Lent 40X

Ivan Kramskoy. 1872. Christ in the Desert.

Ash Wednesday is just a few days away, and just as Israel was prepared for the Promised Land, just as Christ prepared for his ministry, so must Christians prepare for Easter, symbolically coming alongside both the ancient Hebrews, Christ himself, and all the Christians that have gone before us.

Sometimes, however, there is a tendency toward the wrong sort of minimalism... an idea that "what I can get by with" should be in some way sufficient when it comes to giving. In reality, Lent is about the opposite. When the Israelites were in the desert, they relied upon God to sustain them. When Jesus went into the desert, he was sustained by the Father and the Spirit. By comparison, our sacrifices seem almost pathetic.

This Lent, I urge you to go beyond chocolate, and make a real life change. I urge you not merely to "give something up" on only one level, but to really seek to prepare your heart and mind and body for the coming of our Lord and Savior. In doing this, of course, there will still be sacrifice and fasting, but beyond that, there will be a sincere effort to move closer to God and increase in holiness. At the risk of sounding corny, at least in my mind, I've been calling this idea P40x - Penance 40 Xtreme. (after the amazingly challenging workout regimen).

Here's the basic idea: Anything that you would regularly do for Lent, say, the minimal stuff - Giving something up, and not eating meat on Fridays and Ash Wednesday - that still applies. Beyond this, however, I've made a list of suggestions, categorized as Mind, Body, and Spirit. Pick one or more from the list and do them. If you fail one day, no sweat, start again. It's about becoming a holy and living sacrifice... any positive change is better than where we start. At Easter, maybe some of these good habits will stick, maybe you'll want to continue them, maybe some won't be things you want to make part of your everyday life; either way, the discipline involved in this season of penance will build strength of character.

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Mind

Thomas Aquinas believed that if one were to perfect the Intellect, all the rest of the you would follow. In that regard, perhaps try:

1) Select challenging reading material. Gerard Manley Hopkins, Flannery O'Connor, Augustine of Hippo, Henri Nouwen, and Thomas Merton are all great choices for Lent. If you need an even greater challenge, read Pope Benedict XVI, or even Thomas Aquinas. You don't have to limit your choices to the work of Christians or even spiritual reading. All knowledge is a participation in the wisdom of God.

2)Write often. Whether it's a journal, a blog, a poem, a story, or an academic paper, foster intellectual growth by taking a pen in hand.

3)Seek to learn something new every day. This sounds easy, and in truth, it's something we generally do without thinking about it. The purpose of placing it here is the intentionality. Use Google, Wikipedia, the Library... investigate things you're curious about.

Body

Our bodies are temples for the Holy Spirit - taking good care of them is necessary for a life of holiness. I've noticed over the years that I am more susceptible to temptations of all kinds when my body is not being well-maintained.

1) Drink 8 glasses of water a day. That's the recommended amount. You might be surprised about what else you don't drink when you drink water, and you'll feel better for it, too.

2)Start exercising. I'm a busy guy, I rarely have time to go to the gym, but there are still things that I could have time to do. Exercising will ward off plenty of problems that naturally arise from living a sedentary lifestyle, and will help your mind stay sharp.

3)Cut out fast/fried foods. All fats aren't bad for you, but this sort isn't doing anything for you aside from taking the place of something that would be much better for you instead. By cutting out fast food, you'll likely save money, calories, and be better nourished than otherwise.

4) Get some sleep. Lack of sleep makes people cranky, uncharitable, and less mindful of their actions. If your tendency is to skip sleep and try to catch up on the weekends, try to maintain a regular 6 to 9 hours, depending on your body's needs.

Spirit

The obvious one. When we speak of preparing our hearts, we primarly speak of our spirit, that which we most often think of as the part of us that we turn toward God.

1)Give Alms. Alms are works of mercy, they do not have to be a financial gift, but giving money to charity or giving beyond a tithe (or merely beginning to tithe) are great things. Thomas Aquinas delineates almsdeeds as either spiritual or corporal, saying that the corporal are feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, clothing the naked, harboring the homeless, visiting the sick, ransoming the captive, and burying the dead. The spiritual almsdeeds are praying for others, teaching, giving advice, offering consolation, offering correction, forgiving wrongdoing, and bearing with those who trouble or annoy us.

2)Pray Regularly. If you don't pray before meals, start. If you don't pray before bed, start. If you don't pray when you wake up, start. If you don't pray on your way to work, start. If you don't pray the Divine Office, try to pick this up on the hours in which you can. Constant prayer will make a huge difference in your spiritual life.

