A Lenten Call to Simplicity

My husband and I are in the midst of preparing to put our house on the market. Therefore, we are engaged in household repairs and clutter removal that should have taken place long before this. Our efforts are paying off, even before the “for sale” sign appears in the front yard. Floor space and table tops are cleared of the books, magazines and papers that have an annoying habit of piling up. Furniture that was blocking the light from windows has been removed. And the downstairs bathroom, in need of a paint job since we moved into the house, now glows with butter-colored walls. It’s a joy just to walk from room to room.

There are great metaphorical connections that flow from a housecleaning exercise to the simplifying of one’s soulscape. It begins with clearing away internal clutter. I recently listened to an interview with retired prizefighter, Rubin “Hurricane” Carter. He described how he overcame his bitterness over being wrongfully accused, convicted and sentenced to prison for murder. After ten years of being consumed with hatred for everybody and everything, he began to turn his life around. The trigger was the shocking image he beheld when he saw himself in the mirror one day. The rage he carried on the inside was projecting itself on the outside. To be that full of hate, one must carry a substantial load of grudges, resentment, and anger. Carter noted that he had made himself a perpetual victim. The solution was to free himself of all that kept him shackled to his hatred. It is a powerful image of “clutter removal”.

As a child, I remember accompanying my mother to church where she arranged floral bouquets for Sunday Mass. These weekly visits ceased during the six weeks of Lent and so I was all the more aware of the stark simplicity of the sanctuary. Devoid of all flowers and other ornamentation, I knew early on what it meant to be called into an extended period of fasting from the color and life that surrounded us during the other liturgical seasons. The simple surroundings called me to enter more deeply into prayer, reflection, and preparation for the explosion of spring hope that Easter brings. The extraordinary story of Rubin Carter brought to mind the importance of looking in the mirror during Lent to see what needs discarding in order to create space in the heart for gratitude, love, compassion, and generosity.

Bright Ideas

• Engage your family in a spring cleaning activity. Clear out closets, cupboards, and cubbyholes of things that you no longer need or use. Donate reusable items to a charitable center, and recycle others. Take note of the space that has opened up in your home.

• Share this story of St. Paul with your students. Tell how, in turning his life around, he was freed from his zealous persecution of others. Talk about the ways we can free ourselves from anger, bitterness, resentment, and self-pity in order to create more space for love, understanding, compassion, and generosity.

• Download my prayer for Lenten Simplicity and use it with your family or class.

 

photo © iStockphoto

Question of the Week: Second Sunday of Lent

Sunday, March 4th, is the Second Sunday of Lent. Plan to spend time this week reflecting on the readings and preparing to celebrate the Eucharist. Gather in My Name offers "Question of the Week" - a free resource to incorporate the Sunday Eucharist into your religion classes, family discussions, or community activities.

Question of the Week: How do you listen to God's beloved Son?


Reading 1 Reflection: Genesis 22:1-2,9,10-13,15-18

Reading 2 Reflection: Romans 8:31-34

Theme: Listen

Gospel: Mark 9:2-10


Looking for discussion Questions for the above Reading Reflections? Click here!

 

The Stations of the Cross, Part 2

There is a Jesuit retreat center near my home where the Stations of the Cross are placed on large stones around its periphery. Thus, the experience of walking from one to the next brings a true sense of pilgrimage. As I noted in last week’s blog, the Stations of the Cross originated as a substitute of sorts for making an actual journey to the Holy Land. Like any pilgrimage, we exit from the experience as different people from when we started.

There are so many disturbing images in the Stations of the Cross – torture, cruelty, rejection, execution, and unbridled sorrow. Yet, there are also moments of grace. Jesus encounters his mother and once again feels her tender touch. A stranger, though forced into service, becomes Jesus’ helpmate in the excruciating climb up Calvary. Another stranger moves boldly out of the crowd and uses her veil to wipe the blood from Jesus’ brow. For her kindness, she is left with an image – an icon – of that suffering face. A group of women weep with sorrow, and Jesus extends his own compassion towards them. And Joseph of Arimathea provides a tomb as a final gift so that Jesus, in the tradition of his people, might be laid to rest in accordance with the rituals and rules of the Sabbath.

