The Story of Ash Wednesday

The following comes from The Catholic Exchange:

Q: A Protestant friend asked me why Catholics use ashes on Ash Wednesday. What are the origins of Ash Wednesday and the use of ashes?

The liturgical use of ashes originates in Old Testament times. Ashes symbolized mourning, mortality and penance. For instance, in the Book of Esther, Mordecai put on sackcloth and ashes when he heard of the decree of King Ahasuerus (or Xerxes, 485-464BC) of Persia to kill all of the Jewish people in the Persian Empire (Est 4:1). Job (whose story was written between 7th and 5th centuries BC) repented in sackcloth and ashes (Jb 42:6).

Prophesying the Babylonian captivity of Jerusalem, Daniel (c. 550BC) wrote, “I turned to the Lord God, pleading in earnest prayer, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes” (Dn 9:3). In the 5th century BC, after Jonah’s preaching of conversion and repentance, the town of Nineveh proclaimed a fast and put on sackcloth, and the king covered himself with sackcloth and sat in the ashes (Jon 3:5-6). These Old Testament examples evidence both a recognized practice of using ashes and a common understanding of their symbolism.

Jesus Himself also made reference to ashes: Referring to towns that refused to repent of sin although they had witnessed the miracles and heard the good news, our Lord said, “If the miracles worked in you had taken place in Tyre and Sidon, they would have reformed in sackcloth and ashes long ago” (Mt 11:21).

The early Church continued the usage of ashes for the same symbolic reasons. In his book, De Poenitentia, Tertullian (c. 160-220) prescribed that the penitent must “live without joy in the roughness of sackcloth and the squalor of ashes.” Eusebius (260-340), the famous early Church historian, recounted in his The History of the Churchhow an apostate named Natalis came to Pope Zephyrinus clothed in sackcloth and ashes begging forgiveness. Also during this time, for those who were required to do public penance, the priest sprinkled ashes on the head of the person leaving confession.

In the Middle Ages (at least by the time of the 8th century), those who were about to die were laid on the ground on top of sackcloth sprinkled with ashes. The priest would bless the dying person with holy water, saying, “Remember that thou art dust and to dust thou shalt return.” After the sprinkling, the priest asked, “Art thou content with sackcloth and ashes in testimony of thy penance before the Lord in the day of judgment?” To which the dying person replied, “I am content.” In all of these examples, the symbolism of mourning, mortality and penance is clear.

Eventually, the use of ashes was adapted to mark the beginning of Lent, the 40-day preparation period (not including Sundays) for Easter. The ritual for the “Day of Ashes” is found in the earliest editions of the Gregorian Sacramentary which dates at least to the 8th century. About the year 1000, an Anglo-Saxon priest named Aelfric preached, “We read in the books both in the Old Law and in the New that the men who repented of their sins bestrewed themselves with ashes and clothed their bodies with sackcloth. Now let us do this little at the beginning of our Lent that we strew ashes upon our heads to signify that we ought to repent of our sins during the Lenten fast.” As an aside, Aelfric reinforced his point by then telling of a man who refused to go to Church on Ash Wednesday and receive ashes; the man was killed a few days later in a boar hunt. Since the Middle Ages at least, the Church has used ashes to mark the beginning of the penitential season of Lent, when we remember our mortality and mourn for our sins.

In our present Ash Wednesday liturgy, we use ashes made from burned palm branches distributed on the Palm Sunday of the previous year. The priest blesses the ashes and imposes them on the foreheads of the faithful, making the sign of the cross and saying, “Remember, man you are dust and to dust you shall return,” or “Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel.”

As we begin this holy season of Lent in preparation for Easter, we must remember the significance of the ashes we have received: We mourn and do penance for our sins. We again convert our hearts to the Lord, who suffered, died and rose for our salvation. We renew the promises made at our baptism, when we died to an old life and rose to a new life with Christ. Finally, mindful that the kingdom of this world passes away, we strive to live the kingdom of God now and look forward to its fulfillment in heaven. In essence, we die to ourselves, and rise to a new life in Christ.

As we remember the significance of these ashes and strive to live it during this time of Lent, we must allow the Holy Spirit to move us to charity toward our neighbors. Our Holy Father in his Message for Lent, 2003, said, “It is my fervent hope that believers will find this Lent a favorable time for bearing witness to the Gospel of charity in every place, since the vocation to charity is the heart of all true evangelization.”

He also lamented that our “age, regrettably is particularly susceptible to the temptation toward selfishness which always lurks within the human heart…. An excessive desire for possessions prevents human beings from being open to their Creator and to their brothers and sisters.” This Lent, acts of self-giving love shown to those in need must be part of our penance, conversion and renewal, for such acts constitute the solidarity and justice essential for building up the kingdom of God in this world.

The Victory of the Cross

Most High, glorious God, enlighten the darkness of my heart; Give me right faith, sure hope, and perfect charity. Fill me with understanding and knowledge, that I may fulfill your command.

-St. Francis of Assisi

Why Catholics Practice Fasting and Abstinence?

The following comes from the Integrated Catholic Life:

Would you like to know the secret to a better, deeper, more joyful life in Christ?

Of course you would.  We all would.

