FATHER FRANK’S LOG: 2nd – 9th MARCH 2025
Another Lenten journey has begun, and even though we might think it has come around so quickly, it has in fact begun a few weeks later than last year. The first few days are always a bit hectic. Ashes have to be prepared and plans made for distribution, both in the churches and the schools, as well as to the housebound and to others. It’s extraordinary how anxious we are to get ashes on Ash Wednesday, to be smeared with dust, reminded of our mortality, and called out of our sin. There is another dimension to that now as, for the past number of years, the Friday after Ash Wednesday has been designated as the annual Day of Prayer for victims and survivors who have experienced abuse in the Church. This is a very poignant and important day, an initiative of Pope Francis back in 2016. While it seems to fit in well with those first few days of Lent, in other places it is marked on a different day. In England and Wales for example, it is marked on the Tuesday of the 5th Week of Easter. Ireland, like Scotland, is on the First Friday of Lent. Whenever it is, however, it is a time for deep and sincere prayer, as part of the healing process. It is primarily a day for victims and survivors, who have been so severely injured, either inside or outside the Church, but also a day for families and communities affected by grief for their loved ones, and a day for the whole church.
On the first Sunday of every Lent, we enter into the desert wilderness of Judea with Jesus. where he is tempted by the devil and cared for by angels. I visited the Judean desert of Jesus’ temptations on my one and only pilgrimage to the Holy Land over 30 years ago. However, I have other desert memories too. One was on a holiday to Tunisia, which included a trip to the site of the ancient city of Carthage, where some of the early church councils took place that gave shape to what we call the Canon of Scripture, which in the Catholic Bible is now the 46 books of the Old Testament and the 27 books of the New Testament. But there was also a trip to the Saharan Desert, where we took a camel ride to the dunes of Douz at sunset, stopped awhile to admire the stunning views across the Sahara, and then took the camel ride back again by the light of the moon. It was stunningly beautiful, but a bit lost on me because of the excruciating pain of riding on the back of a camel. It was about three days before I was able to walk normally again, and I have never attempted any such beastly experience since.
The other desert experience was also over 30 years ago when I visited our Passionist mission in South Africa and Botswana. At that time Father Lawrence, whose 5th anniversary we will celebrate in a few weeks’ time, God rest him, was living 400 kilometres out into the Kalahari Desert, and he asked me if I would like to come and celebrate the beginning of Holy Week with him. I readily accepted his invitation and, on the following day, I borrowed a pick-up truck, and began my long drive out to the mission. It was a fairly bleak drive, it didn’t have the same beauty as the Sahara, but at least the pick-up was more comfortable than the camel. When I arrived at the mission the locals were cutting palms from the trees for the procession next day, and decorating the rondavel church with cow dung in beautiful spirals. In bed that night, even though tired from the long drive, I was kept awake by a disco in a local hall that went on to all hours – yes, a disco, 400 kilometres out into the Kalahari! I couldn’t believe it. That was forgotten next day however, as the Palm/Passion Sunday celebration was so full of life and captured so well the joy of Christ’s entry into Jerusalem and the sorrow of his Sacred Passion. But there’s a long way to go in Lent before we reach that stage.
I wish everyone a very blessed journey through this Holy Season.
As ever, protect yourself, your loved ones and others, and protect Christ in your lives.
Another Lenten journey has begun, and even though we might think it has come around so quickly, it has in fact begun a few weeks later than last year. The first few days are always a bit hectic. Ashes have to be prepared and plans made for distribution, both in the churches and the schools, as well as to the housebound and to others. It’s extraordinary how anxious we are to get ashes on Ash Wednesday, to be smeared with dust, reminded of our mortality, and called out of our sin. There is another dimension to that now as, for the past number of years, the Friday after Ash Wednesday has been designated as the annual Day of Prayer for victims and survivors who have experienced abuse in the Church. This is a very poignant and important day, an initiative of Pope Francis back in 2016. While it seems to fit in well with those first few days of Lent, in other places it is marked on a different day. In England and Wales for example, it is marked on the Tuesday of the 5th Week of Easter. Ireland, like Scotland, is on the First Friday of Lent. Whenever it is, however, it is a time for deep and sincere prayer, as part of the healing process. It is primarily a day for victims and survivors, who have been so severely injured, either inside or outside the Church, but also a day for families and communities affected by grief for their loved ones, and a day for the whole church.
On the first Sunday of every Lent, we enter into the desert wilderness of Judea with Jesus. where he is tempted by the devil and cared for by angels. I visited the Judean desert of Jesus’ temptations on my one and only pilgrimage to the Holy Land over 30 years ago. However, I have other desert memories too. One was on a holiday to Tunisia, which included a trip to the site of the ancient city of Carthage, where some of the early church councils took place that gave shape to what we call the Canon of Scripture, which in the Catholic Bible is now the 46 books of the Old Testament and the 27 books of the New Testament. But there was also a trip to the Saharan Desert, where we took a camel ride to the dunes of Douz at sunset, stopped awhile to admire the stunning views across the Sahara, and then took the camel ride back again by the light of the moon. It was stunningly beautiful, but a bit lost on me because of the excruciating pain of riding on the back of a camel. It was about three days before I was able to walk normally again, and I have never attempted any such beastly experience since.
The other desert experience was also over 30 years ago when I visited our Passionist mission in South Africa and Botswana. At that time Father Lawrence, whose 5th anniversary we will celebrate in a few weeks’ time, God rest him, was living 400 kilometres out into the Kalahari Desert, and he asked me if I would like to come and celebrate the beginning of Holy Week with him. I readily accepted his invitation and, on the following day, I borrowed a pick-up truck, and began my long drive out to the mission. It was a fairly bleak drive, it didn’t have the same beauty as the Sahara, but at least the pick-up was more comfortable than the camel. When I arrived at the mission the locals were cutting palms from the trees for the procession next day, and decorating the rondavel church with cow dung in beautiful spirals. In bed that night, even though tired from the long drive, I was kept awake by a disco in a local hall that went on to all hours – yes, a disco, 400 kilometres out into the Kalahari! I couldn’t believe it. That was forgotten next day however, as the Palm/Passion Sunday celebration was so full of life and captured so well the joy of Christ’s entry into Jerusalem and the sorrow of his Sacred Passion. But there’s a long way to go in Lent before we reach that stage.
I wish everyone a very blessed journey through this Holy Season.
As ever, protect yourself, your loved ones and others, and protect Christ in your lives.
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