Not Catholic? Great! Read this about Lent. Catholic? You too!

Today is Ash Wednesday, and once again we begin Lent.

Now if you're not Catholic, watching Catholics this time of year can be confusing, and I know that for some it even becomes frustrating.

Even if you're Catholic, you might not be clear about what the purpose of Lent is. Maybe you just do the same thing over and over again each year without a real plan just because that's what you've always done. Maybe you're just doing what you think the Church tells you to do.

"Tells you to do?" Yeh, that can be a real hangup if you're not Catholic. But that's also why you stand to benefit greatly from observing Lenten practices; maybe more than many of your Catholic friends.

Well, what I am saying is that the real benefit of the Lenten journey is the result of an interior desire to improve your relationship with God. That means doing it because it's the right thing to do and you want to do it.

Improving your relationship with God is about conversion, an on-going process of conforming to the Christian life. That means conversion really relates to our disposition with ourselves and others as well as with God.

We accomplish conversion through examination of conscience, admitting our faults, reconciliation, spiritual direction, empathy and action with regard to the poor and suffering, working for and defending what is right and just, enduring suffering and persecution ("take up your cross daily"), etc.

During Lent, we give special attention to the need for prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. I've used the term "rightly ordered" before, and I will use it here again. To be clear, this means the correct order of things. Rightly ordered, prayer, fasting, and almsgiving are expressions of interior penance.

In Matthew 6: 1-18, Jesus presents the proper order as coming from within. Some people get hung up on what He states not to do, but the point He makes is to DO them, but to do them from the heart, the interior.

Now that penance word. Penance expresses our contrition for our sins and our intention to turn away from sin and our attachment to it. Interior penance is best expressed through - you guessed it - prayer, fasting, and almsgivng.

So if the correct order comes from within, why does the Church insist Catholics focus more closely on these during Lent? Because we're human. We have a tendency to forget and/or neglect how to do something without practice.

That is why we say we are "practicing penance." Hopefully, if we practice well enough, we'll get good at it and begin to do it on our own. Perhaps recognizing the benefits of the outward actions will prompt the interior motivation I have been speaking of.

Okay, so today is Ash Wednesday. It's a day of fasting and abstinence. And there'll be more abstaining on Fridays during Lent. You probably get the "fasting" part, but "abstinence?"

Abstaining from meat is a form of penance. It is a very small sacrifice which reminds us of THE sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.

When the Church says "do not eat meat on Fridays during Lent", unfortunately it is the outward act which receives the attention. However, the Church is giving us this very small and very simple directive, a precept of the Church, to help us to recognize that we are to grow, to mature beyond a small mandate onto deeper expressions which spring from the interior conversion of the heart.

Enough for today. I hope you find this useful.

Examining the Purpose of Lent

The beginning of Lent, is one week away. We will be hearing more about penance, fasting, abstaining, etc. People will be talking about what they are "giving up" and when they "are allowed" to do this or that.

It can be easy to lose sight of the real meaning of Lent if the focus is solely on rules or on penitential acts and not on the interior transformation that the Church intends to guide us to and that God is calling us to.

Christians are called to be transformed and conformed more closely to Jesus. We are called to a conversion that is constant and continuous. Lent presents an opportunity to more closely examine our commitment to this conversion and to reorient our lives in a more Christ-like manner.

Rightly ordered though, it is the interior which prompts the exterior. This means that our Lenten practices should be internally motivated. This internal desire to become more like Jesus finds meaningful expression in outward signs and actions. These outward signs and actions in turn call us to an even deeper exploration of the meaning of the Christian life, increasing our desire to become more like Jesus, and so on, and so on.

To become more like Jesus should be our goal during Lent. Observing its practices with an understanding heart truly open to that end can help to shape and transform our lives and thus "the world."

In the coming weeks I will write more about the Lenten journey and hope to encourage you along the way.

Lent: Beyond Requirement to the Open Arms of Jesus

Last month I started a Friday series about the reasons we abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday and Fridays during Lent. The point was to just point out the very basics and to give us something deeper to contemplate.

We are nearing the completion of our Lenten journey, and I think there's plenty of material to think about, so let's just re-visit the basics of the series. I've linked the titles back to each post as well.