Our bookstores are filled with books written to help us advance in prayer and the spiritual life. The “secret” we all look for is really no secret at all.  At its heart, the gospel message is one of self-denial and detachment from all things that are obstacles to our growth.  Jesus tells us that if we are to be his disciples, we must deny ourselves, take up our crosses and follow him (cf. Matthew 16:24). That is why Catholics practice fast and abstinence as a form of self-denial intended to lead us to perfection. So stick with me here and learn how self-denial will satisfy your deepest hunger.

The Catholic Disciplinary Laws of Fast and Abstinence

In these modern times, we don’t seem to hear much about fasting and abstinence anymore.  That’s a shame because the doctrine of self-denial is crucial to our becoming fully satisfied. Many of today’s Catholics associate fasting and abstinence only with the season of Lent and that’s a shame too. Let’s review the Church’s disciplinary law regarding Fasting and Abstinence:

• Fasting During Lent – The Church requires its members to fast on two days each year — Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. The Bishops in the United States have defined the minimum requirement of the fast for U.S. Catholics to be one full (but not excessive) meal plus other food not to exceed the full meal which may be taken in part at breakfast, noon or evening, depending on when one decides to take the “one full meal”. This law applies to Catholics between the age of 18 and 59.
• Abstinence From Meat on Fridays — The Church requires its members to abstain from eating meat on Fridays as an act of penitence.  In the United States, Catholics are permitted to substitute another form of penance on Fridays outside the season of Lent. This law applies to all Catholics who are over the age of 14.
• The Holy Communion Fast — Catholics must also fast for a minimum of one hour before receiving Holy Communion.

The entire season of Lent is a penitential time and our attitude and behavior during this season should be marked by some sort of self-denial.  The season of Advent is also a penitential season, but of less severity, and we should also mark this season with some form of self-denial, even if it is less than that practiced during Lent.

That’s it!  And so many of us complain and wait for the clock to tick down to midnight so we can have a ham sandwich. We need to turn our thinking around because uncontrolled appetites only become hungrier and more insatiable. That is why there is a myriad of “miracle” diets and weight loss programs on the market that promise results without effort. Well, there is only one source of miracles and that is God.  He has already provided us the ultimate diet program if we will but listen to him.

Although we often only hear about fast and abstinence associated with Lent, it is really a practice that is important all through the year.

So Let’s Broaden Our Understanding

As you can see, “to fast” generally means to significantly reduce the consumption of food or to forego it altogether for short durations. Abstinence is generally seen as avoiding the eating of meat.  But both acts are forms of self-denial.  More broadly speaking, self-denial is the act of giving up something that is good, be it food or some other “good” for the purpose of deepening our spiritual life and making acts of reparation for our sin or the sin of others. There is a long-history of the Catholic practice of fast and abstinence dating all the way back to the time of Christ. Our culture often incorporates these practices into our everyday language.  For example, the word breakfast is formed from two words, “break” and “fast” meaning simply that the first meal of the day breaks the fast from our last meal of the previous day. Another example, although this has nothing to do with fasting, is our word for the celebration of Christ’s birth which is formed by two words, “Christ’s” and “Mass” or Christmas.

Read the rest here.

The Lamentation of Jesus

The following comes from the Catholic Exchange:

As Jesus walks the Via Dolorosa, among the procession of people, He sees His beloved Mother who is accompanied by John and some holy women of Jerusalem.  He gazes at his sorrowful Mother who is humble, silent, resigned and valiant as always. His suffering is mirrored back to Him in the perfect anguish of her maternal heart. We can perceive the lamentation of the Lord as he communicates to His sorrowful Mother.

Jesus speaks to Mary in the silent gaze of love on the way of the cross:

My beloved Mother, My enemies deride Me, but they will not disrespect you. Even amidst this bloodthirsty crowd you are esteemed, as you should be. No one will lay a hand on you, Mother of the Condemned One!  No one will speak an unkind word to you, Mother of the Messiah! They will not cease their cruelty against Me until I breathe my last. Death by crucifixion is their only aim: it is a sport to them.

The devils are unleashed to enter into this crowd to carry out the most tortuous execution possible. But the devils dare not to approach you, Mother of the Redeemer. The Father will not permit it. Legions flee from your presence for you are altogether too much for the fallen angels. Any number of these people will do their evil bidding but not you!

Mother, I know that you ardently desire to share in my physical pain.  It is enough that you share in all the pain of my soul. Your sorrow is complete for I see the mystical swords that pierce your Immaculate Heart. Our two hearts are beating in the synchronized rhythm of love that we have always shared. I am bone of your bone and flesh of your flesh. Our hearts are inseparable.

This maddening crowd stares at you. They see you: “There is His Mother!”  But no one dares to come against you. While they have no sympathy for Me, you elicit sympathy from them. Your tender maternal heart is pierced as Simeon prophesied so that the thoughts of many will be revealed. I am a sign of contradiction that they seek to annihilate but you are a mother of love touching their hearts in a mysterious maternal manner.

Mother, your tears are sanctifying the earth. They fall like My blood and sweat to purify the earth’s children. Mother, your Son’s hour is now. We talked about this. We prepared one another for this hour. My enemies think it is their hour.  But you and I know the truth: this is hour of the redemption of the world.

