Ash Wednesday Reflection from the Liturgy of the Hours...

Today God our Father brings us to the beginning of Lent. We pray that in this time of salvation he will fill us with the Holy Spirit, purify our hearts, and strengthen us in love. Let us humbly ask him: Lord, give us your Holy Spirit.

May we be filled and satisfied, by the word which you give us.

Teach us to be loving not only in great and exceptional moments, but above all in the ordinary events of daily life.

May we abstain from what we do not really need, and help our brothers and sisters in distress.

May we bear the wounds of your Son in our bodies, for through his body he gave us life.

-from the Liturgy of the Hours for Ash Wednesday (Petitions for Morning Prayer)

I thought this was an elegantly simple overview of what Lent is all about. It would be an appropriate prayer for every day in Lent (and a good one to post on the fridge). It seems like a perfect concept for this blog as it so eloquently shows us how to keep aiming in the right direction - with a gentle reminder of what we're all about and the appropriate actions that go hand-in-hand with our beliefs.

The part that jumps out especially for me right now is this: "Teach us to be loving not only in great and exceptional moments, but above all in the ordinary events of daily life." I know that's something that I need to be continually reminded of.

 

A Blessed Lent!

A Sparing-Sharing Christmas?

I really loved the quote by Fr. Thomas Dubay in yesterday's post. The phrase "sparing-sharing lifestyle" particularly jumped out. It's something that I hear a lot of people talking about, without having such an apt name for it. In particular, I see a lot of people wanting to work on making their Christmas simpler and more aimed at sharing with others. Though I'm not connecting it directly to the book discussion (though it's particularly appropriate to the "7" discussion), I thought it would make a great topic to discuss here

So the question is, how can we make Christmas simpler, more meaningful, less stressful, and altogether what it should be for us as Catholics and Christians?

Here are a few ideas to get us started. Please share your own ideas in the comments box.

1. Read Lovely Stories (and watch lovely movies) that elevate Christmas as something greater and more beautiful than just the trappings and gifts. A few examples that come to mind are: The story of the birth of Jesus in the bible, Star in the Night, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, The Little House Books, It's a Wonderful Life...

2. Agree to exchange donation-type gifts with the grown-ups in place of a gift exchange.

3. Let some of your purchases for your family or yourself be saved as Christmas goodies instead of just buying them on a whim (and rather than stretching to find something *else* for Christmas). These can include things like new shoes or a new sweater, some fun kitchen implements, nice spice mixes, or a long awaited new book. Not only does this reduce the accumulation of "stuff", but it also can make some of those things seem less ordinary.

4. Celebrate Advent well. Let it be a time of simplicity and preparation that makes room for the wonder and mystery of the season. While it's not as penitential a season as Lent, it's certain an appropriate time to give up some favorite foods and donate the money to those in need.

One of our favorite Advent traditions is to place pieces of “straw” (strips of yellow construction paper) in our simple manger to symbolize good things we are doing to prepare our hearts for the birth of baby Jesus (like doing a good deed, going to Mass or confession, etc.) On Christmas morning, the manger is under the Christmas tree with Baby Jesus (a simple baby doll) comfortably nestled inside.

5. Encourage homemade gifts. Step 1: Have materials available. Step 2: Let your kids make a mess. ;)


6. Avoid using credit cards.

7. Make volunteering to help the needy (soup kitchen, pregnancy help center, etc.) a part of your Advent traditions.

8. Organize a food, book or clothing drive for the needy at your local school or parish.

9. Host a secret toy exchange in your community.


...

This one's going to be under construction for awhile. I'll come back to it, but in the meantime, please share your own ideas (and your favorite books and movies for inspiring a Sparing-Sharing Christmas!).

We Need Pilgrim Witnesses...

...We need prophetic witnesses. We need people who in their way of life challenge the prevailing false ideologies bearing upon the production, distribution, and use of material goods. We need lived prophecy.

Let me be concrete. The best paid fifth of American white workers earn five or six times more than the worst paid fifth. Those who offer pat solutions to complex problems would probably call on Congress (or Parliament) to make laws to force greater equity in the distribution of the fruits of production. If a legislative body were to try to establish equity by law, it would have a revolution on its hands. The basic presuppositions of the population must change first. Ideological structures undergird and support laws and other structures.

