These Forty Days of Lent, O Lord . . .

The glory of these forty days,
We celebrate with song upraised;
For Christ, through Whom all things were made,
Himself has fasted and has prayed.

So Daniel trained a mystic sight,
Delivered from the lion’s might;
And John, the bride groom’s friend, became
The herald of Messiah’s name.

Then grant us Lord, like them to be,
Full oft in fast and prayer with Thee;
Our spirits strengthen with Thy grace,
And give us joy to see Thy face.

O Father, Son, and Spirit blest,
To Thee be every prayer address’d;
Who art in thee fold name adored,
From age to age the only Lord.

Contemplating The Days of Lent

There was an atheist couple who had a child. The couple never told their daughter anything about the Lord. One night, when the little girl was five years old, the parents fought with each other, and the dad shot the mom, right in front of the child. Then, the dad shot himself. The little girl watched it all. She was sent to a foster home after the death of her parents. The foster mother was a Christian and took the child to church. On the first day of Sunday School, the foster mother told the teacher that the girl had never heard of Jesus and to have patience with her. The teacher held up a picture of Jesus and said, “does anyone know who this is?” The little girl said, “I do, that’s the man who was holding me the night my parents died.”

One day, a man went to visit a church. He arrived early, parked his car, and got out. Another car pulled up near him and the driver told him, “I always park there. You took my place!” The visitor went inside for Sunday School, found an empty seat, and sat down. A young lady from the church approached him and stated, “That’s my seat! You took my place!” The visitor was somewhat distressed by this rude welcome, but said nothing. After Sunday School, the visitor went into the church sanctuary and sat down. Another member of the congregation walked up to him and said, “That’s where I always sit. You took my place!” The visitor was even more troubled by this treatment but still said nothing. Later, as the congregation was praying for Christ to dwell among them, the visitor stood, and his appearance began to change. Horrible scars became visible on his hands and on his feet. Someone from the congregation noticed him and called out, “What happened to you?” The visitor replied, “I took your place.”

These Forty Days of Lent, O Lord . . .

Lent is almost upon us once again. Last Easter next year seemed so far away yet Ash Wednesday is this week! And, as Lent approaches, many of us are considering what extra something we can do during these six weeks to prepare for our greatest feast day.

If you ask most anyone who cares about Lent, the words prayer and sacrifice are foremost in their thoughts of preparation for this solemn time. I have my own list of things I will try to do without and items that I hope to improve upon during Lent. I do have an idea that the one thing that could possibly make a tremendous difference in many outlooks can be summed up in three words; Thank You, God!

Our times of sacrifice and penance are not limited to Lent. And our times of sacrifice and penance are not always voluntary! No one has a completely painless year yet how many times have we skinned an elbow, been hurt by a friend or the victim of someone else’s anger and immediately turned to God and said, Thank You?

I am far from perfect but have found it easier to thank God first and try to find reasons why later. Before you even start trying to fathom God’s reason for anything, it helps to take your pain or loss and find at least three reasons to be happy about it! A very tall order but a first step leads to comfort and communication with God.

I knew a family years ago who were well off and had three beautiful children but they harbored a bitterness in their hearts because one of the children was handicapped. The child in question grew up loving and productive yet the parents maintained their sorrow and regrets with God’s Will. This same family has had several near-miss situations and has continually survived them physically, keeping their bitterness intact. From my outside viewpoint, it seems that God is asking for recognition. Instead this spiritually suffering family is bemoaning the bad that happens and forgets all the thanks yous that they owe God.

One act of thanksgiving, when things go wrong with us, is worth a thousand thanks when things are agreeable to our inclinations. (Bl. John of Avila (16th century)

Now the thank yous to God are almost never said all at once. If we could see the whole picture we wouldn’t be mere humans. We have the course of our lives to gently perceive why occurrences in our days have brought us to the present. Lent may be the time to pay more attention to remembering our manners in prayers to God. The outside reverence means little if our soul is bitter..

On no account give way to sadness, the enemy of devotion. ( St. Francis de Sales: Letters to Persons in Religion. (17th century)`

One Day in the Life of a Mixing Bowl . . .

When I was growing up, my mother was very active in our church. Not only did she work for our pastor, she was often instrumental in helping set up the altar and church for special events.

We lived in the mountains during my late teens and often walked the mile or so to church. It was a more peaceful time so the only concern in walking there in the evening was the four-legged beasts of the forest. There was something almost reverent about the quiet journey through the forest of trees that seemed to prepare one for the majesty of the Mass.

One such evening, our walk took us to church for the Easter Vigil Mass. As many of you know, you enter a darkened church to represent the fact that Jesus was still in the tomb from His death on Good Friday. It emphasizes His absence from earth given His death at the hands of man. It is a somber moment that only makes the light of Easter Vigil shine all the more brighter. Year after year, this feeling doesn’t get old and it’s a good reminder of how we came to this place.

This particular evening, as we spiritually participated and observed the lighting of the new light and blessing of the water, my eye caught the mellow glow of the silver vessel being used for the newly blessed water. The reflection of the candlelight spun out it’s reflection and highlighted the patina of the large silver bowl. My mother turned to me and whispered, “Did you see the bowl for the blessed water?” I nodded. She went on, “Does it look familiar to you?” I nodded, again, and whispered back, “It’s the stainless steel mixing bowl you purchased for the kitchen this week.” My mother quietly exclaimed, “How could you tell seeing as it is in such a different use?” I replied, “You left the price tag on it!” Stifled giggles were not in the Rubrics that evening but I think God understood. It has been a wonderful memory.

And, what happened to that mixing bowl raised for one evening to a place at the altar? When my mother passed away and her things were divided among the family, the one item I wanted was that stainless steel bowl. I have had it for over 25 years and it gets a lot of use in my kitchen. It also gets a special treatment after every use. It always gets an extra polish and a prayer for my mother before it is put away each day. There are a lot of worn scratches and dings on the surface of the old, silver bowl but I’ll never forget it’s first use after purchase.