“Looking and Sounding Last Season”

The Mom Weekly Volume 134: March 3, 2025

You can read this, or any other previous Mom Weeklies, by going to the home page here. https://themomweekly.com/

Notes:

And again, I have not had time to edit my intended Lenten post(s), but fortunately there are a few things to write about, as always! Especially during Lent. 

I happened to listen to a Rich Mullins song on Spotify the other day, looking for a lyric.

Now, normally when I’m out and about driving around, a podcast plays, from one of my “followed” podcasts. But since I had listened to that Rich Mullins song, Spotify played for me my “Rich Mullins Lent” playlist. And so, I listened to Rich Mullins songs as I drove to Mass this morning, and then to the post office and a couple of other stops. I listened to his music on the way to and from the gym. 

And honestly? Listening to Rich Mullins music is balm for the soul. At least my soul! I have been feeling extra depleted these last few weeks with everything going on. Listening to Rich Mullins today was life-giving and restorative.

So can I propose that you find an artist or type of music that is balm to your soul, and listen to it, at least for a small portion of every day? That’s going to be my plan for the remainder of Lent, and beyond.

Remember how much I love you,

Mom  

“Looking and Sounding Last-Season”

Bishop Erik Varden (I’m reading his book The Shattering of Loneliness for Lent) has been doing Lenten retreat talks at the Vatican for the first week or so of Lent.

Here’s the schedule.

I thought it was funny and also interesting that an exlusive group of people are allowed to attend: “The Cardinals resident in Rome and the Heads of the Dicasteries are invited to participate.”

That doubtless means that normal people (like us!) aren’t able to attend, but fortunately, Bishop Varden is posting the talks on his website. They are all very short and highly readable. Here is the one for February 24: The Splendor of Truth.

Here’s a quote that I really liked from it: 

It is tempting to think we must keep up with the world’s fashions. It is, I’d say, a dubious procedure. The Church, a slow-moving body, will always run the risk of looking and sounding last-season. But if she speaks her own language well, that of the Scriptures and liturgy, of her past and present fathers, mothers, poets, and saints, she will be original and fresh, ready to express ancient truths in new ways, standing a chance, as she has done before, of orienting culture. 

Interesting/Notable:

A woman at book group a couple of weeks ago mentioned a YouTube video on Former Senator Ben Sasse discussing his terminal diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. When I add YouTube videos to emails, sometimes they go to spam, so I won’t link the one I think it is. But if you look for the Hoover Institution. The title of the video is called “Basketball in the Last 60 Seconds.” I have gotten most of the way through it, and it’s a sobering but beautiful listen.

Here is an article about his diagnosis from Terry Mattingly, a longtime religion commentator, and I think the video is embedded here.

So you can get a feel for Sasse’s perspective, here is a gift link of a WSJ article of an Op-Ed he wrote recently:

Politics Should Be More Like the Superbowl