You yourselves give them something to eat...

The ides of March and we are ten days into Lent. Time to go back and renew our resolutions!
More from the Pope's powerful Gospel of Joy:

The Church, guided by the Gospel of mercy and by love for mankind, hears the cry for justice and intends to respond to it with all her might".153 In this context we can understand Jesus’ command to his disciples: "You yourselves give them something to eat!" (Mk 6:37): it means working to eliminate the structural causes of poverty and to promote the integral development of the poor, as well as small daily acts of solidarity in meeting the real needs which we encounter. The word "solidarity" is a little worn and at times poorly understood, but it refers to something more than a few sporadic acts of generosity. It presumes the creation of a new mindset which thinks in terms of community and the priority of the life of all over the appropriation of goods by a few.

Have I a new mindset which thinks in terms of community and the priority of the life of all over the appropriation of goods by a few?
I hope so, but what am I doing to change others to think in these terms?

Heed this plea

The cry of the poor is something that we must listen to and the Pope is certainly trying to get us all to realize that we must heed the cry of the poor. It takes all of us to make a real difference in our world.


Here we go with another excerpt from the Pope's The Joy of the Gospel:

1. In what follows I intend to concentrate on two great issues which strike me as fundamental at this time in history. I will treat them more fully because I believe that they will shape the future of humanity. These issues are first, the inclusion of the poor in society, and second, peace and social dialogue.

II. The inclusion of the poor in society

1. Our faith in Christ, who became poor, and was always close to the poor and the outcast, is the basis of our concern for the integral development of society’s most neglected members

In union with God, we hear a plea

 

Each individual Christian and every community is called to be an instrument of God for the liberation and promotion of the poor, and for enabling them to be fully a part of society. This demands that we be docile and attentive to the cry of the poor and to come to their aid. A mere glance at the Scriptures is enough to make us see how our gracious Father wants to hear the cry of the poor: "I have observed the misery of my people...so I will send you..."

I have not copied the entire quote, but I think it important that we hear this plea.
The Pope continues


If we, who are God’s means of hearing the poor, turn deaf ears to this plea, we oppose the Father’s will and his plan; that poor person "might cry to the Lord against you, and you would incur guilt" (Dt 15:9). A lack of solidarity towards his or her needs will directly affect our relationship with God: "For if in bitterness of soul he calls down a curse upon you, his Creator will hear his prayer" (Sir 4:6). The old question always returns: "How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods, and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help?" (1 Jn 3:17). Let us recall also how bluntly the apostle James speaks of the cry of the oppressed: "The wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts" (5:4).

1. The Church has realized that the need to heed this plea is itself born of the liberating action of grace within each of us, and thus it is not a question of a mission reserved only to a few...

Lenten Reflections

Last night I had my spirituality group from Carrollton here as they wanted to continue deepening their spirituality after the Busy Persons' Retreat. They are a joy to be with and tonight my reflection group comes - not all 17 but I am expecting at least 14 counting my community so will make a big taco salad and they bring things, too. I love the picture with the quiet water and all so green. It reminds me of a phrase from the 1815 Constitutions: "the calmness of a soul who longs only for her God" (since I am quoting that from memory, it may be just the way I remember it but it comes from the paragraph on simplicity - one that makes us long only for God whom we wish to please...
If you are looking at the Lenten Reflections found on the Province website, be sure to click first on the "For Lent" button on the right and then click again on the date of the day to get the reflection. I did not realize that when giving instructions yesterday on how to find the daily Lenten reflection.

More from the Pope's Gospel of Joy:


An authentic faith – which is never comfortable or completely personal – always involves a deep desire to change the world, to transmit values, to leave this earth somehow better that we found it. We love this magnificent planet on which God has put us, and we love the human family which dwells here, with all its tragedies and struggles, its hopes and aspirations, its strengths and weaknesses. The earth is our common home and all of us are brothers and sisters. If indeed "the just ordering of society and of the state is a central responsibility of politics", the Church "cannot and must not remain on the sidelines in the fight for justice".