We therefore need pilgrim witnesses. We need joyous, loving men and women to show in their lives that one can live a sparing-sharing lifestyle and still be happy and fulfilled. We need to induce conversion into the masses first by example, then by word—really, by both simultaneously.

—Fr. Thomas Dubay, Happy Are You Poor (as quoted on Ignatius Press' Facebook page today)

"Worth Reading" Feature!

We've just set up a new feature in the sidebar; it's called "Worth Reading", and includes links to articles, videos, etc. that relate in some way to the topics that we are discussing here. I especially would like to point out the article from Catholic News Service about Cardinal Dolan's address to the bishops yesterday the fact that personal conversion (and really, continual conversion) needs to be our first priority.

Here's the link: Cardinal challenges bishops to undergo their own conversion, renewal.

Catholicism: Chapter 1 - "Either You're With Me, Or You're Against Me"

There's an interesting argument made at the beginning of Catholicism, which also comes up in G.K. Chesterton's The Everlasting Man and C.S. Lewis' Mere Christianity.

The argument, in a nutshell is this: Jesus said that He is God. Given those statements, there are only two logical ways that we can think of Him. Either we can agree that He is God (and must embrace all that He says to the best of our ability), or we can suppose that He is a madman for thinking that He is God (or perhaps even someone or something really evil who is pretending to be God). There is no possible middle alternative. He couldn't have been *just* a great moral teacher, or really good and admirable person, because saying that you are God when you are not is not only wrong, but delusional.

Though he did indeed formulate moral instructions and though he certainly taught with enormous enthusiasm, Jesus did not draw his followers' attention primarily to his words. He drew it to himself...

It has been said that the healthiest spiritual people are those who have the strongest sense of the difference between themselves and god. Therefore who could sanely and responsibly make the claim that Jesus made except the one who is, in his own person, the highest good?

- Fr. Robert Barron, Catholicism, "Amazed and Afraid"

Here are a few of the related quotes from other sources:

Divinity is great enough to be divine; it is great enough to call itself divine. But as humanity grows greater, it grows less and less likely to do so. God is God, as the Moslems say; but a great man knows he is not God, and the greater he is the better he knows it. That is the paradox; everything that is merely approaching to that point is merely receding from it. Socrates, the wisest man, knows that he knows nothing. A lunatic may think he is omniscience, and a fool may talk as if he were omniscient. But Christ is in another sense omniscient if he not only knows, but knows that he knows.

- G.K. Chesterton, The Everlasting Man, "The Strangest Story"

I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: "I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God." That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic-on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg-or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.

- C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, "The Shocking Alternative"

Does this argument make sense to you? Do you find it compelling? What consequences does this concept have for us?

Humility at the Service of Others

This proper way of serving others also leads to humility. The one who serves does not consider himself superior to the one served, however miserable his situation at the moment may be. Christ took the lowest place in the world - the Cross - and by this radical humility he redeemed us and constantly comes to our aid. Those who are in a position to help others will realize that in doing so they themselves receive help; being able to help others is no merit or achievement of their own. This duty is a grace. The more we do for others, the more we understand and can appropriate the words of Christ: "We are useless servants". We recognize that we are not acting on the basis of any superiority or greater personal efficiency, but because the Lord has graciously enabled us to do so. There are times when the burden of need and our own limitations might tempt us to become discouraged. But precisely when we are helped by the knowledge that, in the end, we are only instruments in the Lord's hands; and this knowledge frees us from the presumption of thinking that we alone are personally responsible for building a better world. In all humility we will do what we can, and in all humility we will entrust the rest to the Lord.

- Pope Benedict XVI, Deus Caritas Est

100 Things You Can Do to the Make the Country More Pro-Life (and Catholic) No Matter Who is President

Not trying to get into a political discussion here, just an opportunity to remind ourselves what we are capable of regardless of the political situation. The list is not in any particular order...