The Stations of the Cross are based on the accounts of the Passion in Scripture as well as on an imaginative walk with Jesus during those final hours. Veronica, for example, appears nowhere in the Gospels, nor is there any biblical basis for Mary’s encounter with Jesus as he shoulders his cross. What emerges in the story of the Stations is the perplexing mixture of savagery and compassion of which humans are capable. Throughout the journey, Jesus remains the central figure upon whom our hopes and sympathies are cast.

The Stations of the Cross are one of many spiritual practices that we can undertake as a way to make our way through Lent. Following in the footsteps of Jesus, we can seek ways to find and extend mercy to those who shoulder heavy loads. We can fast from destructive, cynical, or critical thoughts and behaviors, and embrace ones laced with gratitude, humility, and compassion. And we can pray for understanding and generous hearts so that we emerge from Lent changed for the better.

 

Bright Ideas

• Take time to start and end each day of Lent with prayer. Notice how it changes you “for the better” as the days lengthen into spring.

• Bring the families in your class or parish together for a Gather in My Name Lenten event

• Download the second part of a meditation on the Stations of the Cross and use it with your family or class. (The first part of the meditation was published in last week’s blog.)

 

 

  

 

 

photo © iStockphoto

Resources for Lent

 

 "The Lenten season offers us once again the opportunity to reflect upon the very heart of Christian life: charity." ~2012 message for Lent, Pope Benedict

February 22nd is Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent. During this six-week season, we are encouraged by the Church to engaged in three spiritual practices - prayer, penance, and almsgiving. To assist you in carrying out these practices for yourself and with your family or students, Sadlier is pleased to offer a number of inspirational and practical resources. We hope it adds to your experience at this sacred time of year.

 

We Believe offers reflections and discussion questions on the readings for each Sunday and holy day liturgy. Activities for young people are included. Some materials for younger children can be printed out.

 

While Peter Purpura was a seminarian studying for the Diocese of Brooklyn, NY in Rome, Italy, he shared the richness of his experiences in these first-hand accounts. In this article, Peter shares his Lenten Journey and the Lenten practice of "station churches".

 

 

Use this Lenten wheel handout with young children as a way to help them learn prayers and practices for the season.

 

This Lenten calendar can help your family or class keep track of Lenten practices throughout this sacred season.

Challenge your family or students' knowledge of Lenten practices with this Drag and Drop game!

 

 

These two Gather In My Name Events offer fully multi-generational events, designed to bring children, youth, and adults together to pray, share faith, and learn more about Lenten practices and traditions. Download this complimentary PDF with the Gather In My Name handouts!

 

 

Consistory

 

(CNS photo/Paul Haring)

Archbishop Timothy Dolan joined with Pope Benedict and the other cardinal-delegates to reflect on the Consistory taking place today. A cardinal's red cassock, he noted, symbolizes the willingness to shed blood as martyrs of the faith have done. "We are but 'scarlet visual aids' for all of our brothers and sisters also called to be ready to suffer and die for Jesus Christ." This call to discipleship takes place through the ways we believe, celebrate, choose, pray, live, and share our faith.

For Extensive Coverage of the 2012 Consistory for new Cardinals:

 

• Between mission and the New Evangelization

• Dolan: grateful for support of pilgrims

• Consistory for new Cardinals

• Live and repeat broadcasts of the consistory for new Cardinals
  

 

 

• How many Cardinal Electors are there and where are they from?

• Cardinal Timothy Dolan brings excitement on New Evangelization to Vatican

  

images via here, here, and here

 

The Stations of the Cross, Part 1

My earliest memories of Lent include praying the Stations of the Cross every Friday afternoon. I attended Catholic school and I recall the jubilation I felt at being dismissed an hour early each week to attend the service in the church. I soon learned to love this prayerful practice for what it was – a way of walking the “via dolorosa”, the sorrowful way – along with Jesus, rather than just a bit of extra time away from class.