Mother, your noble heart is thoroughly anguished yet rapt in love. My pure, gentle mother, your love always tends upward. You could no more wish ill upon my persecutors than I could! Your suffering is complete because of the affection you have for these people. You know that I love them and so do you. Love bears all things with equanimity. You are the flower of divine mercy and your fragrance of holiness is like heaven’s incense soothing my laboring lungs.

Your loving eyes speak volumes to me. You are always full of heaven’s grace, my selfless Mother. Valiant Lady, thank you for accompanying me along the Via Dolorosa. My friends have fled in fear but you remain near me always. Take courage, as I must complete the mission now. That My suffering is complete, I shall not receive the consolation of your loving gaze again until this Body is raised. Let Me look at your lovely face one last time before it is finished. Your countenance is sorrowful but noble for you are more radiantly beautiful than ever. My Queen, your heart is well prepared for the piercing swords of bitter sorrow that take hold of us in this hour. Most holy Mother, I die for you also. My will is fixed. Mother, fiat!

During Lent, we can spiritually accompany our Lord and Savior along the way of the cross. As we fix our eyes on His complete and perfect sacrifice, He looks back at us in a gaze that communicates His infinite, personal love for us. We may think that we are consoling Him (it is good that we try to do so), but in truth He is consoling us. Saint Luke tells us, “But Jesus turning to them said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children (Luke 22:28).” These are the only recorded spoken words of the Lord along the way of the cross. They are an invitation to travailing, intercessory prayer. Our Lenten tears and sacrifices are not for the Lord, but for ourselves; that we may rediscover the joy of loving Him.

The grace of Lent is an opportunity to experience the personal and corporate weight of sin. Oh, that we may weep! Oh, that our tears of love will help purify the earth! During Lent may our tears join Mary’s tears on the Via Dolorosa to join Christ’s perfect sacrifice of love! When He sees us accompanying Him on the way of the cross, certainly He will speak the words we long to hear.

Is there more to Lent than just giving up the stuff that you love?

The following comes from NOLA.com:

Open the Bible and you won’t find the word “Lent” anywhere. So where does Lent come from? Why does it last for 40 days — 40 long days? And what exactly are we supposed to be doing? Is it really just about giving up coffee, chocolate and Coke? Or is there more to it?

The answers can be found by exploring the biblical roots of the season. Every year on Ash Wednesday, we read Jesus’ teaching about prayer, fasting and almsgiving (Matthew 6:1-18). And every year, on the first Sunday of Lent, we read about Jesus’ 40 days in the desert (Matthew 4:1-11; Mark 1:12-15; Luke 4:1-13).

First, the 40 days of Lent are modeled on Jesus’ 40 days of fasting in the desert: “At that time Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterward he was hungry” (Matthew 4:1). I bet he was! Here we see the deepest reason for the Lenten season: the 40 days of self-denial are done in imitation of Jesus. He prayed and fasted 40 days, so we follow his example with 40 days of self-denial. Now, we could just stop there. And many people do. But there is more to Lent than just “giving up” food and drink. For Jesus not only fasts, he also overcomes three powerful temptations:

The devil tries to get Jesus to transform stones into loaves of bread (Matthew 4:1-4). The temptation is for Jesus to break his fast and satisfy his hunger, which by this point must be ravenous.

The devil offers to give Jesus “all the kingdoms of the world in their magnificence” if Jesus will bow down and worship him (Matthew 4:8-10). Here the devil tries to tempt Jesus by offering him possession of the kingdoms of the world, which were handed over to the devil by Adam in the Fall (see Luke 4:6).

Finally, the devil tries to get Jesus to “prove” he is really the Son of God by throwing himself down from “the parapet of the Temple” in Jerusalem and letting the angels catch him. Here the devil tries to tempt Jesus to perform a miracle that everyone would be able to see.

Of course, Jesus rebuffs each temptation by declaring that a person lives by the word of God, not by bread alone; that God alone is to be worshipped, and that one should not put God to the test. But why these temptations? Why does the Gospel tell us that “when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from (Jesus) until an opportune time” (Luke 4:13)?

Read the rest here.

Ash Wednesday

Pope Francis on Preparing for Confession

(CNS)  As Catholics are encouraged to make going to confession a significant part of their lives during Lent, Pope Francis offered some quick tips to help people prepare for the sacrament of penance.

After a brief explanation of why people should go to confession -- "because we are all sinners" -- the pope listed 30 key questions to reflect on as part of making an examination of conscience and being able to "confess well."

The guide is part of a 28-page booklet in Italian released by the Vatican publishing house. Pope Francis had 50,000 free copies distributed to people attending his Angelus address Feb. 22, the first Sunday of Lent.

Titled "Safeguard your heart," the booklet is meant to help the faithful become "courageous" and prepared to battle against evil and choose the good.

The booklet contains quick introductions to Catholic basics: it has the text of the Creed, a list of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, the Ten Commandments and the Beatitudes. It explains the seven sacraments and includes Pope Francis' explanation of "lectio divina," a prayerful way of reading Scripture in order to better hear "what the Lord wants to tell us in his word and to let us be transformed by his Spirit."

The booklet's title is based on a line from one of the pope's morning Mass homilies in which he said Christians need to guard and protect their hearts, "just as you protect your home -- with a lock."

