Category: LENTEN THOUGHTS

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, LENT 2019, LENTEN THOUGHTS, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on ALMS, QUOTES on CHARITY, The WORD

Lenten Thoughts – 11 March – Let us show each other God’s generosity – Saint Gregory Nazianzen (330-390)

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Lenten Thoughts – 11 March – Monday of the First Week of Lent, Gospel: Matthew 25:31–46

Let us show each other God’s generosity

Saint Gregory Nazianzen (330-390)
Bishop. Father, Doctor of the Church

An excerpt from his Oration 14: On Love of the Poor

Recognise to whom you owe the fact that you exist, that you breathe, that you understand, that you are wise and, above all, that you know God and hope for the kingdom of heaven and the vision of glory, now darkly as in a mirror but then with greater fullness and purity.   You have been made a son of God, co-heir with Christ. Where did you get all this and from whom?

Let me turn to what is of less importance – the visible world around us.   What benefactor has enabled you to look out upon the beauty of the sky, the sun in its course, the circle of the moon, the countless number of stars, with the harmony and order that are theirs, like the music of a harp?   Who has blessed you with rain, with the art of husbandry, with different kinds of food, with the arts, with houses, with laws, with states, with a life of humanity and culture, with friendship and the easy familiarity of kinship?

Who has given you dominion over animals, those that are tame and those that provide you with food?   Who has made you lord and master of everything on earth?   In short, who has endowed you with all that makes man superior to all other living creatures?

Is it not God who asks you now in your turn to show yourself generous above all other creatures and for the sake of all other creatures?   Because we have received from Him so many wonderful gifts, will we not be ashamed to refuse Him this one thing only, our generosity?   Though He is God and Lord, He is not afraid to be known as our Father. Shall we for our part repudiate those who are our kith and kin?

Brethren and friends, let us never allow ourselves to misuse what has been given us by God’s gift.   If we do, we shall hear Saint Peter say – Be ashamed of yourselves for holding onto what belongs to someone else.   Resolve to imitate God’s justice and no-one will be poor.   Let us not labour to heap up and hoard riches while others remain in need.   If we do, the prophet Amos will speak out against us with sharp and threatening words -Come now, you that say:  When will the new moon be over, so that we may start selling?   When will the sabbath be over, so that we may start opening our treasures?

Let us put into practice the supreme and primary law of God.   He sends down rain on just and sinful alike and causes the sun to rise on all without distinction.   To all earth’s creatures He has given the broad earth, the springs, the rivers and the forests.   He has given the air to the birds and the waters to those who live in the water.   He has given abundantly to all the basic needs of life, not as a private possession, not restricted by law, not divided by boundaries but as common to all, amply and in rich measure.   His gifts are not deficient in any way, because He wanted to give equality of blessing to equality of worth and to show the abundance of His generosity.resolve to imitate god's justice and noone will be poor - st gregory of nazianzen 11 march 2019 1st mond of lent.jpg

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, LENT 2019, LENTEN THOUGHTS, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on SANCTITY, QUOTES on SUFFERING, QUOTES on TEMPTATION, QUOTES on the DEVIL/EVIL

Lenten Thoughts – 10 March – We progress by means of trial.

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Lenten Thoughts – 10 March – The First Sunday of Lent

In Christ we suffered temptation and in Him we overcame the devil

Saint Augustine (354-430)
Bishop and Great Western Father and Doctor of the Church

An excerpt from his Commentary on the Psalms, Psalm 60.

Hear, O God, my petition, listen to my prayer.   Who is speaking?   An individual, it seems.   See if it is an individual – I cried to you from the ends of the earth while my heart was in anguish.   Now it is no longer one person, rather, it is one in the sense, that Christ is one and we are all His members.   What single individual can cry from the ends of the earth?   The one who cries from the ends of the earth is none other than the Son’s inheritance.   It was said to him:  Ask of me, and I shall give you the nations as your inheritance and the ends of the earth as your possession.   This possession of Christ, this inheritance of Christ, this body of Christ, this one Church of Christ, this unity that we are, cries from the ends of the earth.   What does it cry?   What I said before – Hear, O God, my petition, listen to my prayer, I cried out to you from the ends of the earth.   That is, I made this cry to you from the ends of the earth, that is, on all sides.

Why did I make this cry?   While my heart was in anguish.   The speaker shows that he is present among all the nations of the earth in a condition, not of exalted glory but of severe trial.

Our pilgrimage on earth cannot be exempt from trial.   We progress by means of trial.   No one knows himself except through trial, or receives a crown except after victory, or strives except against an enemy or temptations.our pilgrimage on earth - st augustine - 1st sun lent 10 march 2019.jpg

The one who cries from the ends of the earth is in anguish but is not left on his own. Christ chose to foreshadow us, who are His body, by means of His body, in which He has died, risen and ascended into heaven, so that the members of His body may hope to follow where their head has gone before.