Go out and proclaim the Good News!

I hope all my readers have discovered the Lenten reflections that are appearing on the Province website - link on the side. As my blog also appears on the website, I think many do look at it every day. There is a brown button on the right on the Province website that says "For Lent" so click on that and you will find a daily, short, reflection to nourish you. In the meantime, I am giving you excerpts from The Gospel of Joy:

1. The kingdom, already present and growing in our midst, engages us at every level of our being and reminds us of the principle of discernment which Pope Paul VI applied to true development: it must be directed to "all men and the whole man".145 We know that "evangelization would not be complete if it did not take account of the unceasing interplay of the Gospel and of man’s concrete life, both personal and social".146 This is the principle of universality intrinsic to the Gospel, for the Father desires the salvation of every man and woman, and his saving plan consists in "gathering up all things in Christ, things in heaven and things on earth" (Eph 1:10). Our mandate is to "go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation" (Mk 16:15), for "the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God" (Rom 8:19). Here, "the creation" refers to every aspect of human life; consequently, "the mission of proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ has a universal destination. Its mandate of charity encompasses all dimensions of existence, all individuals, all areas of community life, and all peoples. Nothing human can be alien to it.

Am I going out to others? Is this blog a way to proclaim the Good News? Am I revealing Jesus to others by my love, my serving with joy?

To the extent that God reigns within us...

 

The Pope is in retreat this week with most of the members of the curia. They are in a retreat house outside of Rome and a Roman pastor was invited to preach twice a day during the retreat. Let us pray for them.


More from the Pope's "The Joy of the Gospel": (The bold is my emphasis!)

1. Reading the Scriptures also makes it clear that the Gospel is not merely about our personal relationship with God. Nor should our loving response to God be seen simply as an accumulation of small personal gestures to individuals in need, a kind of "charity à la carte", or a series of acts aimed solely at easing our conscience. The Gospel is about the kingdom of God (cf. Lk 4:43);it is about loving God who reigns in our world. To the extent that he reigns within us, the life of society will be a setting for universal fraternity, justice, peace and dignity. Both Christian preaching and life, then, are meant to have an impact on society. We are seeking God’s kingdom: "Seek first God’s kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well"

Am I Living Differently in Lent?

The house and my community both seem to have taken on a Lenten atmosphere which is very conducive to prayer. The week end has been quiet; I have only been out to Mass so tomorrow must go out and do all the errands at once. I began Lent with real enthusiasm but Ash Wednesday seems far away - how can I be so fickle? I must begin again and take one day at a time.

I love the Concord Pastor's blog and copied some of his Sunday post to share here with you. I do hope you read it all; just go to the link on my sidebar.

Got the ashes on Wednesday
   (or didn't)...

Know what I'm giving up for Lent
   (not really)...

Praying more each day
   (not so much)...

Setting coin aside to help the poor
   (wanna do that)...

Off to a great start
   (it's Lent already?)...

Lord,
   it's five days into Lent
   and we're all in different places...

Some of us have run five laps,
   others are still looking for the start line...

Some of us do this really well
   and some of us have a hard time with it...

Help us all be modest in our goals...'

There is more so go read it, and above all do not be discouraged. The Lord loves a cheerful giver and we must just begin again each time we fail.

First Sunday of Lent

The Gospel tells us that Jesus was led into the desert by the Spirit where he fasted for forty days and was tempted. Jesus must have told his disciples about his experience in the wilderness and about his temptations. Having said that, we, too, need to be led by the Spirit during these forty days of Lent and reflect on the temptations that are part of our life as humans. We need to pray that we 'enter not into temptation".
I guess the temptations mentioned in the Gospel are the same today: we are tempted by riches, comfort, material possessions; we are tempted by vainglory, power and we are tempted by pride - Jesus came to teach us that blessed are the poor, the humble, the meek, and the merciful.

I am looking forward to a quiet day with some writing. I do have friends that appreciate some notes and I need to answer them and then get back to the book I say I want to write, but keep procrastinating!!