"How often do bad thoughts, bad intentions, jealousy, envy enter?" he asked. "Who opened the door? How did those things get in?"

The Oct. 10, 2014, homily, which is excerpted in the booklet, said the best way to guard one's heart is with the daily practice of an "examination of conscience," in which one quietly reviews what bad things one has done and what good things one has failed to do for God, one's neighbor and oneself.

The questions include:

-- Do I only turn to God when I'm in need?

-- Do I take attend Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation?

-- Do I begin and end the day with prayer?

-- Am I embarrassed to show that I am a Christian?

-- Do I rebel against God's plan?

-- Am I envious, hot-tempered, biased?

-- Am I honest and fair with everyone or do I fuel the "throwaway culture?"

-- In my marital and family relations, do I uphold morality as taught in the Gospels?

-- Do I honor and respect my parents?

-- Have I refused newly conceived life? Have I snuffed out the gift of life? Have I helped do so?

-- Do I respect the environment?

-- Am I part worldly and part believer?

-- Do I overdo it with eating, drinking, smoking and amusements?

-- Am I overly concerned about my physical well-being, my possessions?

-- How do I use my time? Am I lazy?

-- Do I want to be served?

-- Do I dream of revenge, hold grudges?

-- Am I meek, humble and a builder of peace?

Catholics should go to confession, the pope said, because everyone needs forgiveness for their sins, for the ways "we think and act contrary to the Gospel."

"Whoever says he is without sin is a liar or is blind," he wrote.

Confession is meant to be a sincere moment of conversion, an occasion to demonstrate trust in God's willingness to forgive his children and to help them back on the path of following Jesus, Pope Francis wrote.

40 Days by Matt Maher

A Penitential Walk with an Elderly Monk

(CNA)  A 95-year-old priest named Friar Roberto walked more than three-and-a-half miles while hearing confessions during a recent “Penitential Walk” in Brazil.

Some 30,000 people participated in the walk, which took place Feb. 28 in the northeast Brazilian Archdioceses of Fortaleza and Salvador de Bahia.

“It was one of most beautiful moments I saw today. That example of faith, love and fidelity for the things of God, which is what Friar Roberto showed us today, was a true proof of the presence of God in his heart. We've got to follow his example!” one person commented on social media, sharing pictures of the priest exercising his ministry.

The Capuchin priest was born on September 10, 1920, in the city of Maracanaú (Ceará State). He was baptized with the name Juari Magalhães de Sousa. When he was 14, he entered the Capuchin monastery. He then changed his name to Friar Roberto. He was ordained a priest in 1944 and has been a priest for 71 years.

According to Archbishop Gilson Andrade of Salvador de Bahia, one of the dioceses that participated in this initiative, the Penitential Walk “is a gesture that we all make in common as the archdiocese in this time in which the Church remembers that her journey is also marked by our sins, the sins of the faithful.”

“We pray together as a Church for others because we need to be freed from our sins with the grace of God and the prayers of our brothers and sisters. At the same time it represents a manifestation of our unity around our pastors,” the archbishop added.

More than 200,000 people walked five miles in the “Penitential Walk” of Salvador de Bahia. Many of the participants performed penitential acts such as walking barefoot and carrying small crosses.

During the walk in Fortaleza, a cross was carried to recall that Christ carried on his shoulders the weight of all humanity to redeem it.

Heart of Lent

Silence and the Radical Christian Life

Here is a great reflection for Lent. The following comes from the Sinners Guide:

Silence should be part of every Christian’s life. Unfortunately silence is becoming more and more scarce in our society. It doesn’t come without Cultivation.

Why is silence so important? Every baptized Catholic has the threefold vocation of Priest, Prophet and King. We cannot fully take up the role of Prophet without first cultivating silence in our everyday life. Why? Being a prophet is more than proclaiming the Truths handed to us from the Church. God speaks to us all individually and we each have a part in His plan and a unique message for the world. We will never hear that message that is deep inside us without cultivating silence in our every day life.

Its not easy to find times when we can be in solitude to try and work towards that special silence where we can really communicate on a deeper level with God. Solitude and Silence certainly never came easy for me. Before I was married it was pretty common for me to have the television or radio on all day. As soon as I got home I would turn one of them one for some “background” noise. Once I got married I really learned from my wife to cherish silence she hates background noise and rarely ever wants the television or radio on. Now with my busy life (like most everyone else) I have to wake up early to find time for silence. It has to be a priority for me or it won‘t happen.
Some tips to help cultivate silence in your daily life:

1. Make it a priority. Set aside time each day to not only pray but listen to God
2. Make it the same time each day. This builds a habit and shows how important it is to us
3. Turn off EVERYTHING. (TV, Radio, Cell Phone, Laptop Etc.)
4. Write down things that are distracting you. For example things you need to accomplish
5. Work hard to keep your mind on the conversation with God
6. Use the little times to practice. (In the car, the shower, as you are falling asleep)
7. Most of all: Ask God for his help. He wants to speak to each one of us. His message is personal.

