Members of the New York City Area gathered on Monday, April 1 in the Lady Chapel of St. Patrick’s Cathedral for its regular First Monday Mass with the added blessing of a Lenten Reflection by Msgr. Robert Ritchie, Assistant Principal Chaplain of the Order after Mass.

Msgr. Ritchie spoke about the 3 pillars of Lent: prayer, fasting and alms-giving/helping others. He also reminded us that efforts during Lent to fast or give up something (or conversely, to do something extra) should not be treated like a new year’s resolution: forgotten within days or weeks. Rather, if we falter in our Lenten goals, start again! And, whether you stick to your Lenten resolutions from the beginning or have to push the reset button, do it quietly. The rest of the world need not know what you have give up, or undertaken to do, during Lent.