The origins of the Stations of the Cross stretch back to the Crusades when, as a result of the conquering of the Holy Land, Christians began making pilgrimages to the sacred sites where Jesus lived, suffered, died, and rose from the dead. When travel to these places became either impractical or undoable, due to the recapturing of Jerusalem by the Muslims, the practice of walking the Stations of the Cross took hold. Today, churches, monasteries, and retreat centers have various ways of depicting the Stations through paintings, sculpture, or stained glass.

The meditations for this prayer practice also vary as the tragic walk from condemnation to the cross unfolds. As pilgrims on a journey of faith, we use the Stations of the Cross to reflect on the ways we, too, suffer humiliation, rejection, suffering, and death. This makes the Stations more than a historic re-creation of Jesus’ walk to Golgotha. The prayers draw us into considering how Jesus accompanies those who suffer in today’s world. Thus, the injustice of being arrested and falsely accused, the pain of enduring mockery, torture, and being forced to carry the means of one’s own death, the grace of small acts of compassion in the midst of an agonizing climb, and the surrender of heart and soul to God’s infinite mercy all draw us into a story that is as contemporary as it is ancient. Perhaps, even as a child, I understood that, no matter how difficult the path I take, Christ walks it with me.  

 

Bright Ideas

• Divide your class into small groups. Assign each group a different one of the Stations of the Cross to illustrate. Post the stations around the room or down a hallway and lead the children in a walk to each one. Pause and allow the groups to explain their illustrations. Then offer a prayer together.

• Take your family to visit two or three other parishes or a retreat center during Lent in order to pray the Stations of the Cross together. Compare and contrast the way the Stations in each place are portrayed.

• Download the first part of a meditation on the Stations of the Cross and use it with your family or class. (The second part of the meditation will be published in next week’s blog.)

 

 

 

 

photo © iStockphoto

Question of the Week: Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

Sunday, February 19th, is the Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time. Plan to spend time this week reflecting on the readings and preparing to celebrate the Eucharist. Gather in My Name offers "Question of the Week" - a free resource to incorporate the Sunday Eucharist into your religion classes, family discussions, or community activities.

 

Question of the Week: Who or what needs healing in your community?

Reading 1 Reflection: Isaiah 43:18-19, 21-22, 24b-25

Reading 2 Reflection:  2 Corinthians 1:18-22

Theme: Healing

Gospel: Mark 2:1-12

 

Looking for discussion Questions for the above Reading Reflections? Click here!

 

Lenten Offerings

One of the things I love about the liturgical year is the way we cycle around to the same seasons. Each time I seem to find more insight into the symbols, rituals, and stories that comprise each celebration. Lent is a case in point. The word itself comes from the Middle English word lente, meaning springtime, and shares the same root as the world length. As the light of day lengthens during the spring, we move week by week towards the joyous celebration of the Triduum and Easter.

As a child, the length of Lent seemed interminable. The stark simplicity of the season and the abstaining from certain foods or habits made for a long haul. As an adult, I now cherish the six weeks as a time of offering. This happens in three ways.

Lent is a time to offer up – to relinquish certain practices in order to embrace others. Doing so freely rather than out of obligation makes such a practice all the more meaningful. For the early Christians, going without food, for example, enabled a neighbor to eat. In this spirit, fasting and abstinence become not only a practice of personal relinquishment, but also a way to nurture others.

This leads to the second form of offering – that of offering to. While we practice almsgiving throughout the year, it takes on particular meaning during the Lenten season. Giving generously to others is a form of self-sharing that leads to radical transformation. In offering monetary help to those in need, we ease the burdens others carry. By sharing our time with those who are lonely or in need of a listening ear, we provide comfort and compassion. Through works of social justice, we contribute to the well-being of entire communities and the realization of God’s Kingdom on earth.

Prayer is an integral part of Lent. Whether joining with others in communal worship or by ourselves in daily acts of contemplation and meditation, we make an offering of our lives to God. Penitential prayers take on particular meaning during Lent as a way to open ourselves more fully to the merciful love of God that is offered back to us in abundance. This humble form of prayer also calls upon us to extend forgiveness and mercy to others and thus make our own small contribution to global peace.

