Monday, Family Day our parishes host a family skating party in Point Edward. It is a wonderful event and this year I am brave enough to put on a pair of skates. You see I have a confession to make; even though I love to ski… I never learnt to skate! The Keller’s would cross country ski with just a skiff of snow and make runs down every little mound in the Stratford area; but sadly skating was not part of Keller household activities. I would love to skate, especially when I see people fly by so carefree around the ice. People make it look easy yet the few times in the seminary where I have put on skates I realize it there are a lot of skills needed. It was a very humbling experience.
It is the same way with the Catholic life; the saints make it look easy… grace filled; yet there are basic skills that need to learnt and practiced until it becomes part of us. Lent is a time of returning to the three basic disciplines of a Catholic; namely prayer, fasting and sharing. It can be very humbling but when these are integrated they help us gracefully move through life. More importantly, they help us forget our fears, our doubts and our self-centered goals so that we may experience God’s will which is love.
So when you see me stumbling around the ski on Monday remember; LOOK OUT! I am not skating… I am learning how to be a saint.