THE BARISTA'S DAUGHTER

In his ‘Daily Reflection for Lent’ Robert Morneau reminds us that "Lent is a journey, at once sacred and immense. The journey involves time for prayer, time for serving the needs of others and time for sacrifice. Always we come back to Ash Wednesday’s instructions: 'Pray! Fast! Give alms!'.”

Having made a commitment to the ’40 Cans for Lent’ program, you and I are companions in donating goods and performing other acts of charity for those most in need. We are companions in Almsgiving. So when this program began I gave some thought to creating a BLOG, as a way of sharing this experience more deeply within our parish community. At that time I was trapped in the philosophical puzzle of the 3 frogs. It goes … If three frogs were on a lily pad and one decided to jump off how many remained on the lily pad? The answer is 3, because deciding is not doing.

So now you have it … here I am, doing!

Attentiveness/Responsiveness

The reflection for March 19^th proposes “there are two fundamental elements in our spiritual life: attentiveness and responsiveness. Everyone is called to be alert to the visitations of our God. Moreover, everyone is called to respond to the stirrings and the prodding of this holy spirit.”

On the morning of March 18^th I had entered one of our local shops in the village where I usually pick up my morning cup of coffee. At first there was no help available, but then a barista rushed in behind the counter and excused herself for making me wait. Unprompted by me she explained that she had just ran across the back parking lot after dropping off a bag of packaged food at the Catholic Church in the back (St Joseph). Though not a member of the parish, she was impressed with the idea of a food drive during Lent as a practical means for a church to help community members in need. She wanted to help. She then went on to tell me a story about her daughter and a Lenten experience she had at a parish in upstate New York.

Her daughter was in Faith Formation classes at this upstate parish and like many she was given a ‘rice bowl’ during Lent from which she was to donate part of her allowance and any other monies she collected. However what was uncommon was that for some reason, her daughter had made up her mind, and could not be convinced otherwise, that she must submit the rice bowl directly to the pastor at church. So toward the end of Lent, and following mass, as the priest, Father Jack, was rushing from church her daughter ran up up to the pastor. She describe Father Jack as standing at least 6’5’ and very energetic, but when he saw her daughter he stopped in his tracks, knelt down on his knees, blessed and thanked her profusely.

The barista at the store was deeply moved by this scene and the ‘40 Cans for Lent’ brought these memories rushing back. I didn’t say much. I didn’t bring up the fact that I was involved with this KofC / CDA program. I listened. And I just imagined that when Father Jack saw the child, he felt a stirring as if he had just seen an angel, and responded in kind. I saw the shop keeper, heard her story and I too was called to respond to the prodding.

This is the first journal entry. Please share with us your thoughts, comments and stories about '40 Cans for Lent'. Jump in the pond, the water is fine :)