From the Friar's Desk


Slowing Down for Lent

Lent seems to be passing by at break neck speed this year! Not sure if it’s because we have had plenty to occupy ourselves, but things seem to be coming together all at once. Our Lunar New Year celebrations merged into Lent and that, in itself, did not give us much time to recollect for this season.


The natural disasters also seem to be competing for the headlines, not allowing us to recover from one before confronting us with another.

Will Lent just be another season like the Spring/Summer fashions that appear periodically and then move on to another season, just to reappear again next year?

In the midst of everything that is happening; personal life, family, society, and the world, have we found the time to slow down for Lent?

Symbols of ashes, desert and fasting seem to lead us beyond the normal comforts of daily living. The barrenness of the desert and the finality of ashes are strong powerful symbols that are there to confront and wake us up from our malaise.
Often, we don’t want to be shaken from our routine and stability is prized over the surprises of life. Maybe most of us would rather we be saved from the surprises of life as we have grown tired and worn out from too many surprises in life!
Lent is this time of quieting our lives a little. The call of the desert is also a call to recognise in our lives the need to be still, to be unproductive, to be…

Sometimes, the hive or activity and the multi-tasking that is required removes us from living in the present. There is always something to plan, something to fulfill and targets to meet. Maybe we cannot be totally cocooned from the distractions of living but perhaps we can find little spots and corners for a little quiet.

As we re-look at our theme of “Restore My Church” in this year of our jubilee, perhaps we should take practical steps at restoring an element of serenity and quiet in our lives. It is from this well-spring of quiet and serenity that we are in touch with who we are, why we pursue goals and discover the purpose of our existence.

Lent also invites us to restore our relationship with God and with one another.

Perhaps too in the quiet of our souls, we might discover the need for reconciliation; reconciliation with God, with nature and with one another.

Indeed, human beings have the capacity for solitude. In the rush of modern living, sometimes we lose touch of this innate ability and then we lose our bearings in life.

Solitude is different from loneliness, which scares a number of people.

We are created for community but, inside each of us, there is a need for solitude as that is where we encounter our real self; this fragile existence that is totally embraced in the love of God as a son and a daughter of the Father.

May we discover this treasure this Lent and may we strive to preserve it for our own restoration to God!

Fr John-Paul Tan OFM
Bulletin of 6th/7th March 2010