Director’s Log 160221
This past weekend we celebrated both Valentine’s Day and Family Day. Days to reflect and celebrate the precious gift we have been given of those closest to us, those who support us. A week ago, Fr. Jim in the Cathedral Bulletin shared a “Going Home Checklist” that was posted at LHSC for staff. It is an excellent checklist as we continue to look out for each other during these days of COVID.
- Take a moment to think about today
- Acknowledge ONE thing that was difficult on your shift: let it go
- Be proud of the care/service you gave today
- Consider THREE things that went well
- Check on your colleagues before you leave: are they OK?
- Are you OK? Your senior team is here to listen and support you
- Now switch your attention to home: REST and RECHARGE
This Wednesday, Ash Wednesday, marks the beginning of Lent. Mark Patterson in a recent article “After 11 months of ‘giving up,” what is there left to give up this Lent?” wrote the following:
“Maybe this Lent isn’t the year to give up something, because we’re already doing it involuntarily. It’s time to dig deeper and to think more deeply about what are the lessons that we’re learning from this pandemic.”
In the article he quotes:
Bishop William Byrne, “If you don’t find love, bring love, and then you’ll find it, and so, in this time where we’ve had so much taken away from us, and … to lose hope, to be discouraged, what we need to do is bring hope, and then we’re going to find it. Bring joy, and we’ll find it. Let’s start with the blessings. It isn’t the negativity, but embrace the positive and bringing that to people each day. In order to do that, you have to look at the other two parts of Lent. There’s prayer and almsgiving. You can’t really bring positivity without prayer. Otherwise, it’s just play-acting. You’ve got to have something at the start of the day. Get your cup of coffee or tea, and get your rosary, get your prayer book and start. Make a conscious effort in the morning and say, ‘I am going to bring positivity to the people I’m going to meet this day. Disarm them with your joy, if you will. Bring hope where we’re feeling hopeless.”
Paul Jarzembowksi, “Lent is a time for renewal, a time for re-examining. Lent is about giving up, but it’s a time of renewing, about making some new choices, make some resolutions, I look at it not so much as giving up as what can be renewed, what can be recharged.”