He made us one with Him when He chose to be tempted by Satan.   We have heard in the gospel how the Lord Jesus Christ was tempted by the devil in the wilderness.   Certainly Christ was tempted by the devil.   In Christ you were tempted, for Christ received His flesh from your nature but by His own power gained life for you, He suffered insults in your nature but by His own power gained glory for you, therefore, He suffered temptation in your nature but by His own power gained victory for you.

If in Christ we have been tempted, in Him we overcame the devil.   Do you think only of Christ’s temptations and fail to think of His victory?   See yourself as tempted in Him and see yourself as victorious in Him.   He could have kept the devil from Himself but if He were not tempted, He could not teach you how to triumph over temptation. he could have kept the devil from himself - st augustine - 10 march 1st sun lent 2019.jpg

Posted in LENT 2019, LENTEN THOUGHTS, MORNING Prayers, QUOTES - J R R Tolkien and MORE, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST

Lenten Thoughts – 9 March – Do not leave Him alone

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Lenten Thoughts – 9 March – Saturday after Ash Wednesday

“The enormity of the fact that Christ has, on our behalf, already taken the most extreme punishment upon Himself, should move us, not to leave Him isolated.
It should also inspire us to rejoice that another has taken our place in representing sin before God – for not to rejoice at that, would be a further enormity.
Instead of leaving Him alone, we should be moved to enter into His suffering for us, doing together with Him, what little we can do, to atone for the world’s sin!”

Hans Urs von Balthasar

“Light of the World”

 

instead-of-leaving-him-alone-hans-urs-sat after ash-wed 9 march 2019.jpg

Posted in LENT 2019, LENTEN THOUGHTS, PAPAL SERMONS

Lenten Thoughts – 8 March – “‘Return to me,’ says the Lord. ‘To me.’”

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Lenten Thoughts – 8 March – “‘Return to me,’ says the Lord. ‘To me.’”

HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS

Basilica of Santa Sabina
Ash Wednesday, 6 March 2019lent is the time to free ourselves - pope francis ash wed 6 march 2019 - 8 march 2019.jpg

“Blow the trumpet […] sanctify a fast” (Joel 2:15), says the prophet in the first reading. Lent opens with a piercing sound, that of a trumpet that does not please the ears but instead proclaims a fast.   It is a loud sound that seeks to slow down our life, which is so fast-paced, yet often directionless.   It is a summons to stop, to focus on what is essential, to fast from the unnecessary things that distract us.   It is a wake-up call for the soul.

This wake-up call is accompanied by the message that the Lord proclaims through the lips of the prophet, a short and heartfelt message:   “Return to me” (v 12).   To return. If we have to return, it means that we have wandered off.   Lent is the time to rediscover the direction of life.   Because in life’s journey, as in every journey, what really matters is not to lose sight of the goal.   If what interests us as we travel, however, is looking at the scenery or stopping to eat, we will not get far.   We should ask ourselves – On the journey of life, do I seek the way forward?   Or am I satisfied with living in the moment and thinking only of feeling good, solving some problems and having fun?   What is the path? Is it the search for health, which many today say comes first but which eventually passes?   Could it be possessions and wellbeing?   But we are not in the world for this. Return to me, says the Lord. To me.   The Lord is the goal of our journey in this world.   The direction must lead to Him.

Today we have been offered a sign that will help us find our direction – the head marked by ash.   It is a sign that causes us to consider what occupies our mind.   Our thoughts often focus on transient things, which come and go.   The small mark of ash, which we will receive, is a subtle yet real reminder that of the many things occupying our thoughts, that we chase after and worry about every day, nothing will remain.   No matter how hard we work, we will take no wealth with us from this life.   Earthly realities fade away like dust in the wind.   Possessions are temporary, power passes, success wanes.   The culture of appearance prevalent today, which persuades us to live for passing things, is a great deception.   It is like a blaze – once ended, only ash remains.   Lent is the time to free ourselves from the illusion of chasing after dust. Lent is for rediscovering that we are created for the inextinguishable flame, not for ashes that immediately disappear;  for God, not for the world;  for the eternity of heaven, not for earthly deceit, for the freedom of the children of God, not for slavery to things.   We should ask ourselves today – Where do I stand?   Do I live for fire or for ash?

On this Lenten journey, back to what is essential, the Gospel proposes three steps which the Lord invites us to undertake without hypocrisy and pretense – almsgiving, prayer, fasting.   What are they for?   Almsgiving, prayer and fasting bring us back to the three realities that do not fade away.   Prayer reunites us to God;  charity, to our neighbour; fasting, to ourselves.   God, my neighbour, my life – these are the realities that do not fade away and in which we must invest.   Lent, therefore, invites us to focus, first of all on the Almighty, in prayer, which frees us from that horizontal and mundane life where we find time for self but forget God.   It then invites us to focus on others, with the charity that frees us from the vanity of acquiring and of thinking that things are only good if they are good for me.   Finally, Lent invites us to look inside our heart, with fasting, which frees us from attachment to things and from the worldliness that numbs the heart.   Prayer, charity, fasting – three investments for a treasure that endures.

