Ash Wednesday, 2015

Let us pray with out ceasing together.

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Cathy

My Journey with Thomas Merton

Thomas Merton a photo by jimforest on Flickr.

This Lent I am spending time daily with Lent and Easter, Wisdom from Thomas Merton, compiled by Montaldo at the Merton Institute for Contemplative Living and published by Ligori Press.  There are a number of texts in this series and all are good.  But I chose to start here.  The source of the reflections come form his book of essays Seasons of Celebrations.

Lent is our "Holy Spring" as Catholics and as part of the journey I have been asked to keep a Lenten Journal.  This is the beginning.  Thomas Merton says, "...Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the Lenten fast, is a day of happiness, a Christian feast.   It cannot be otherwise, as if forms part of the great Easter cycle...Lent is not a season of punishment so much as one of healing." (pg. 2)

And so I am asked:  "In what ways do you consider Lent to be a 'a season of celebration?'"

As I thought about this I remember my childhood and the Lenten practices we share as family.  There was of course the standard "offering up" of CANDY.  Now we seldom got candy at my house except at Christmas or Easter, but know that I could not have it still instilled in me the focus on what is important in our lives.   OH!  Don't forget, no ice cream.  Yes, ice cream was always in the freezer!  It was and is a celebration!  I celebrated then as now how we did more things as family.  There was evening Bible reading.  Wednesday night was benediction with a short homily and Friday night was the Stations of the Cross.  I really never felt punished during this season, but I was challenged more to behave in a manner that was more charitable.

Today, that challenge to celebrate is considerably more difficult for me.  I don't have Mom and Dad to monitor my journey.  They aren't here to nudge me in the right direction.  I have to rely on my own will to "celebrate" the journey and traditions that bring us to ultimate celebration, the triumph of the cross! I am guided through Holy scripture, taken by the hand and lead to the ultimate celebration at the Resurrection, the Day that saved the world and gained for us all Eternal Salvation!

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Thanks be to God!

Lenten Journey with Providence

Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday, is the day many celebrate with feasts and celebration before the austerity of Lent begins.  It's been a time for me when I cleanse the house of all the temptations that would cause me to break my Lenten Fast.  That usually means ridding the house of ice cream, cookies, candy, and chocolate.  For you see, I always thought that getting rid of the temptation would allow me to be better able to say, "no" to that which I desire.

This year I had a revelation.  I will not get rid of all those things that tempt me.  I will leave them in place to assure my resolve.  Ice cream is still in the freezer and cookies are still on the shelf, especially all the Girl Scout cookies...

Let the temptation remain.  Through the grace of God and the strength of the Holy Spirit I hope to prevail over these temptations.

"And when you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by men. Truly, I say to you, they have their reward.  But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting my not be seen by men but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you." ~Matthew 6: 16-18

So this evening I will have a wonderful dinner just as always, without the usual gluttony that occurs when I try to get eat all the temptation before tomorrow.  I will make every effort to relax, pray, and avoid the temptation that will continue to be there.  This will be my resolve this Lent.  Perhaps, I'll even be more successful in this fast.

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Thanks be to God!

Wisdom from Fulton J. Sheen

fulton
Originally uploaded by Oka Kurniawan

My Lent thus far has been more productive than most. I say that as I have just finished a four day mission given by a wonderful Redemptorist, Fr. Vic. Earlier this week was the Penance Service. Being reminded of this again today in this reflection brings even greater healing. Listen with me from Lent and Easter: Wisdom from Fulton J. Sheen, A Redemptorist Pastoral Publication.

Rubbish Pile

Sorrow [for sin] is an intention to abandon the ego. It is hard. Sometimes it is like being skinned alive, peeling away sins and getting rid of some of them, taking on the firm purpose of amendment...I believe that most people are sorry for their sins not just because they dread the loss of heaven and fear hell, it is because they have hurt our Lord. After all, it is the Cross that reveals the dimension of sin. No one ever thoroughly sees sin in its utter nakedness until he understands redemption. Take the errors and the stupidity and the crimes of every day. People summarize them by saying, "Oh, what a fool I made of myself!" There is a world of difference between that and, "Oh, what a sinner I am!"

Fulton J. Sheen, Audio Tape, "Penance"

Repentance

If we say that we have fellowship with [God] while we are walking in darkness, we lie and do not do what is true; but if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin...If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

1John 1:6-9

Prayer

With Saint John Chrysostom, let us contemplate the "many wrongs that the cross has set right," and pray: Dear Lord, even by prayer and penance we cannot fathom the inscrutable way of the cross, but we seek faith that you will deliver us from our sins and rescue us from our wrongheadedness. Amen

Lenten Action

Say a fervent act of contrition today, perhaps one you create in our own words.

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So it is that I reflect today on my sinfulness and in so doing offer my sincere sorrow for the sins I have committed. For my sins do indeed impact the lives of many, not just my own and I must accept responsibility for the pain they have caused. And then in gratitude I say to my Lord and Savior, "Deo gratias!"

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Again I say,

Thanks be to God!!