I continue to pray for our world and ask you to do the same.

On the Road to Easter

Well, yesterday was First Friday and the Church was overflowing for the noon Mass. I left the gym and prayed for green lights as I knew I would have trouble finding a parking place. The lights were green and I found a space and arrived five minutes before the Mass; I have a nameless friend with a big, really lovely smile, who often keeps a place for me or I do the same for her as we like the second bench in from of the reader which is on the right side when you face the altar. Every other church has the readers on the left when you are facing the altar. Anyway, the Church was full of small children and at least ten altar boys! I think these children must be home-schooled as they show up on First Fridays when school is in session.
Well, my spiritual thought today is based on something I read in the morning yesterday and liked enough to copy it here for you:

It was under the title "Pope Took Late Confessor's Cross and comes from the Miami Herald Wire Services.

Pope Francis confessed that he took the rosary cross of his late confessor from his casket and wears it to this day in a fabric pouch under his cassock. He said he did so telling the late priest, "Give me half of your mercy."
Francis made the revelation during an informal chat with Roman priests about the need to be merciful to their flocks. He told the story of the "great confessor" of Buenos Aires who had heard confessions from most of the diocesan priests as well as from Pope John Paul II when he visited Argentina.
Francis said he kept the cross in his shirt pocket for years, but that the cassock he wears now as pope doesn't have a pocket. He now keeps it in a little pouch underneath.
"And whenever a bad thought comes to mind about someone, my hand goes here, always," he said, gesturing to his heart. "And I feel the grace, and that makes me feel better."

Don't you love this? I think the world would be different if we all tried to do something like this!

One of a flock...

The good thing about prayer is that each of us is unique and we have the undivided, complete, loving and understanding of Jesus who is always present to us. I love the image of the Good Shepherd and so often feel that I am picked up and carried in the arms of Jesus. I may of shared an experience that I had as a novice; we were making our morning meditation on the roof as it was mid-summer. The subject of my meditation was the Good Shepherd. Somehow I suddenly had such insight into the mercy of God that I have never doubted His Love and Mercy. It was a real grace and I also saw that my misery attracts His Mercy.


Now to return to reflection on some excerpts of the Pope's "The Joy of the Gospel":

1. This inseparable bond between our acceptance of the message of salvation and genuine fraternal love appears in several scriptural texts which we would do well to meditate upon, in order to appreciate all their consequences. The message is one which we often take for granted, and can repeat almost mechanically, without necessarily ensuring that it has a real effect on our lives and in our communities. How dangerous and harmful this is, for it makes us lose our amazement, our excitement and our zeal for living the Gospel of fraternity and justice! God’s word teaches that our brothers and sisters are the prolongation of the incarnation for each of us: "As you did it to one of these, the least of my brethren, you did it to me" (Mt 25:40). The way we treat others has a transcendent dimension: "The measure you give will be the measure you get" (Mt 7:2). It corresponds to the mercy which God has shown us: "Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you… For the measure you give will be the measure you get back" (Lk 6:36-38).

Friday of the First Week of Lent

Life is not always peaceful for so many. I was thinking of this coming Sunday's Gospel when Jesus is tempted. I suspect that Jesus told his apostles about the temptations to show us that this is part of our life but being tempted is not the same as giving in to the temptation. We always have the grace to resist, if we want it. Lent is a time to help us to reflect on the way temptation comes to us and to ask for the strength to resist. If we have made good resolutions, we are no doubt struggling to keep them. I think the need for prayer is evident- "pray that you do not enter into temptation" is one of those sayings impressed on me and I guess I am now reflecting on how I am tempted. Each one has her or his weak points and that is just where we are tempted.
Looking at the temptations of Jesus we see that He was tempted first with material things, comfort, and then vainglory and finally pride. What are my weakest points?

Here is something helpful from Thomas Merton for Lent:

"It is necessary that at the beginning of this fast, the Lord should show Himself to us in His mercy. The purpose of Lent is not only expiation, to satisfy the divine justice, but above all a preparation to rejoice in His love. And this preparation consists in receiving the gift of His mercy — a gift which we receive in so far as we open our hearts to it, casting out what cannot remain in the same room with mercy.