“Solitude enables you to make contact with yourself, a necessity if you want to realize yourself- not to repeat like a parrot a few acquired formulas, but to be the prophet of God within you who speaks a unique language to each man”

A. G. Sertillanges, O.P.

Oh that my people would listen to me…

Psalm 81:13

Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday invites us to reflect on our lives and turn again to the Lord who is our hope. Let's pray for one another to make a good Lenten journey. The following comes from Catholic Fire:

It's that time of year again -- the time of both internal and external recollection that we are setting out on a journey. On Ash Wednesday, the ashes placed on our forehead invite us to begin a new journey of repentance. They invite us to turn back to God and to receive new life. Once again, we are called to let God penetrate deeper into our lives, for indeed, turning back to Him with our whole hearts is a submission to His holy will.

Lent is a time when we permit God to purify our hearts allow Him to unite our wills with His. Lent because it is a time of interior spring cleaning and obtaining new strength and great graces from God. This is the time of year to take a good look inside of ourselves and take inventory. What bad habit or sin can I work on permanently eliminating in my life? What sin am I really attached to that I can work on removing – not just during this Lenten season, but permanently? Is this sin really that necessary for my survival in this world? What virtue can I replace it with to ensure my survival in the next life?

This Lent, as in all past seasons of Lent, let us permit God to change at least one of our vices into a virtue. Today, let us pray for discernment, that God will help us work on that area of our lives that He wants us to change and ask for His help as we enter into these 40 days of desert with Him.

From Today's Mass Readings:

Even now, says the LORD,
return to me with your whole heart,
with fasting, and weeping, and mourning;
Rend your hearts, not your garments,
and return to the LORD, your God.
For gracious and merciful is he,
slow to anger, rich in kindness,
and relenting in punishment.

(Joel 2: 12-13)

Prayer

Heavenly Father, as I begin this journey into the desert with You, send Your Holy Spirit to enlighten me and to give me wisdom as to what it is You desire to change within me. Help me turn away from sin and come to back to You with all my heart through my daily prayer and penance. Grant me the grace to persevere on the journey and the willingness to submit and surrender my heart to You. Amen.

Pope Francis: Do concrete acts of mercy this Lent

(CNA/EWTN News) In his 2016 Lenten message, Pope Francis called the faithful to place special emphasis on the spiritual and corporal works of mercy this Lent, taking into account the current Jubilee Year of Mercy.

“God’s mercy transforms human hearts; it enables us, through the experience of a faithful love, to become merciful in turn,” the Pope wrote in the short document, released Tuesday by the Vatican.

The spiritual and corporal works of mercy, the pontiff said, “remind us that faith finds expression in concrete everyday actions meant to help our neighbours in body and spirit: by feeding, visiting, comforting and instructing them.”

“On such things will we be judged,” he said.

The title of this year's message was drawn from the Gospel of Matthew: “I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,” and has the subtitle: “The works of mercy on the road of the Jubilee.”

In the message, signed the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, Oct. 4 2015, the Pope said those who are truly poor are the ones who believe themselves to be rich.

“This is because they are slaves to sin, which leads them to use wealth and power not for the service of God and others, but to stifle within their hearts the profound sense that they too are only poor beggars,” he said.

“The greater their power and wealth, the more this blindness and deception can grow,” he said.

Pope Francis recounted the parable of the poor man Lazarus who would beg at the door of the rich man.

Lazarus represents Christ, the Pope said, and therefore “the possibility of conversion which God offers us and which we may well fail to see.”

This blindness “is often accompanied by the proud illusion of our own omnipotence,” he observed.

Such an illusion can take “social and political forms,” he explained, citing as examples the “totalitarian systems of the twentieth century.”

In modern times, this illusion is seen in “the ideologies of monopolizing thought and technoscience, which would make God irrelevant and reduce man to raw material to be exploited.”

The Pope went on to explain how the illusion can link back to the “idolatry of money,” leading to a lack of concern for the poor “on the part of wealthier individuals and societies.”

“They close their doors, refusing even to see the poor,” he said.

“For all of us, then, the season of Lent in this Jubilee Year is a favourable time to overcome our existential alienation by listening to God’s word and by practising the works of mercy.”

Pope Francis stressed that “the corporal and spiritual works of mercy must never be separated.”

“By touching the flesh of the crucified Jesus in the suffering, sinners can receive the gift of realizing that they too are poor and in need,” he said.

“This love alone is the answer to that yearning for infinite happiness and love that we think we can satisfy with the idols of knowledge, power and riches.”

The Pope warned against constantly refusing “to open the doors of their hearts to Christ who knocks on them in the poor,” as such consistent refusal on the part on the part of the “proud, rich and powerful” leads to condemnation.

This year's Lent will begin Feb 10 with Ash Wednesday, when the Church will send out “Missionaries of Mercy” – priests with the faculties to pardon sins in cases otherwise reserved for the Holy See – as part of the Jubilee Year.

In the opening section of the message, Pope Francis centered his reflection on Mary as the image of the Church's evangelization, “because she is evangelized."

The Pope began by reiterating the call for mercy to be celebrated and experienced in a particular way this Lent, citing the Bull of Indiction for the Jubilee Year of Mercy.

Read the rest here.

Detox Your Soul This Lent

The following comes from Patti Maguire Armstrong:

Toxins are poisons that can cause disease if absorbed into our bodies. In the spiritual world, the poison of evilhas been absorbed by our culture.

