Father Richard Rohr is a Franciscan priest living and writing out in New Mexico. I have been receiving weekly reflections from him for the past year or so, and when it was suggested that we might reinvigorate our weekly Lenten Lunch, I thought of him. I don’t agree with everything he says — but I also never squirm in my seat when I read his emails worrying that he’s going to be offensive. I would like to offer a weekly devotional during Lent that is intelligent, invigorating and different.
I suppose I thought of Fr. Rohr initially, because, if I’m honest, I have found the generally theologically conservative tone of LL past episodes generally unenlightening and hard to endure. Because I do appreciate a diversity of thought, which at least theoretically underlies these lunch gatherings during Lent — I latched onto this idea of Rohr’s emails and have come up with a series that he wrote last year just as the pandemic was changing the world.
He writes beautifully in these meditations on dealing with our mortality, which is a classic theme for Lent as well. So — I hope you’ll give it a try: starting on Thursday, February 18, I invite you to join us on zoom at the following link for a 15 minute lunch starting at noon. Rohr’s reflections are each around 3 – 4 minutes. So our time together will start with four to five minutes of chatting, then I’ll introduce Rohr’s reflection with a few words of my own about what you’re going to hear — so as to prime the pump. I’ll read a short scripture passage that sheds light on the reading (or which the reading sheds light upon) and close with a prayer. We’ll keep it simple and short.
Here’s the link to join: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83772697068?pwd=YXNQNHk3alpWSzBHV01aYUFuZ2k1dz09
You can also find the link in our calendar.