Twilight Twitches

Dear Family,
So, are we on “Retreat” this week or are we on a “Mission?” The words seem almost opposed. When I was a kid “mission” was the big word; the men’s mission, then the women’s mission – each lasting a full week. During those two weeks the kids in school got a mission during the day, too. We loved it. Anything to get out of class, even if it was a pretty strong-voiced (usually Redemptorist) preacher who we called the “missioner.”

Merriam-Webster says retreat means withdrawing from the unpleasant or ceasing warfare and only then speaks of retreat as a spiritual exercise.

When it comes to mission, the dictionary offers a religious meaning as its first billing, “a course of sermons and services given to convert the unchurched or quicken Christian faith, e.g. a preaching mission.

So, in the next three days, Monday through Wednesday, are we to be converted or quickened? I suspect it’s a little of both. That’s my prayer.

Dear Family,
Rejoice! As you probably know by now, the color is rose because I don’t do pink.
More importantly, the visible color shift in our liturgical vestments asks us to check up on the invisible attitude of our hearts as we journey through Lent. How are you doing?    

Is the P(rayer), F(asting) and A(lmsgiving) Challenge helping us remember who we are (sinners) and what Jesus has done for us (Easter kids)? Are we focusing on the glory of the Lord that is coming?

Well, here’s help!

Dear Family,
As I write this Twitch on Monday the 26th, it’s stunning to think that our Parkland heartbreak happened only 12 days ago. And yet it continues with an intensity that makes it feel like two minutes ago. I suspect you’ll be feeling the same way as you read this.

I remember the title of a book I read more than 50 years ago, Edwin O’Connor’s The Edge of Sadness. It’s not the book, but the title that describes me right now. I feel like I’m on the edge of a large pool filled with the roiling waters of sadness, almost too large to contemplate, the sadness of the shooting itself, kids’ funerals, blame games, political stupidity, social insensibility...for starters.

Dear Family,
When I wrote about The PFA Challenge for last Sunday’s Twitch, I had no idea what kind of a challenge it might turn out to be. I suspect you didn’t either. Prayer, fasting, almsgiving.

More than ever, we need to be at a place where we can let God in through prayer.

We need to be “fasting” from letting horrible news subtly demand all our attention as though it was the only thing worthy of attention.

Bad news has a way seizing our attention with a chokehold that won’t let go. As we stand opened-mouthed in shock over another ‘inconceivable’, we fill up with so much: anger, rage, sadness, helplessness, pity, frustration...
When our hearts are submerged in our reactions to the unthinkable, our charity runs the risk of drowning as well. We can’t offer the charity of our love because it got crowded out..