“Christians must respond to evil with good, taking the cross upon themselves as Jesus did,” said Francis, who followed the ceremony from under a canopy overlooking the 2,000-year-old Roman amphitheatre.
Category: Lent
On This Day…
a simple but deeply held statement of thanks to the Virgin Mary. Thank you for saying “Yes.”
A blessed Annunciation to all.
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It Seems Like…
winter has been going on and on. Snow is still on the ground. The temperatures are well below average. The sky is gray.
I’d like it to be over today or tomorrow at the latest. A week of 50’s and 60’s should do the trick. Just that should take out the snow, turn the grass green, and clean the alley of its frozen ruts. If I had my way that’s how I’d make things happen. Why not even throw a 70 degree day in for good measure?
Except I would be wrong.
We’ve had a lot of snow in the past month and the ground has been frozen since last November. If the snow melts in a few days the ground will still be cold and hard, unable to absorb the water. All the benefits of the moisture will be lost as it runs off the lawn and into the ponds and rivers without seeping in to nourish the anticipated spring growth. Worse yet, basements and streets will flood as the water makes its way downhill.
The best of all possible worlds is what’s happening right now. A slow rise in temperature allowing the ground to thaw and absorb the melting snow. Spring, even if its late, has to come on a larger schedule driven by forces beyond my desire. What I want and what is good are not always the same thing. Now if I can remember that for the rest of life I may become wise.
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A Smile for Lent…
Thank you Fr. Raphael…
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Lenten Resources…
from the Antiochian Archdiocese. Visit and enjoy.
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Lenten Thoughts…
“He who has a voracious stomach always has dreams that annoy his heart. But he, who reduces eating, becomes clear hearted. As the sky is getting dark when cloudy, so the mind also is darkened when the stomach is getting full of food.”
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There is a Place…
in, through, and beyond the rubrics of the Liturgy where its meaning, its spirit, is present. It’s good to know where to stand, how to move, and what to say. But to what end? It is indeed possible to serve the Liturgy with complete perfection of motion, to say all the right words in all the right places and still miss the joy, the transcendence, the moments of God’s presence. For these one needs eyes to see, a heart that listens for the voice of the Shepherd, and a love for the One for whom the Liturgy exists. To know this is, in part, why we set out on the beautiful path.
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Lent is a…
kind of war. If you participate in it at all you’ll realize how counter cultural the whole thing is, how defiant it is of the prevailing order of things. In a gluttonous culture you decide to fast. In a promiscuous culture you stand for chastity. In a consumerist culture you decide to share. In a culture of immediacy you choose to see eternity. Face it, Lent is making war on just about everything American pop society values.
So why should you be surprised when the whole thing decides to push back? Think of the sheer amount of money invested in you being promiscuous, gluttonous, greedy, and self-centered. Whole industries would collapse if the spirit of Lent caught on in the general population. Important people would lose their jobs. Politicians would be out of power. A whole political – economic system that thrives on human depravity would fall into disuse.
That’s why it’s easier to stigmatize you as a relic, someone out of touch with the “real” world, a throwback to a less civilized time. If someone asks questions they may not get the answers our world has predetermined to be correct. If someone stands back from the whole mess and sees that it really is a mess they might consider opting out. If the emperor really is naked then the people selling us invisible clothes will stop having their sway. What will the plantation owner do if the slaves taste freedom and decide to act on it?
So they tell you its a burden, an unrealistic expectation, even a kind of oppression. Lent is warfare. Lent is the animal looking up from trough and slaughter and seeing the sun beyond the pen. Lent is the realization there is so much more than toys and games and endless work to pay for it all. For the price of a little less food we get to see eternity. For the sacrifice of moments we would waste in front of the TV we get to experience the presence of God. For 40 days, we get to taste authentic life, which is what, when you boil it down, the Kingdom of God actually is.
Yet don’t except this without a fight. Your soul is on the line and you can give it to God or sell it on the open market for the next new gadget.
Do the right thing.
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Wisdom for Lent
Beware of limiting the good of fasting to mere abstinence from meats. Real fasting is alienation from evil. ‘Loose the bands of wickedness.’ Forgive your neighbor the mischief he has done you. Forgive him his trespasses against you. Do not ‘fast for strife and debate.’ You do not devour flesh, but you devour your brother. You abstain from wine, but you indulge in outrages. You wait for evening before you take food, but you spend the day in the law courts. Woe to those who are ‘drunken, but not with wine.’ Anger is the intoxication of the soul, and makes it out of its wits like wine.
St. Basil, in his homilies on the Holy Spirit
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Wisdom for Lent…
† Abba Joseph asked Abba Poemen: “How should we fast?” And Abba Poemen said: “I myself think it’s good to eat every day a little at a time so as not to get full.” Abba Joseph said: “Well, when you were young, didn’t you used to fast for two days at a time?” And the old man said: “Believe me, indeed I did, for three days, and even a week. But the great elders tried all of this, and found that it is good to eat every day a little less each time. In this way, they showed us the royal highway, for it is light and easy.” Abba Poemen teaches us that we should be careful not to undertake efforts too great for us. It is better to make slow and steady progress with moderate efforts than to become discouraged or to miss the goal altogether with efforts too great for us.
The Beautiful Path 