Christians are hunkering down for the spiritual battle that is intensifying and sometimes, are feeling overwhelmed. I know the feeling. But three things have lifted my spirit recently and have given me a plan to detoxify my soul this Lent

Interview with an Exorcist

While working on an exorcism story, I interviewed Father Vincent Lampert, the designated exorcist for the archdiocese of Indiana. He consulted on the bizarre case of a demonic attack on a family in Indiana. I found Fr. Lampert to be like the other exorcists I’ve interviewed over the years--spiritually uplifting. Consider that exorcists go head-to-head with evil, and then afterwards, can enjoy a good night’s sleep. That’s the kind of peace I want.

Fr. Lampert learned to be an exorcist in 2006 at the North American College in Rome. While studying there for three months, he assisted on over 40 exorcisms withlongtime Italian exorcist Father Carmine De Filippis. Fr. Lampert trained alongside Fr. Gary Thomas, whose experiences became a book by Matt Baglio called "The Rite: The Making of a Modern Exorcist," and inspired the fictionalized movie.

Fr. Lampert emphasized faith as the key to life and according to him, with faith, we need not fear evil. “The power of God is greater than the power of evil,” he said. “I don’t carry a bag of tricks with me, I bring the power and authority of Jesus Christ that he has given to his Church.”

If we stay away from the occult, go to Mass, have faith in God, and pray, Fr. Lampert says we are protected. “The focus is on faith of Jesus Christ and it’s going to be reinforced by going to church,” he said. “The devil is already on the run if you are going to church and especially if you are receiving Communion.”

Fr. Lampert is confident and upbeat. One of his secrets for peace is that he stopped watching the news six years ago. “ I choose to be a positive person,” he said. “I can’t be a Christian and walk around with a long face because no one with a long face is going to bring someone to Christ.” He said that rather than letting the world change us, we should tune out the negative as much as possible and do what we can to change the world. “I believe the Gospel has the power to change the world, and that is what I choose to focus on,” Lampert said.

Raise the Soul through the Mind

With Lampert’s message in mind, I am keenly aware that what I let into my brain, affects my spirit. I don’t plan to stop watching the news (not yet anyways) but during Lent I will fill my mind with holy thoughts. I have selected writings assembled in Meditations for Lent for daily reading. Bossuet was a Seventeenth Century, French bishop, theologian, a brilliant orator, and a student of St. Vincent DePaul. His writings are compared to those of St. Augustine and St. John Chrysostom, and reported to have been at the bedside of Pope Pius XII.

“The whole of the Christian life consists in making this journey [to Heaven] well,” Bossuet writes, “and it was to that end that our Lord directed all his deeds.”

The first day of meditations state, “”We will come to him and make our home with him” (John 14:23). “Desire that he should be in you in this way. Offer yourself to him as his dwelling and temple.”

Bossuet encourages us to look at Jesus in heaven waiting for us so that we will break the chains that holds us down. With such a vision, we are drawn to our Lord who awaits us.

Heavenly Music

Better than a cup of coffee to start the day, is filling up on angelic music that lifts one’s heart towards heaven. The music of Lent at Ephesus soothes the soul in a mystical way. Ironically, it is from a group of women who have separated from the world to answer God’s call. The Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles live a monastic life in the country in the Diocese of Kansas City-Saint Joseph. Hidden from the world, they sow, tend crops, and farm animals. Yet, their voices ring out. 

A young, classically trained Prioress Cecilia and her sisters use music to worship God eight times a day. It is surely his sense of humor that these cloistered nuns have an international recording deal and two other albums that have topped the charts.

Their album, Advent at Ephesus, was #1 on the Billboard's Classical Traditional Music chart for 6 weeks in 2012. Last year, the sisters’ bestselling album, Angels and Saints at Ephesus topped the chart for thirteen weeks.

They have just released Lent at Ephesus, a collection of 23 songs. Three are original compositions inspired from the Diary of St. Faustina. 

“Lent is the time for us to meditate deeply on the love of God for Man,” Sr. Cecilia explained. “Forty days have been lovingly given to the church to prepare her members for the greatest mysteries of our faith.”

I can’t control the world or much of anything really, but I can start the day lifting my mind, heart, and soul to heaven. Regardless of what else you have planned for Lent, it’s never too late to add holy reading and inspirational music. I imagine that it’s the kind of daily activity that will become addicting.

Lenten Reflections from Catholicism

REFLECTION QUESTIONS:

1. Father Barron states: “We become what we worship. We conform ourselves toward what we consider the highest good.” The “highest good” is God and whenever something other than God usurps his place in this regard, sin follows. How do the practices of Lent (prayer, fasting, almsgiving) orient us to God who is the highest good?

2. Our worship of God is not something God needs, rather it is something that is necessary for us. St. Thomas Aquinas called the proper worship of God an act of justice because through it we render to God that which he is due- our adoration and praise. But worship is also for the Church a participation in the divine life. How is this participation made possible for us? How is this participation received? How is our participation in the divine life through the Mass an experience of conversion and transformation?

3. The prophets of the Bible summon Israel to the worship of the one, true God. The Church continues this summons to the whole world. Yet, the Church is not the only voice inviting people to worship. Other voices call for the worship of other gods. What are the false gods of our own age and what worship do these gods demand?

