I am faced with a dilemma. Each year I make a private retreat over the Triduum period. It starts after the Chrism Mass demo: by the time I get home, I have just enough time to eat, and then it's prayer, spiritual reading and off to the Mass of the Lord's Supper, with watching at the altar of repose until midnight.I try very hard not to talk in church, so apart from quick "hello" and "goodbye" greetings, time in church is effectively time spent incommunicado. I live on my own, (talking to the cat doesn't really count!) and in previous years I have switched off the television (apart from watching the DVD of "The Passion of the Christ"), ignored the phone, and unplugged the computer... it's not quite a silent retreat, but it's close.
However, this year I went on retreat to Aylesford, and have been back less than a week. Do I make my usual Triduum preparations...?
I find myself wanting to say "No!" I am especially torn by the idea of being without blog, text messages or email... phone calls are easier to resist! I shall run it past my SD, but I suspect, from the strength of my internal "resistance," that I shall be joining the hordes of absentee bloggers... (whenever I feel strongly that I shouldn't have to do something connected with prayer or the Sacraments, it usually means that I should...)
For what it's worth, I think the hoards of absentee bloggers are right on this one and I speak as a died in the wool anti-majoritarian.
ReplyDeleteMy answer would be do your regular devotions. It's is different if the mind says no reasonably, but I find if my mind resists then it is time to ignore it (e.g. stupid me wanted to give up going to the Chrism Mass last night, so I went. And enjoyed it).
ReplyDeleteP.S. It is a horribly busy week!
ReplyDeleteYou're on your own, in that the little voice in the ear is telling you what you really ought to do, whatever we might say. (Though the SD's view counts rather more than any of ours!)
ReplyDeleteBut we're all with you, and praying for you, and with you. And if you're off air for a few days, we have a pretty good idea where you are and what you're doing!
'Hordes', surely? Or are the other bloggers absent because you're hoarding them under your patio? :¬)
ReplyDeleteAs far as blogging is concerned, I think your answer depends partly on the subject matter - a bit like it being OK to watch the DVD of 'The Passion of The Christ' but not 'So Graham Norton'.
Thanks for the advice, my friends... and check out the next post!
ReplyDeleteHeheheh... well spotted, NHNJ ! I have amended my entry accordingly...