Premature Resurrection?

Fr. Larry Lewis gave our community a Lenten day of reflection based on the "Empty Tomb." This theme took on particular meaning for Larry back in the 1990s when a priest preached on his experience of peering into his growing anxieties and saw nothing. The emptiness of our hearts and lives may be frightening and present us the temptation to fill them with something, anything.

On this feast of the Annunciation we contemplate God emptying himself to become human.

We are not comfortable with peering into our own emptiness. Many people turn to various addictions to take away the pain of our emptiness.

When personal tragedies strike, us or our loved ones, we often can find no appropriate words yet the silence taunts us.

Lent invites us to gaze into the empty tomb, representing all we once held as meaningful, good and holy. We must sit with our uneasiness.

Larry once asked the Chinese whom he was teaching what they thought of when they saw an image of the crucified Christ. One man replied, "A loss of face." Face is a very important concept among Asian peoples. What does it mean that the Son ofGod willingly suffered this terrible loss of face for us?

Larry recounted meeting women who were trying to get away from situations of abuse and prostitution. One woman had a terrible history of abuse. She andLarry became friends. They lost contact but after 20 years she contacted with him again. On his 25th anniversary she was among the guests. Larry's mother asked him, "After 25 years of being a priest, are you happy?" Maria, the woman, indicated the circle of friends who remained after the meal and said, "This, this talking together with friends, this is happiness."

The stark emptiness and darkness of the church on Good Friday and Holy Saturday symbolizes our existential emptiness.

There is a certain freedom in accepting our emptiness. It may not feel as good as the dopamine squirt we get from alcohol or various addictions, but it is longer lasting.

Moments of failure, disappointments, confusion, fear and sorrow are all part of the human experience and we do ourselves an injustice by avoiding or disguising our darker moments. These can be very fruitful moments precisely because they are painful.

Three tidbits

RESULTS ARE INCONCLUSIVE (so, what else is new?) in the never-ending balloting to elect a U.S. Regional Council. Both Father Bob Jalbert and Father Ed Szendrey led the list of four, but neither garnered a majority of votes.

So their names as well as those of the other two also-rans, Br. Tom Hickey and Fr. John Moran will appear on the (mercifully) final ballot to go out. We will chose ONE name and the top two vote-getters will be pronounced the Second and Third Assistant. Recall: the first straw ballot for U.S. Regional went out last April. Oy vey!

Oddly enough, the newly constituted House Council (Lukaschek, Blazo, Dargan, Ahearn and moi) is actually larger than either the Regional or General Council. I guess the smaller the unit, the more men needed to take the bla..er...I mean to govern.

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BR. WAYNE FITZPATRICK announced today that Fr. Jim Gavin, ofm Cap., of Brooklyn, will lead us in a Lenten day of prayer on Tuesday, March 23. The theme has yet to be chosen but chances are it will have something to do with repentance, conversion and maybe death. Just a guess.

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FR. RAY FINCH made a cameo appearance yesterday, and today returned to the 39th St. House in preparation for his return to Bolivia. (Or is it Peru? Chile? Someplace down there.)