4. Christ proclaimed in regards to his own person “You have a great than the temple here.” What does this mean? How is Christ the new temple? In what ways does the Church in its liturgies and Sacraments display the reality of Christ as the new temple?

5. Father Barron speaks about “provocative non-violence” as Christ’s unique proposal to counter worldly powers of oppression and violence. What are some examples of “provocative non violence”? Do you believe that such approaches are an effective means of social transformation?

Please join Word on Fire Community Forum to discuss these questions and Contine our season of weekly Lenten reflections.

Lent: A Time For Review of Life Aimed at Growing in Holiness

The following comes from the blog of Bishop Paul Etienne:

Lent is clearly a time to examine our holiness of life.  Some have recently asked for greater detail in terms of what exactly holiness entails.  In short, holiness is found through our relationship with God.  That is why Jesus instructs us “to be perfect just as our heavenly Father is perfect.”  (Matthew 5:48)  In other words, our holiness exists in God, who is Supreme holiness; Holiness itself. 

St. Thomas Aquinas saw holiness as our capacity to receive God.  “For nothing is worthy to receive God unless it be pure, according to Psalm 92:5: ‘Holiness becomes your house, O Lord.”  (Summa II-II Q. 81)  This is why the readings for Ash Wednesday plainly call us back to God.  The prophet Joel says: “Return to the Lord, your God.”  (2:12-18) St. Paul similarly stated: “We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”  (2 Corinthians 5:20)

God’s will is that we be holy.  (1 Thessalonians 4:3)  And God has provided for this high calling through the Incarnation and Redeeming work of Christ.  We know this from St. Paul’s teaching: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessings in the heavens, as he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him.  In love, he destined us for adoption to himself through Jesus Christ, in accord with the favor of his will, for the praise of the glory of his grace that he granted us in the beloved.”  (Ephesians 1: 3-6)

How does one grow in holiness?  Basically, growth in holiness occurs in two ways.  First, since our holiness is attained through Jesus Christ, we must draw near to him.  This is done through prayer, receiving the Sacraments, growing in our knowledge of Sacred Scripture, and practicing charity.  Second, and perhaps this needs to be first, we must remove from our day-to-day lives all that is crass. In other words, there are things in our life that can and do block our ability to receive Christ, and thus to be drawn into the very holiness that is God.

Perhaps a practical starting point is to think about the kind of television programming we watch, or the music we listen to, the places we search on the internet, the video games we play, the conversations we have or the mindless thoughts we may entertain.  Do these things lift our spirits to God?  Do they respect the dignity of the human person and the sanctity of life?  Or do they leave us feeling empty, mindless, unfulfilled?  Good discernment tells us: “do not trust every spirit but test the spirits to see whether they belong to God.” (1 John 4:1)  If of the Holy Spirit, embrace it.  If of the counter spirit, (Satan) reject it. 

Once you identify a bad or questionable habit, take the risk and eliminate it from your routine for a while.  (This is what Lent calls us to do.)  Let God show you what a difference it makes when we make more room for him in our lives.  I have talked to several people over the years that stopped watching TV during Lent and were amazed after Lent when they began watching TV again, how offended they were by some of the shows they used to watch. 

Stated more positively, how much do we allow ourselves to experience beauty in sacred or classical music or art or even the simple beauty of nature?  Things that are beautiful naturally lead our heart, soul and mind to God.  (Philippians 4: 8)  Make a resolution to practice greater charity in just one relationship.

Perhaps finding a weekday Mass time is in order?  Spending more time with Jesus is absolutely necessary if we are going to grow in holiness, and there is no more privileged means of receiving Jesus than in the Eucharist.

I believe Abbot Marmion, OSB summs these points up nicely: “Our holiness will be the higher according as there is in us more loving dependence on God and conformity of our free will to our ultimate end (which is the manifestation of the Divine Glory).  The more we adhere to God by detaching ourselves from all that is not God, the more this dependence, conformity, adhesion, and detachment are firm and stable.”  Christ The Life of the Soul, p.28

These are just a few starting points to consider regarding holiness.  I’ll post more tomorrow.

 +pde

The Zeal of Thy House

The following comes from Catholic Exchange:

Today, Jesus drives out vendors and moneychangers from the Temple. What prompted this rare flash of aggression?

Gospel (Read Jn 2:13-25)

St. John describes a visit Jesus made to the Jerusalem Temple near Passover. To best understand this episode, we need to know something about the physical arrangement of the Temple at this time, as well as some of the customs and business conducted there. The “temple area” refers to the Court of the Gentiles, a space outside the holy inner chambers that was offered to God-fearing Gentiles who, although not converts to Judaism, wished to pray to the God of the Jews. When Solomon built the first Temple, this space was added to the Tabernacle design used in Israel’s wilderness wanderings. It acknowledged their vocation to be a “kingdom of priests” (see Ex 19:6), inviting the whole world into God’s blessing. This was, after all, part of God’s original promise to Abraham: “By you all the families of the earth shall bless themselves” (Gn 12:3). The Babylonians demolished Solomon’s Temple, with all its great beauty that was so evocative of the Garden of Eden, in 586 B.C. The Temple in Jesus’ day did not have the grandeur of the first one, but it did include the Court of the Gentiles, retaining Israel’s mission to the world.

