Listen in Silence! What do you hear?
The Beginning of Lent
As members of the clergy, we are bound to set the example of faith in ways that may not suit everyone. The Hours are an acceptable prayer that even some of those may not follow, but it is the grace that this prayer brings as a reminder of what we took on at ordination.
Be attuned to how the antiphons before the morning prayer gathers our attention to the various levels from the Passion to the Ascension. They provide us with a kaleidoscope of grammatical pronouncements that in themselves present the fulfillment of God the Father’s promise of our redemption.
Their teaching reminds the reader of our need to get in sync with the very life our Incarnated Lord went through as the Paschal Lamb from Incarnation to Passion and the glory of his resurrection and ascension. Do we realize that these prayers are not just a consensus to pray as a total Church at the same time, but to instill within each one the answer of “I believe” and the persons in the pews believing in us the men with Holy Orders? Which is the sacrament through which the mission entrusted by Christ to his apostles, continues to be exercised in the Church until the end of time. “The ordained ministry or ministerial priesthood is at the service of the baptismal priesthood. The ordained priesthood guarantees that it really is Christ who acts in the sacraments through the Holy Spirit for the Church. The saving mission entrusted by the Father to his Incarnate Son was committed to the apostles and through them to their successors: they receive the Spirit of Jesus to act in his name and in his person. The ordained minister is the sacramental bond that ties the liturgical action to what the apostles said and did and, through them, to the words and actions of Christ, the source and foundation of the sacraments.” CCC 1120.
We, the members of the three levels of Holy Orders can never take lightly the words and anointing we received when this sacrament was administered by the bishop. This is why lent and the time of preparation for the members of the Church is so important. The clergy, as well as the people in the pews, are all sinners, and through some sacrificial actions stand together in need of the Cross at Calvary for the redeeming act of new life to come with the resurrection.
Through the ministerial priesthood first, then the priesthood of the laity we will become the saints of today reaching souls in need of being evangelized. The beginning of Lent is the opening to what will only be found as Good Friday will complete our journey to the Cross.
Ralph B. Hathaway