St. Antony of Egypt is the most famous of the desert fathers, men who fled into the African wilderness in order to seek the Lord. The Life of Antony, written by St. Athanasius, includes an anecdote that I think bears an important lesson for us today.

Athanasius tells us that when he was about 18 or 20 years old, Antony was meditating on the lives of the Apostles and pondering how they left everything to follow the Lord. In the midst of these thoughts, the saint went to Mass and heard the Scripture passage where Jesus says, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.” (Matthew 19:21). Believing that this was the voice of God directed to him, Antony did precisely what the Gospel invited him to do: he sold everything he had, gave the money to the poor, and began a life of poverty and prayer.

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On September 1, 1939, the German military invaded Poland and one of the darkest episodes in history ensued – what is now called the Second World War. We are very aware of the atrocities and violence that occurred at that time. Today, merely to mention the Nazi party and what they did evokes horror and revulsion. However, just before this greatdarkness God offered the world a message of hope through a young nun named Sister Faustina. She recounts in herdiary how Jesus appeared to her and asked her to announce a devotion to his mercy, which has today spread across theworld. She writes, “On one occasion, I heard these words: My daughter, tell the whole world about My Inconceivablemercy... I pour out a whole ocean of graces upon those souls who approach the fount of My mercy.”

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What if Jesus didn’t know anything about you except what you told him? Would you be able to have arelationship? The main idea behind this simple paradigm for prayer is that we can use our everyday, ordinaryexperiences as the springboard to relationship with God. Because we live in the world and live very active lifestyles, wecan use that nearly limitless trove of experiences as material for prayer. Here’s the paradigm:

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Holy Week has arrived. We have ushered it in with palms and the Passion narrative, and now we embark withOur Lord on a journey to Calvary and beyond. As we approach the greatest mysteries of our faith in the Paschal Triduum,it might be helpful to pause for a moment and reflect on the meaning behind these upcoming days.

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Some weeks have elapsed since I composed a weekend bulletin article. Samuel McCarty's presence has lifted this task from me for a short while. His presence has also lifted the spirits of many within our parish through the inspiration he provides through ministry and witness. Many have remarked how reawakened their senses have become knowing that a talented young man, like Samuel, and others around our diocese are responding to God's call to serve us in the Diocese of La Crosse. I continue to find myself being effected through his energy and idealism which can become clouded through the distractions of daily ministry. Continue to pray for him (us) as we all seek out God's gifts among us and also pray for more vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life.

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