3)Go to church. If Catholic, attend daily mass. If non-Catholic, attend an additional service, if possible. True worship is never something that can be done too much.

4) Confess your sins. Regularly. One doesn't have to develop scrupulosity, but rather a good, solid, daily examination of conscience will reveal to you in what ways you may seek to improve. If you aren't Catholic, confess them to your pastor, or to your accountability partner... or hey, most Catholic priests are happy to hear confessions of non-Catholics as well, and won't go blabbing about your problems - they are specifically bound not to! I always feel a feeling of great relief after I go to confession, and the prescribed penances are always beneficial to my spiritual life.

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So, there are a few days left to think about Lent. In these remaining days, contemplate what God is calling you to, think about what sort of sacrifices you can make, and what sort of manner in which you hope to prepare for the Passion of our Savior this year. Remember that all growth in holiness is a result of grace - you can't do it without the help of God - when things seem difficult, trust that God is with you. If you fail in your goals, you can try again. Lent is not a test or an exam, it is a time of preparation, a time of prayer, fasting, and penance.

May God bless you and make you holy.

~jwt

How do you Adore?

"O inestimable charity! Even as You, true God and true Man, gave Yourself entirely to us, so also You left Yourself entirely for us, to be our food, so that during our earthly pilgrimage we would not faint with weariness, but would be strengthened by You, our celestial Bread. O man, what has your God left you? He has left you Himself, wholly God and wholly Man, concealed under the whiteness of bread. O fire of love! Was it not enough for You to have created us to Your image and likeness, and to have recreated us in grace through the Blood of Your Son, without giving Yourself wholly to us as our Food, O God, Divine Essence? What impelled You to do this? Your charity alone. It was not enough for You to send Your Word to us for our redemption; neither were You content to give Him us as our Food, but in the excess of Your love for Your creature, You gave to man the whole divine essence..." - St. Catherine of Siena

I was priveleged, this evening, to spend an hour with both my fiancée and Christ, in Eucharistic adoration. Her parish has a perpetual adoration chapel, and so there was no separate liturgy for the adoration... we were left alone with Christ and whatever means of prayer we might muster.

Adoration is a new practice for me, having grown up Protestant, and I found that I desired to stay very close to the theme of "adoration" in my prayers and mindset. This was difficult to do for an hour. I prayed the liturgy of adoration to myself, but found myself mostly silently singing songs of praise - every Eucharistic hymn in my book of Christian Prayer, and then every chorus of adoration I could think of - and that seemed to satisfy my conscious desire to devote this time to "adoration."

I'm incredibly new to this form of worship and spiritual devotion, so I'm asking the handful of you that might read this... how do you adore our Lord?

The Feast of St. Augustine of Hippo

At at mass at St. Francis Xavier College Church sometime in the past, the priest began his homily with a story that went something like this.

Recently, I was reminded of a friend of mine: One of the brightest young men I've ever known; his dad didn't have much to do with religion but his mom was an incredibly pious and faithful Catholic woman. Despite this, when my friend went to college, he got mixed up in some Eastern spirituality, started hanging out with the wrong crowd, moved in with his girlfriend and they had a child. . . But then, something miraculous happened. He started reading the Desert Fathers, had an incredible conversion experience, and now his faith is an inspiration to me.

My friend, by the way, is St. Augustine of Hippo...

The priest's (Fr. David Meconi, S.J.) creative summary of the life of St. Augustine had the attention of the entire congregation, and the moment we realized that this was the life of the great saint, we realized, together I hope, that the story of St. Augustine's life and conversion could be any of our stories.

So, in honor of the day, two prayers for the intercession of St. Augustine and the help of God:

Beloved Saint of our age, you were at first wholly human-centered and attached to false teachings. Finally converted through God's grace, you became a praying theologian -- God-centered, God-loving, and God-preaching.

Help theologians in their study of revealed truth. Let them always follow the Church Magisterium as they strive to communicate traditional teachings in a new form that will appeal to our contemporaries.

Amen.

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God of life, there are days when the burdens we carry chafe our shoulders and wear us down; when the road seems dreary and endless, the skies gray and threatening; when our lives have no music in them and our hearts are lonely, and our souls have lost their courage. Flood the path with light, we beseech you; turn our eyes to where the skies are full of promise.

Amen.

