Return to me with your whole heart 

Joel 2, 12

The former Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, once wrote a reflection on 9/11 called "Writing in the Dust." He drew comparisons between the chilling images of victims covered in ash and debris and the liturgy of Ash Wednesday: “Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.” The common theme he highlighted was one of the fragility and fleeting nature of life; a reminder that the present moment is the only time we have and so we should allow it to become an occasion for conversion.

His second point came from seeing a collection of final messages sent by the terrorists and victims on that fateful day. The terrorists' messages were filled with religious language; many referred to God and the afterlife. In contrast, the victims' language was more secular but, tellingly, much more about love; love of friends and family. Williams reflected on the idea that sometimes religious practice is divorced from any kind of loving attitude. A member of a religious order once told me that they were getting quite a good number of vocations of young men who were very "holy", but he added that he sometimes wondered how loving they were! To be truly religious therefore is to be human. We are not meant to be more Catholic, dare I say, but more human! In other words, our being Catholic should make us more loving.

A particular religious practice you could try this Lent is silent prayer; recharging your soul each day with a moment of silence before God. St Augustine found that God speaks to us in the "great silence of our hearts". As the Order of St Augustine, we focus on a spiritual value known as Interiority; it's our special theme in the UK for 2019. It is based on the belief that God is within each one of us and through silent prayer and meditation we can tap into his presence - and as Rowan Williams reminds us: now is the time to do it and it should, with God's help, make us more loving.

A reflection written by Gianni Notarianni O.S.A., Parish Priest of St Augustine's Hammersmith, London and Director of Austin Forum 

Follow the Order of Saint Augustine (O.S.A.), Province of England and Scotland  

theaugustinians.org | Facebook | Twitter