Over time, the Court of the Gentiles became the place where vendors would sell animals to those coming to offer sacrifices at the Temple. All Jewish males living outside Jerusalem were required by the Law of Moses to make three annual pilgrimages to the Temple to celebrate liturgical festivals. For them, being able to purchase animals there was a convenience; they did not need to bring animals with them on what could be a long trip. Likewise, moneychangers were set up in this area to exchange foreign currency for the appropriate coins needed to pay the annual Temple tax. These services were licensed by those in charge of the Temple. As we know, when services are licensed and taxes are collected, there are always opportunities for corruption and extortion. Such was the case in Jesus’ day.

However, Jesus’ action in the Court of the Gentiles was more than simply an angry outburst against corruption. How do we know that? As He cleanses the area, Jesus quotes a phrase from the prophet, Jeremiah: “Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incenses to Baal, and…then come and stand before Me in this house, which is called by My Name, and say, ‘We are delivered!’—only to go on doing all these abominations? Has this house… become a den of robbers in your eyes?” (Jer 7:9-11) Here, the judgment against God’s people is not simply doing business where they shouldn’t have; rather, it was their great hypocrisy and presumption in believing that simply by keeping Temple rituals, God would deliver them from the threat of their enemies, even though they lived in great covenant infidelity. In Jeremiah’s day, as in Jesus’ day, God’s charge against His people was their empty religion—maintaining their liturgies with hearts far from Him. The fact that the Court of the Gentiles, which was supposed to be a place of prayer and evangelization, had become a “marketplace” was emblematic of Israel’s terrible spiritual desolation.

In His cleansing of the Temple, Jesus prophetically demonstrates that the Temple was no longer a place of true encounter with God, for Jews or Gentiles. It was destined to be eclipsed and replaced. That is why, when the Jews questioned Jesus’ authority for His action, He enigmatically predicts a destruction—but not of the Temple building. No, He referred to His own Body as “this Temple.” He spoke of His death and resurrection as the “sign” of His authority to bring an end to animal sacrifice (foreshadowed when He drove out the animals) and to open encounter with God to all the nations (restoring the true meaning of the Court of the Gentiles). Unlike a “zealot,” who unleashes violence on others, Jesus’ “zeal” for His Father’s house would consume Him, leading to His own death on the Cross.

Eventually, of course, the physical Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D., never to be rebuilt. It didn’t need to be rebuilt; Jesus was the fulfillment of everything to which the Temple pointed. It was never meant to be permanent. There was nothing wrong with the Temple or the Law of Moses—the problem was in human nature, as St. John indicates: “Jesus would not trust Himself to [the many who believed in Him], because He knew them all, and did not need anyone to testify about human nature. He Himself understood it well.” Human nature, not the Temple, needed cleansing. That is precisely what Jesus came to do for us. He is now the true place of encounter between man and God.

Possible response: Lord Jesus, You are the remedy for my human nature. You now trust Yourself to me. Thank You!

Read the rest here.

Catholicism Lenten Reflection

REFLECTION QUESTIONS:

1. Father Barron highlights the life and witness of one of the great saints of the 20th century- Edith Stein, whose name in religious life is Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. Saint Edith demonstrates that the Faith is not just a matter of emotions, but also a matter of mind. Why does the Catholic Faith insist on the rapport between faith and reason? What happens to the Faith if it is limited to emotions and experiences?

2. Saint Edith Stein's faith in Christ was quickened by an encounter with a friend who had suffered the death of her husband, yet found in Christ's cross consolation and hope. What does the cross reveal about humanity's experience of suffering and death? In what ways does the Cross of Christ offer humanity hope?

3. Saint Edith Stein entered the Carmelite Order, a community whose evangelical witness demonstrates a radical poverty, rigorous commitment to prayer and detachment from worldly pre-occupations. One of the great spiritual masters of the Carmelite Order is St. John of the Cross. Saint John of the Cross wrote eloquently of the "dark night of the soul" or the feeling that God was distant and that one's spiritual practices afforded little, if any, emotional consolation. This dark night was not so much an experience of depression or evidence of the distance of God, but was, paradoxically, an encounter with the Lord so profound that the soul lacked the capacity to feel or understand God's presence. Can the negative experiences of life actually be bearers of God's grace and presence? How so?

4. The Carmelite Order directs itself to prayer and contemplation. How and why are prayer and contemplation essential to the mission of the Church?

5. The sad circumstances of Saint Edith Stein's final days might evoke our own fear of catastrophe and inescapable suffering. What does the Paschal Mystery of the Lord Jesus teach us about our fears concerning suffering and death? What quality or virtue was given to Saint Edith Stein that enabled her to face the circumstances of her death with the conviction that whatever happened, God still was acting to redeem and to save?

6. Saint Edith Stein is part of a great flowering of Catholic intellectual culture that happened in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. For many, it seems that this bloom has faded over the past few decades. What can the Church do to renew Catholic culture in terms of the arts, literature, theology and philosophy? Why are such things essential to the mission of the Church?

7. Father Barron asserts that too many of us opt for spiritual mediocrity rather than aspire to holiness. Why do we resist holiness? What do we fear will happen if we aspire to heroic sanctity? Why do we think that we can get away with opting for less in terms of our commitment to Christ rather than desiring more?

Cardinal Timothy Dolan: What is Lent?

Forty Days