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Grace and Peace,

Jacob

The Feast of St. Louis, King of France

"When dining with St. Louis, the French King, he fell into a brown study and suddenly smote the table with a mighty fist, saying: "And that will settle the Manichees!" The King, with his fine irony of innocence, sent a secretary to take down the line of argument, lest it be forgotten."

-GK Chesteron, on Thomas Aquinas.

Though my parish celebrated the feast day on Saturday and Sunday (it's a bit deal hear in the Rome of the West), the day is truly today. I thought I'd be remiss if I didn't mention it, as the great St. Louis, King of France is the patron of my city, my parish (The Cathedral Parish), and yet another basilica here in St. Louis (The Old Cathedral, pictured below).

So in honor of the day, I pray that we all may be so just, so holy, have so much integrity that our friends would come to us as mediators of conflict; that our enemies would treat us well at the realization of our personal holiness, and that when we are confronted with wisdom, we may realize its importance and commit it to our lives.

Amen.

O God, who didst call thy servant Louis of France to an earthly throne that he might advance thy heavenly kingdom, and didst give him zeal for thy Church and love for thy people: Mercifully grant that we who commemorate him this day may be fruitful in good works, and attain to the glorious crown of thy saints; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

To be Heroic: Reflections on Humility, Charity, and He-man.

The early days of my youth were full of fantasy and imagination. To both the joy and chagrin of my parents, it was a particular pleasure of mine to run full bore through the house and through the yard in little but Underoos and a blanket tied around my neck as a cape (sometimes cowboy boots as well). In these moments, I imagined myself as King Arthur, Batman, He-man, or some amazing version of myself that had super powers, a sword, and a trusty dog. As I grew up, I remained a fan of the fantasy genre, and every few days or so I'll immerse myself in a fantasy-themed game wherein my character has an amazing sword, rides a dragon, and goes about the land questing in the name of Good.

I've noticed lately, however, that these dreams of grandeur pervade my thoughts to a distracting degree, tempting me not to improper action, but improper motive. I was a great deal of a showoff when I was younger, feeling constantly the need to prove myself and be the best, and though most of that need to assert dominance seems to have faded for the most part, I still feel the need for positive affirmation on a fairly regular basis.

This becomes a major problem when it begins to blemish one's offerings to God and others. A charitable gift or deed suddenly becomes a cry for acknowledgment, a little plea to God and with myself for affirmation that I've done a good thing, that I'm honorable and worthy of some sort of compliment or praise. To realize the need for humility is, happily, a humbling event.

To pray for humility is a frightening thing, however: Humility can be caused by a miraculous change of heart, but that's not usually how God affects change. There's usually some physical sign of Grace, as in the Sacraments, and events that affect humility are rarely pleasant. But God is merciful, and so sometimes we get lucky.

So far, I've been lucky.

The other evening, while playing World of Warcraft (the aforementioned fantasy video game), I felt particularly generous, and so I offered to let lower level characters run behind me and pick up all the spoils in a dungeon I felt like pillaging. Only one player felt like taking me up on the offer, but what was humbling about the experience is that he offered to pay the favor forward, and extend the same kindness to another. I was quite touched by his response and gratitude.

The very next morning at work, I had two patrons offer me compliments, quite unsolicited, and unexpected. Again I felt humbled by their offering; their kindness to me set me in a phenomenal mood for the rest of the day.

Upon reflection I realized that God had used Charity, in my own growing desire to minister kindness to others, and their ministry to me, to transform me into someone who acted and reacted in humility, at least in those instances.

Reflecting further, I surmised that I can learn from my own impulse to be heroic, from my childhood hero: He-man. His secret identity was an unassuming, pampered, cowardly prince, likely counted by many of his own subjects to be ineffectual and weak. He maintained this humble image so that he might serve best his noble purpose of protecting his family, friends, and all the people of Eternia. His humility enabled his charity. To be heroic is, at least in part, to be charitable in humility.

Charity is the foundation of reconciliation and conversion; it brings with it humility, faith, hope, and reason. Through our heroic acts of loving, we may advance down the path of holiness.

I am still a long way away from the man I'd like to be. I still face temptation to pride or a yearning for recognition whenever the opportunity for an heroic deed or merely a display of skill presents itself, but He-man, Christ, and these words of St. Francis are helping me out:

Here is one of the best means to acquire humility; fix well in mind this maxim: One is as much as he is in the sight of God, and no more.

Oh, and here's a bit of He-man if you're feeling left out:



Grace and Peace.