Daily Reflection Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Lent

When I was growing up my father loaded us all into our Caprice Station Wagon, yes the one with the paneling on the sides, and decided to take us to Long Island to visit family. This was long before GPS and cell phones. We had a Rand McNally map and off we went. My dad made three fatal errors that day. Number one: my mother was the co-piolet, number two: this was before she learned to drive and number three: he had three young daughters in the car. Traffic was horrid and she gave him the wrong directions more than once. We three kids kept asking “are we there yet?” My dad’s patience was nonexistent. He really did turn that car around and go back home. The only reason we made it home, seven hours later, was because he followed every sign, he saw that said George Washington Bridge this exit. We lived about eight minutes from the bridge.




Today my sisters and I laugh when that story comes up but on that fateful August day there was no laughter, air conditioning or food in the car. Dare I say I can sort of sympathize with the Israelites. I can say I pray for patience on a regular basis, and I avoid route 80 these days. I learned a long time ago that losing my patience will rarely change the situation and will usually only make matters worse.



How many of us in the fifth week of lent have lost the patience and gusto that we entered Lent with. Are the “are we there yet” thoughts creeping in? Are we ready for it to be Holy Week? Lent can be an exercise in patience. For some it is committing to unrealistic goals and then losing patience in not fulfilling them. I heard someone say why do we have to hear the same old readings every year? Instead of taking the time to understand why we share our faith story this time every year they just want to move on.




In these final days of Lent try to slow down and patiently take it all in. Don’t ask “are we there yet” but enjoy the beautiful history of our faith. Try and attend the Easter Vigil and enjoy the readings. I belong to a parish that does all the readings in their entirety. This is a Mass that is uniquely beautiful and listening to the readings in the darkness is very moving.



In these last weeks of Lent instead of saying “are we there yet,” we can pray for the patience to sit back and be truly present for all that will happen during Holy Week.