Originally uploaded by Oka Kurniawan

Wisdom from St. Francis and St. Clare of Assisi

I found this reflection really illuminating. It is from Lent and Easter: Wisdom from St. Francis and St. Clare of Assisi. The instruction itself is beautiful to me.

God's Self-Revelation in Love

Place your mind before the mirror of eternity!
Place your soul in the brilliance of glory!(Heb 2:3)
Place your heart in the figure of the divine substance (1Cor 3-18)
and, through contemplation,
transform your entire being into the image
of the Godhead Itself,
so that you too may feel what friends feel
in tasting the hidden sweetness (Ps 31:20; 1Cor 2:9)
that, from the beginning,
God Himself has reserved for His lovers.

And, after all who ensnare their blind lovers
in a deceitful and turbulent world
have been completely passed over,
may you totally love Him
Who gave Himself totally for your love,
At Whose rewards and their uniqueness and
grandeur have no limits;
I am speaking of Him,
the Son of the Most High,...
St. Clare of Assisi,
"The Third Letter to Agnes of Prague." 51

Christ's Eternal Love That Fills Us With the Presence of God
I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask of imagine to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen

Ephesians 3:16-21

Prayer

Our Lord, you are not a distant god. Rather, you loved us so much that you drew near to us by becoming one of us. You revealed yourself to us through the gift of your Son two thousand years ago, and you continue to reveal yourself to us in the loving union and friendship we share with him today. Be near to us. Show yourself to us. Fill us with your love.

Lenten Action

Spend time with or contact a friend perhaps one with whom you may have fallen out of touch. Reflect upon who close God is to you and how God's friendship with and love for you is deeper than any friendship or love that you can experience in your earthly life.

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Thanks be to God!

Lenten Reflection With Thomas Merton

Photo by Jim Forest

Please continue to journey with me this Lent as we are taught by those who have lessons to teach. So it is that today we are visited by Thomas Merton in the book Lent and Easter Wisdom from Thomas Merton from The Thomas Merton Institute for Contemplative Living. Let us stop and listen.

Lent Is Our "Holy Spring"

Even the darkest moments of the liturgy are filled with joy and Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the Lenten fast, is a day of happiness, a Christian feast. It cannot be otherwise, as it forms part of the great Easter cycle.

The Paschal Mystery is above all the mystery of life in which the Church, by celebrating the death and resurrection of Christ , enters into the Kingdom of Life which He has established once for all by His definitive victory over sin and death. We must remember the original meaning of Lent, as the ver sacrum, the Church's "holy spring" i n which the catechumens were prepared for their baptism, and public penitents were made ready by penance for their restoration to the sacramental life in a communion with the rest of the Church. Lent is then not a season of punishment so much as one of healing. ~Thomas Merton, Seasons of Celebration, 113

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A Season of Celebration

So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself...So we are ambassadors for Christ...we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who know no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

As we work together with him, we urge you also not to accept the grace of God in vain. For he says

"At an acceptable time I have listened to yo, and on a day of salvation I have helped you."

See now is the acceptable time; see now is the day of salvation!

2 Corinthians 5:17-6:2

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Prayer

With faith in your resurrection, with hope in your power that undoes every death, I lift up my heart with love for you. She for your Holy Spirit who makes me more deeply your disciple. Crossing the threshold of this holy season, I renew my gratitude for the gift of being alive. On this Holy Wednesday, my forehead smeared with ashes, I accept my own death as holy: you have sanctified it. I offer my life and my death in thanksgiving to you, Jesus, the Christ, my Savior and my God.

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Lenten Journal

However you write in your Lent and Easter Journal, be truthful to your own experience. The question proposed for each day is only suggestive. Give your heart and mind free range. First question: In what ways do you consider Lent to be a :season of celebration"?

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May God in all his Mercy bless us all as we journey together this wonderful Season of Lent and Easter!

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Thanks be to God!!

Wisdom from G. K. Chesterton

I will try during this Season of Holiness to offer reflections from those far more wise than me. I rely on these to offer me guidance and instruction, consolation and comfort. Hoping these will offer you all the same.

My first offering comes from Lent and Easter, Wisdom from G. K. Chesterton offered by The Center for the Study of C. S. Lewis and Friends. Published by Ligouri Press

Frenzied Asceticism

The essential difference between Christian and Pagan asceticism lies in the fact that Paganism in renouncing pleasure gives up something which it does not think desirable; whereas Christianity in giving up pleasure gives up something it thinks very desirable indeed. Thus there is a frenzy in Christian asceticism; its follies and renunciation are like those of first love. ~G. F. Watts

Spiritual Worship

I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. ~Romans 12:1.

Prayer

Father, we offer in you only what we have been given from you; our bodies and our selves. Show us how we can worship you through the use of our bodies and the giving of ourselves. We want to live for others, as your Son has taught us.

Lenten Action

It seems odd that we should give up pleasures that we consider good. but perhaps Chesterton's point in the quotation above is that we are always free to give up these pleasure and at times are drawn to do so out of love for others. As you go through your day today, think of pleasures you would like to give up for the sake of another. Would you miss an hour of sleep to speak with someone who needs your attention? Its there something else that you love but are willing to give up because you love some other person even more?

~~~^j^~~~
Thanks be to God!!