ARCH B I S HOP
Lent as a time to make space for God O BY ARCHBISHOP SALVATORE JOSEPH CORDILEONE
nce upon a time, many years ago, I experienced making a private retreat at the Camaldolese hermitage in Big Sur. I was only a couple of years ordained at the time, so it was a very long time ago! Nonetheless, the memory of it is still vivid in my mind. I remember very well the room that I stayed in, which seemed quite puzzling to me. All of the furnishings were against the walls: the bed against one wall, the door to the small bathroom at another wall, the desk against yet another wall, and so forth. In the middle of the room was a heating unit, with lots of empty space all around it. “How strange,” I thought to myself. “So much wasted space.” When I returned home, I shared the story with the associate pastor in my home parish. He was about 12 years ordained and, from my young perspective, that meant he had a good deal of experience of the priesthood. He had also recently completed a doctoral degree in spiritual theology, which accounts for his reaction. When I described the room to him, with a tone of curiosity in my voice, he responded by saying: “What a profound symbol!” At that point, I understood. Which brings us to Lent. Lent is a time to put into practice, in concrete ways, precisely what that room in New Camaldoli was meant ›
With contemporary life filled with so much busy-ness, noise and activity, the traditional Lenten practices that we incorporate into our day-to-day lives during these forty days are meant to teach us lessons about making space for God.” 2
APRIL 2022 | CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO Photo by Dennis Callahan