What Do You Mean You Don't Eat No Meat During Lent!?

In the simplest sense, abstaining from meat is a very small SACRIFICE which reminds us of THE sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.

Where's the Beef?

Abstaining from meat is a form of PENANCE While abstaining is a reminder to us of the need for penance in our lives, ultimately Jesus calls us to penance which is prompted by, preceded by the interior conversion. Rightly ordered, it is the interior which prompts the exterior.

Feasting on Simplicity

Abstaining from meat is a way to practice SIMPLICITY. Properly approached, abstaining from meat should be offered along with contemplative prayer. Contemplative prayer focuses our attention on Heavenly things, fixing our eyes, our hearts on Jesus so that we can hear the promptings of the Holy Spirit.

Assessing Ascesis

Abstaining from meat is a way to practice ASCETICISM. It's true that the Church has put a requirement upon us during Lent. However, as previously stated, it is not intended to impose authority upon us, but to help us to ascend to this higher good, to choose to go beyond requirement and to choose for one's self.

-----------------------------------
In all of these instances that I have been writing about, we are practicing something, and practice is a good word here. We are practicing something, learning that there is a deeper meaning to what we are doing. We should be recognizing that abstaining from meat is a simple way toward understanding how to direct other things in our lives, other actions, even our very selves toward God. 

God has a cape for every CAPE

Have you ever heard anyone making reference to "Chreasters"? You know, the people who come to church only on Christmas and Easter? Perhaps you have used the term yourself? I have, and really, it does not denote anything positive in its typical use. Some Catholics may reach that notch "above" being a Chreaster. They may also come to church on Ash Wednesday and Passion Sunday (Palm Sunday). Would such a Catholic then be a "CAPE"?

It's Them Against Us

I don't know, but I do know that "they" take "our" parking spots, sit in "our" regular seats, cause additional "unnecessary" planning, use the wrong responses (not "ours"), etc.

"And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself." - John 12: 32

Siblings of the Prodigal

When I read the parable of the Prodigal Son, it's always comforting to see myself as the returning Prodigal, knowing that my Father is always more than ready and willing to accept me and embrace me, giving me so much more than I deserve. But then, there's that brother of his. He's perfectly content with his life and all that his father has given him, until he sees his father celebrating the return of his wayward, "lost" but now "found" prodigal brother.

Sadly, I remember some of my spiritual "siblings", making remarks or comments that I found hurtful. What those were or who made them is insignificant. However, this Prodigal felt "drawn" back to Jesus despite not being a CAPE or even a Chreaster. Yes, I had really been lost for a very long time, and I'm not sure that I would have allowed myself to be embraced by my Father without some others who were able to cooperate with Him, helping me to feel welcomed and a part of the "family" again. It's true that there was much work to be done in order to mend the broken "family" relationships, but I am thankful for those who helped me to feel welcomed again.

So it especially hurts me when I recognize that I may not have always extended the same welcome to others. Even if I didn't verbalize such unwelcoming thoughts or feelings, the fact that I thought or felt them lends itself to conviction that I did not act or speak in a manner that would make my "siblings" feel welcomed. How sad that I can ever be "that guy", that sibling.

"Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me." - Matthew 25: 45

Capes for the CAPES

This post is my reminder to myself, and perhaps to you as well, that God is drawing our "siblings", brothers and sisters to Himself. In order for them to feel welcomed, to begin their own mending, I...we...have to cooperate with our Father. That can begin with recognizing that "they" are part of "us" and "our" spots are "their" spots, and "our" responses in the Liturgy are the responses prescribed for our participation in God's work, thus they are His anyway.

After all, God has a cape for every brother and sister.

cape - part of a garment that fits closely at the neck and hangs over the shoulders;
Like a hug

cape - probably from Spanish capa (cloak), from Late Latin cappa (head covering); 
Like being cloaked (covered) with the Blood of the Lamb or crowned with the Crown of Salvation

cape - a point or extension of land jutting out into water;
Like "HE drew me out of the deep waters" - Psalm 18: 17

All are welcomed

...There is no one, however wicked and guilty, who may not confidently hope for forgiveness, provided his repentance is honest. Christ who died for all men desires that in his Church the gates of forgiveness should always be open to anyone who turns away from sin. - Catechism 982