Can I get that mat for you?

Last night, my pastor, Fr. Tony, preached on the gospel of Mark Chapter 2. He spoke about not only picking up your own mat, but picking up another's mat to help them also. He told a story about a guy coming into his office to talk about returning to the church after many many years. Then a few weeks later this man was at Mass and called aside Fr. Tony to say, "Look! I brought a couple of friends with me!" This man truly picked up his own mat that he had been sitting on for some many years, then immediately looked around to carry others' mats. What a lively, vibrant Church we would have if everyone worked hard to pick up each others' mats!

On another note, I went to a fantastic, although short, retreat on Saturday put on by a monastic named Macrina Wiederkehr. She wrote a book called Seven Sacred Pauses. I'm still digesting all of it, and probably will be for all of Lent, but I'm hoping to blog some about it soon. Stay tuned!