is also doing the regiment. I am hoping that the diet will continue even after Easter so that I can better and more healthfully serve my parishioners and the church.
I am also hoping to finish reading Pope Benedict XVI’s book “Jesus of Nazareth.”
My suggestion to people is don’t do too much, rather focus on a couple things that’ll draw you further into the Paschal Mystery of the faith.
Taking one Station at a time
By Sister Bernadette Meno
Diocesan hermit, Haiku, Maui
With Lent approaching I reflect on how I would like to be different on Easter morning than on Ash Wednesday morning. Will I be more united with God, closer to Jesus, more open to the Holy Spirit and responsive to the needs of others?
What am I doing, or not doing, that keeps me from being newly alive with Christ on Easter morning?
For example: what activities or distractions take me away from spending time with the Lord and how can I lessen or eliminate them? I hope to recognize these and take some action that will lead to my life being more closely aligned to Christ.
As far as traditional Lenten practices, I have many different versions of the Stations of the Cross. I usually take one Station at a time, rather than praying all 14 at once, in order to more fully meditate on and enter into Our Lord’s Passion.
I love Lent!
By Sacred Hearts Sister Marie Lemert
Retreat ministry and spiritual director, St. Anthony Retreat Center, Kalihi, Oahu
I love Lent! The 40 days replace New Year’s resolutions for me. I have the opportunity to deepen and broaden my prayer life, to cherish and discipline my body, and to widen my sense of community beyond what is comfortable and convenient. How can I make these “resolutions” part of my life?
1) In my reparative adoration, I will focus on issues of human trafficking, especially the exploitation of children, and corruption and abuse of power at all levels of civil and church authority. Centering prayer allows God to strengthen and transform me for the works of compassion and reconciliation.
2) I will discipline my body, recognizing my utter dependence on God by fasting every Friday of Lent. I will cherish my body as a temple of the Holy Spirit by regular exercise — this is more penance than fasting, but I know the program I need to follow.
3) During the first two weeks of Lent, my “community” will reach to the mainland, where I will be house-sitting and pet-sitting for a dear friend and benefactor. Upon my return, I’ll be “stretched” by new ways of offering space and presence so others may encounter God.
These three pillars of Lenten practice are not for the sole purpose of self-improvement, but for the goal of being a credible witness to the kingdom of God here and to come, and to the promises of Christ to draw all creation to himself in the end times.
My companions for this Lenten journey will be two holy men and martyrs for the faith as I read “The Scandal of Redemption,” homilies by St. Oscar Romero, edited by Carolyn Kurtz; and “Franz Jaegerstaetter, Letters and Writings from Prison,” edited by Erna Putz.
Contemplating the sinful self
By Deacon Thomas Adams
Sacred Heart Parish, Hawi, Big Island
“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”
This Jesus Prayer changed the trajectory of my life in a positive and profound manner. This Lent, the plan is to go deep.
We often sacrifice a pleasure for Lent or add an act of charity or some type of devotion. During these 40 days, my focus will be on who I am, a sinner. I will do a detailed examination of conscience each week on one of the seven deadly sins in an effort to discover my dominant root sin.
“Sin is not out there; it’s deep inside you and me,” Scott Hahn writes in “Lord, Have Mercy: The Healing Power of Confession.”
“It takes more courage still to kneel down in the confessional and accuse ourselves of each sin by name.”
The sacrament of reconciliation allows us to experience the grace, mercy and love of God. Forgiveness is so powerful.
Lent is the perfect opportunity to detach from our disordered attachments and prepare our mind, heart and soul to receive the shattering truth of the Power, the Glory, and the Joy of the Resurrection!
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.
Accentuate the positive
By Christian Brother Liam Nolan
Damien Memorial School counselor, Kalihi, Hawaii
As I approach my 80th birthday, I think about our church and how Lenten practice has changed.
Prior to Vatican II, as I was growing up in Ireland, I recall how strict we were about what we could do or should do during the weeks of Lent.
The emphasis was definitely on things to give up: alcohol, smoking, candy, the cinema … definitely no dancing. To me now looking back, all of that was very negative.
I guess that the one positive thing we were asked to do was to try to get to daily Mass before going to work.
As I approach another Lent, I will try to do things differently, with more emphasis on positive doing rather than just giving something up for Lent and then reverting back to my normal practice after Lent is over.
As a religious brother living in community, I have time for community prayer with my religious brothers where we use a variety of prayer forms, not just the breviary prayers.
In my community we decided some years ago to forego dinner on one day of each week during Lent and to have soup and bread instead. We donate the money saved to a local charity. We will continue this practice this year.
Outside of that, I will use Lectio Divina for my private prayer. And in school at Damien, we will encourage the students to think positively for Lent and to be generous in their contribution to the Rice Bowl collection in their classrooms.
Lent also calls to my mind this prayer of St. Ignatius of Loyola: “Lord teach me to be generous in your service, to give and not to count the cost, to fight and not to heed the wounds, to toil and not to seek for rest, to labor and not to seek reward, except that of knowing that I do your will. Amen.”