It’s taken many turns around the seasonal calendar for me to come to a deeper appreciation of Lent’s austerity, generosity, and piety. Through each comes an opportunity to make a sacred offering of our lives. In this way, the light that lengthens with the season only grows more radiant.

 

Bright Ideas

• Talk to your family or class about the meaning behind fasting and abstinence. Decide upon a form of fasting from something, such as criticism, bickering, or complaining, in order to bring about greater harmony. At the end of Lent, take stock of what each person gained through such a practice.

• Research charities that are in need of donations and develop a means of offering something to them during the Lenten season. This could not only include monetary gifts, but also the donation of time to serve as a volunteer or the effort to educate yourself about their work and mission.

• Download “Lenten Practices” for ideas on how to keep your momentum strong throughout the six weeks of the season.

 

 

Question of the Week: Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Sunday, February 12th, is the Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Plan to spend time this week reflecting on the readings and preparing to celebrate the Eucharist. Gather in My Name offers "Question of the Week" - a free resource to incorporate the Sunday Eucharist into your religion classes, family discussions, or community activities.

 

Question of the Week: How do you show pity to those who suffer or are in need?

Reading 1 Reflection: 1 Leviticus 13:1-2, 44-46

Reading 2 Reflection: 1 Corinthians 10:31—11:1

Theme: Pity

Gospel: Mark 1:40-45

 

Looking for discussion Questions for the above Reading Reflections? Click here!

 

A Valentine for God

Valentine’s Day may be two weeks away, but I don’t think it’s too soon to start reflecting on its lovely themes and associations. My affection for the holiday stretches back to childhood. Every year my mother gave each of my siblings and me a small satin-covered, heart-shaped box. It was filled with those candy hearts that taste a bit like Pepto Bismol. I was enchanted with my little box, even though it was the same one I had received the year before. For one thing, it was all mine. Inside, the little candies carried warm messages– “luv u”, “be mine”, and “yours 4ever.” I took each one to heart.

As a teacher, I preferred the classroom Valentine’s Day party to any of the other holiday celebrations. It was always the most subdued. After exchanging cards, the children pored over each one, scouring the messages on their valentines as carefully as a prospector might search for a gold nugget amid a pile of rubble. There is more meaning to a simple phrase than meets the eye and the children knew it.

This past weekend, I directed a women’s retreat on images of God. We explored the presence of the Divine both in grandeur and in the small stuff. We also looked at how God can be both mysteriously vague and astonishingly present through the people we love and who love us. A bishop once told me that he considered prayers of adoration our “valentines to God.” In them, we express our utter delight and fascination with being cherished by a God whom we recognize in the smiles, hugs and “luv u” messages received from others.

The late Henri Nouwen wrote that the prerequisite to forgiveness is the knowledge that we are beloved by God. Without it, we will never embrace the capacity within ourselves to both extend and receive mercy. On the retreat this past weekend, we talked about the need for interior prayer. Sometimes this is referred to as “heart space” where we retreat deep inside ourselves in order to rest in God’s quiet presence. After silencing our restless thoughts, anxieties, and judgments, we then enter the spaciousness of God’s love. As a child, perhaps my appreciation of the heart box came from a premonition of how this works. Inside one’s heart room one finds a multitude of messages from a God eager to hold us in a loving embrace. This makes every day Valentine’s Day.

 

Bright Ideas

• Between now and February 14^th, invite your family or class to keep a written record of the “faces of God” they see each day. As part of a Valentine’s Day celebration, share the results with one another. Talk about the way this exercise increased your awareness of God’s presence among the people you encountered.

• As a way to prepare for and celebrate Valentine’s Day, spend time in your “heart room” with passages from Scripture that speak of God’s love. Here are some ideas to get you started:  Micah 7:18-19; Romans 8:38-39; 2 Corinthians 13:11-12; 2 Thessalonians 3:4-5; 1 John 4:7.

• Download my “Valentine for God” and share it with your family or class.

 

 

photo © iStockphoto