March 2003
Dear All Saints Family,
I am writing this article from
Switzerland while still waiting for our first grandchild to be born.
Before we left to come here, the doctor had told Sarah that the baby could
come at any time, so every night and every morning we tell each other this
could be the day. Our sense of anti-cipation grows with each sign the baby
is coming, but still we wait.
What often happens to me during
times when I am full of anticipation is that I forget to pay attention to
the present. On one hand I am tempted to hang out in the apartment and
wait for the baby, but on the other hand I am in a beautiful country with
much to see and experience. We have visited Zurich and Grossmunster Church
where the Protestant Reformation took root under Zwingli, and John Calvin.
We have walked through the city stopping in shops and sampling new tastes
and smells. We have wandered through beautiful countryside farms in the
snow and tried to remember the word for hello as we passed the locals on
the way. In all of our adventures we have kept contact with Sarah thanks
to the cell phone.
Perhaps all of this is God’s way
of getting me ready for Lent. Lent is a time set aside to prepare us for
the celebration of the death and resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ.
We begin with Ash Wednesday’s reminder that we are both mortal and sinful
and have a need for God’s salvation. As we wait for that salvation, we go
about our daily lives with the anticipation that Easter is drawing near.
Yet, we are called to wait, pray, and enter into a discipline that will
draw us closer to God each day. Each day promises us new blessings, new
opportunities to grow in God and with one another, new challenges, new
hope, new experiences. As we look forward to the coming of spring, of
Easter, of our grandchild, of world peace, or of all we hope and dream
for, may we experience the love and grace of God each moment on the way.
God bless you,
Fr. David
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