REFLECT
In 1976, while working for the Archdiocese of Washington, Msgr. Lorenzo Albacete was assigned to serve as the driver for a visiting Polish bishop named Karol Wojtyla. The two enjoyed deep conversations about philosophy, and afterward Bishop Wojtyla occasionally sent letters with book recommendations. “And I thought, ‘Oh boy, it’s this guy again,’ and just forgot about it,” Albacete later recalled. Then, in 1978, Cardinal Wojtyla was elected pope and became Pope John Paul II. Not long afterward, Father Albacete attended a papal audience, where Pope John Paul II recognized the gregarious Puerto Rican priest. He grabbed him by the lapels, exclaiming, “Ah, Father Albacete … perhaps now you will respond to my letters!” Lent is the time to run into our old faults. Our temptations often come back to find us. We can’t simply brush them off ; they have to be faced and stared down, with the power of Christ.
PRAYER
Curb my desires and temptations, O God, that I may seek only you. Give me the strength to seek what is good, pleasing, and perfect. Amen.
LIVE
Work on a particular temptation this Lent. Choose one vice to focus on. Strategize and plan to substitute it with a virtue.
This meditation first appeared in My Daily Visitor: Lent 2024. Discover Christ’s peace this Lent with free daily reflections sent to your inbox. Sign up here. Purchase the companion devotional at the OSV Catholic bookstore.