"Keep the joy of loving the Poor and share this joy with all you meet. Remember: Works of love are works of peace." - Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

1. Respond with Love.
2. In particular, keep the post-election conversations charitable.
3. Have children (and read about "The Roe Effect").
4. Support cool pro-life organizations like Save the Storks.
5. Talk to people. Keep it simple. Don't try to fix everything at once.
6. Work on your prayer life and your relationship with God.
7. Watch how you talk about other people - especially people you don't like.
8. Support the disabled.
9. Recognize what is good in others (and in our country and in our culture) and thank God.
10. Cut back on expenditures to share with others.
11. Donate to a pregnancy help center (a car seat or even a baby blanket can save a life).
12. Volunteer at a soup kitchen, food pantry or other outlet for the needy.
13. Live your life as a reaction to Christ's love for you, not a reaction to the culture or the current political situation.
14. Live what you believe.
15. Pray for our politicians and for our country.
16. Remember that it's not all up to you - you just need to do your part with love and leave the rest up to God.
17. Make friends with people outside your political or religious circles.
18. Cultivate joy in your family and in your community.
19. Adopt a baby or become a foster parent.
20. Help your parish become more life friendly.
21. Encourage each other!
22. Be Not Afraid!
23. Sponsor a needy child overseas (through organizations such as Caritas for Children).
24. Challenge yourself to be a better Christian.
25. Forgive someone who has hurt you.
26. Be a good witness to the Faith.
27. Love those who are suffering.
28. Donate your used belongings to organizations like the St. Vincent de Paul Society.
29. Don't just vote pro-life: think pro-life and act pro-life (to every person you encounter!).
30. Don't despair at what is going wrong with our world - find what you can make better (and do it!).
31. Empower others with hope.
32. Stock your car with "Blessing Bags" to give to the needy.
33. "Replace Them".
34. Love Your Neighbor.
35. Share your gifts with others.
36. Be understanding, loving and helpful to those who have gotten themselves into desperate situations.
37. Cultivate hope in your own life.
38. Donate uplifting books about children with Down Syndrome (or other disabilities) to your public library.
39. Visit the lonely, the sick, and the elderly.
40. Tutor a disadvantaged or special needs child.
41. Be generous.
42. Be humble.
43. Be gentle.
44. Be patient.
45. Be polite.
46. Be friendly.
47. Be cheerful.
48. Be fair-minded.
49. Do good to those who can do nothing for you in return.
50. Read and live the Gospel.
51. Make a special point of helping out single moms or parents who care for a disabled child.
52. Don't take yourself too seriously.
53. Frequent the sacraments.
54. Don't let hatred interfere with necessary disagreement.
55. Study Catholic social teaching.
56. Smile at people you don't know and say hello.
57. Read (and share) the inspiring stories of great pro-life, pro-people saints like Blessed Mother Teresa, St. Damien of Molokai, and St. Frances Cabrini.
58. Support marriages by getting involved with mentoring or marriage prep ministries in your parish.
59. Learn about NFP so you can talk about it intelligently.
60. Give people the benefit of the doubt.
61. Learn more about the "why" of what you believe.
62. Read the Catechism.
63. Appreciate people for who they are, rather than who they aren't.
64. Listen.
65. Respect science and reason.
66. Embrace those who want to help even if they haven't got it all figured out.
67. Embrace the beauty of human imperfection.
68. Get to know your neighbors.
69. Be a friend.
70. Study history.
71. Stop worrying so much about the speck in your neighbor's eye.
72. Be the change you desire.
73. Realize that some words really should be eliminated from our vocabulary.
74. Support people who have miscarried in mourning the loss of a baby.
75. Support organizations that help the surviving victims of abortion, like Project Rachel.
76. Support good schools.
77. Have a sense of humor.
78. Let some of your gift-giving be to the benefit of the needy in the name of a loved one.
79. Assume good intentions.
80. Don't forward political garbage (check Snopes.com to be sure, but also watch the tone!).
81. Cultivate an atmosphere of appreciation.
82. Meet people where they are.
83. Make volunteer work an important part of your family's extracurricular activities.
84. Slow down.
85. Treat people as people.
86. Be aware of God's great love.
87. Get involved at your local parish.
88. Make distinctions (like between essential and non-essential).
89. Be willing to honestly critique your "side", your political party, your candidate, your favorite media. (Great example here.)
90. Practice hospitality.
91. Support your local priests and seminarians.
92. Pray for those on death row.
93. Don't let your political party do your thinking for you or define who you are.
94. Don't hide your light under a bushel basket.
95. Be where you can make a difference.
96. Remember that politics is not *the thing*.
97. Love God.
98. Love your kids.
99. Kiss your spouse. :)
100."Pray, hope and don't worry." (Padre Pio)

"Little things done out of love are those that charm the Heart of Christ… On the contrary, the most brilliant deeds, when done without love, are but nothingness." - St. Therese of Lisieux