Jesus said: “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Mt 6:21).   Our heart always points in some direction, it is like a compass seeking its bearings.   We can also compare it to a magnet, it needs to attach itself to something.   But if it only attaches itself to earthly things, sooner or later it becomes a slave to them, things to be used become things we serve.   Outward appearance, money, career or hobby, if we live for them, they will become idols that enslave us, sirens that charm us and then cast us adrift.   Whereas if our heart is attached to what does not pass away, we rediscover ourselves and are set free.   Lent is a time of grace that liberates the heart from vanity.   It is a time of healing from addictions that seduce us.   It is a time to fix our gaze on what abides.lent is a time of grace - pope francis - friday after ash wed 8 march 2019.jpg

Where can we fix our gaze, then, throughout this Lenten journey?   Upon the Crucified One. Jesus on the cross is life’s compass, which directs us to heaven.   The poverty of the wood, the silence of the Lord, His loving self-emptying show us the necessity of a simpler life, free from anxiety about things.   From the cross, Jesus teaches us the great courage involved in renunciation. 

We will never move forward if we are heavily weighed down.  We need to free ourselves from the clutches of consumerism and the snares of selfishness, from always wanting more, from never being satisfied and from a heart closed to the needs of the poor.   Jesus on the wood of the cross burns with love and calls us to a life that is passionate for Him, which is not lost amid the ashes of the world, to a life that burns with charity and is not extinguished in mediocrity.

Is it difficult to live as He asks?   Yes but it leads us to our goal.   Lent shows us this. It begins with the ashes but eventually leads us to the fire of Easter night;  to the discovery that, in the tomb, the body of Jesus does not turn to ashes but rises gloriously.   This is true also for us, who are dust.   If we, with our weaknesses, return to the Lord, if we take the path of love, then we will embrace the life that never ends.   And we will be full of joy.

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, LENT 2019, LENTEN THOUGHTS, MORNING Prayers, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on ALMS, QUOTES on LOVE

Lenten Thoughts – St Leo the Great – Purification of spirit through fasting and almsgiving

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Lenten Thoughts – 7 March – Thursday after Ash Wednesday

Purification of spirit through fasting and almsgiving

Saint Pope Leo the Great (400-461)
Father & Doctor of the Church

An excerpt from his Sermo 6 de Quadragesima

Dear friends, at every moment the earth is full of the mercy of God and nature itself is a lesson for all the faithful, in the worship of God.   The heavens, the sea and all that is in them, bear witness to the goodness and omnipotence of their Creator and the marvellous beauty of the elements, as they obey Him, demands from the intelligent creation, a fitting expression of its gratitude.

But with the return of that season marked out in a special way, by the mystery of our redemption and of the days that lead up to the paschal feast, we are summoned more urgentlyM to prepare ourselves by a purification of spirit.

The special note of the paschal feast is this – the whole Church rejoices in the forgiveness of sins.   It rejoices in the forgiveness, not only of those who are then reborn in holy baptism but also of those, who are already numbered among God’s adopted children.

Initially, men are made new by the rebirth of baptism.   Yet, there still is required a daily renewal to repair the shortcomings of our mortal nature and whatever degree of progress has been made, there is no-one, who should not be more advanced.   All, must, therefore, strive to ensure that on the day of redemption, no-one may be found in the sins of his former life.

Dear friends, what the Christian should be doing at all times, should be done now with greater care and devotion, so that the Lenten fast enjoined by the apostles, may be fulfilled, not simply by abstinence from food but above all, by the renunciation of sin.

There is no more profitable practice as a companion to holy and spiritual fasting than that of almsgiving.   This embraces under the single name of mercy, many excellent works of devotion, so that the good intentions of all the faithful, may be of equal value, even where their means are not.   The love that we owe both God and man, is always free from any obstacle, that would prevent us from having a good intention.  The angels sang – Glory to God in the highest and peace to his people on earth.   The person who shows love and compassion to those in any kind of affliction, is blessed, not only with the virtue of good will but also, with the gift of peace.

The works of mercy are innumerable.   Their very variety, brings this advantage to those who are true Christians, that in the matter of almsgiving, not only the rich and affluent but also those of average means and the poor, are able to play their part.   Those who are unequal in their capacity to give, can be equal, in the love within their hearts.the works of mercy are innumerable - st pope leo the great - thurs after ash wed 7 march 2019.jpg