Now one of the things we must cast out first of all is fear. Fear narrows the little entrance of our heart. It shrinks up our capacity to love. It freezes up our power to give ourselves. If we were terrified of God as an inexorable judge, we would not confidently await His mercy, or approach Him trustfully in prayer. Our peace, our joy in Lent are a guarantee of grace.

In laying upon us the light cross of ashes, the Church desires to take off our shoulders all other heavy burdens — the crushing load of worry and obsessive guilt, the dead weight of our own self-love. We should not take upon ourselves a 'burden' of penance and stagger into Lent as if we were Atlas, carrying the whole world on his shoulders.

Perhaps there is a small likelihood of our doing so. But in any case, penance is conceived by the Church less as a burden than as a liberation. It is only a burden to those who take it up unwillingly. Love makes it light and happy. And that is another reason why Ash Wednesday is filled with the lightness of love."

 

Today I am blessed with two Liturgies!

Back at the University for Mass, prayer and faith-sharing with my faculty group, and then the Sacrament of Reconciliation and Spiritual Direction and then home to have Mass in my own!!!This is a good way to begin the season of Lent. I am still praying over my own plans for Lent but have some idea that involves some service of others as well as a real effort to get rid of the many things I seem to accumulate and really do not need. I like the idea of seeing Jesus in each person and event and hope I can give His Love to all, but now to make this very concrete!
I am definitely going to follow the Pope and ponder in joy and gratitude the immense love of God as we move through the paschal mystery this Lent. It is a gift to have this special season to renew ourselves and I am looking forward to really entering into Lent this year. We have so much to pray for and our world needs prayer! I need to safeguard afternoon prayer as I found that I did not really try to find time for it while I was away - now back to a routine of work, exercise, and prayer and I am convinced that prayer is the most important thing I can do!

Ash Wednesday

I am home and have been to Mass with the older girls from Carrollton at the Church across the street and down from the school. I was really impressed by the silence and the seriousness with which the girls were beginning Lent by assisting at this Mass. It was a prayerful atmosphere and says much to me about the way the school is really educating these girls in the faith.
I had a great vacation and it was good to see all of my family in one visit except for the grand- niece and three grand- nephews who live in Oregon - three are still in school but had been to see the grandparents in Scottsdale just last month. Now, I am preparing for Lent.

Here is something copied from another blog but worth reading and you may not have seen it:

Lent should be more than a time of fasting. It should be a joyous season of feasting. Lent is a time to fast from certain things and to feast on others. It is a season in which we should:

Fast from judging others; feast on the Christ dwelling in them....
Fast from emphasis on differences; feast on the unity of all life.
Fast from thought of illness; feast on the healing power of God.
Fast from words that pollute; feast on the phrases that purify.
Fast from discontent; feast on gratitude.
Fast from anger; feast on patience.
Fast from pessimism; feast on optimism.
Fast from worry; feast on hope.
Fast from complaining; feast on appreciation.
Fast from negatives; feast on affirmatives.
Fast from bitterness; feast on forgiveness.
Fast from self-concern; feast on compassion for others.
Fast from discouragement; feast on hope.
Fast from suspicion; feast on truth.
Fast from thoughts that weaken; feast on promises that inspire.
 William Arthur Ward (American author, teacher and pastor, 1921 - 1994) -  several variants or additional lines. For example

Fast from being so busy; feast on quiet silence
Fast from problems that overwhelm us; feast on prayerful trust
Fast from talking; feast on listening
Fast from trying to be in control; feast on letting go.
Maybe you want to add your own. I noticed that the Holy Father emphasized that Lent was a time of joy and gratitude for the overwhelming love of Our Lord as we participate in the paschal mystery. I may not be quoting that word for word, but I liked the idea that we are preparing for Easter and so joy and gratitude are proper as we are made aware of how much God loves us during this season.