Lent

[AlterDominicus]

Welcome.

[Totus Tuus]

Hey! I heard this (the Holy Father's Lenten message) is really good meditation for this Lent

[quote]MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS
BENEDICT XVI
FOR LENT 2007

“They shall look on Him
whom they have pierced” (Jn 19:37)



Dear Brothers and Sisters!

“They shall look on Him whom they have pierced” (Jn 19:37). This is the biblical theme that this year guides our Lenten reflection. Lent is a favourable time to learn to stay with Mary and John, the beloved disciple, close to Him who on the Cross, consummated for all mankind the sacrifice of His life (cf. Jn 19:25). With a more fervent participation let us direct our gaze, therefore, in this time of penance and prayer, at Christ crucified who, dying on Calvary, revealed fully for us the love of God. In the Encyclical Deus caritas est, I dwelt upon this theme of love, highlighting its two fundamental forms: agape and eros.

God’s love: agape and eros

The term agape, which appears many times in the New Testament, indicates the self-giving love of one who looks exclusively for the good of the other. The word eros, on the other hand, denotes the love of one who desires to possess what he or she lacks and yearns for union with the beloved. The love with which God surrounds us is undoubtedly agape. Indeed, can man give to God some good that He does not already possess? All that the human creature is and has is divine gift. It is the creature then, who is in need of God in everything. But God’s love is also eros. In the Old Testament, the Creator of the universe manifests toward the people whom He has chosen as His own a predilection that transcends every human motivation. The prophet Hosea expresses this divine passion with daring images such as the love of a man for an adulterous woman (cf. 3:1-3). For his part, Ezekiel, speaking of God’s relationship with the people of Israel, is not afraid to use strong and passionate language (cf. 16:1-22). These biblical texts indicate that eros is part of God’s very heart: the Almighty awaits the “yes” of His creatures as a young bridegroom that of his bride. Unfortunately, from its very origins, mankind, seduced by the lies of the Evil One, rejected God’s love in the illusion of a self-sufficiency that is impossible (cf. Gn 3:1-7). Turning in on himself, Adam withdrew from that source of life who is God Himself, and became the first of “those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong bondage” (Heb 2:15). God, however, did not give up. On the contrary, man’s “no” was the decisive impulse that moved Him to manifest His love in all of its redeeming strength.

The Cross reveals the fullness of God’s love

It is in the mystery of the Cross that the overwhelming power of the heavenly Father’s mercy is revealed in all of its fullness. In order to win back the love of His creature, He accepted to pay a very high price: the blood of His only begotten Son. Death, which for the first Adam was an extreme sign of loneliness and powerlessness, was thus transformed in the supreme act of love and freedom of the new Adam. One could very well assert, therefore, together with Saint Maximus the Confessor, that Christ “died, if one could say so, divinely, because He died freely” (Ambigua, 91, 1956). On the Cross, God’s eros for us is made manifest. Eros is indeed – as Pseudo-Dionysius expresses it – that force “that does not allow the lover to remain in himself but moves him to become one with the beloved” (De divinis nominibus, IV, 13: PG 3, 712). Is there more “mad eros” (N. Cabasilas, Vita in Cristo, 648) than that which led the Son of God to make Himself one with us even to the point of suffering as His own the consequences of our offences?

“Him whom they have pierced”

Dear brothers and sisters, let us look at Christ pierced in the Cross! He is the unsurpassing revelation of God’s love, a love in which eros and agape, far from being opposed, enlighten each other. On the Cross, it is God Himself who begs the love of His creature: He is thirsty for the love of every one of us. The Apostle Thomas recognized Jesus as “Lord and God” when he put his hand into the wound of His side. Not surprisingly, many of the saints found in the Heart of Jesus the deepest expression of this mystery of love. One could rightly say that the revelation of God’s eros toward man is, in reality, the supreme expression of His agape. In all truth, only the love that unites the free gift of oneself with the impassioned desire for reciprocity instills a joy, which eases the heaviest of burdens. Jesus said: “When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men to myself” (Jn 12:32). The response the Lord ardently desires of us is above all that we welcome His love and allow ourselves to be drawn to Him. Accepting His love, however, is not enough. We need to respond to such love and devote ourselves to communicating it to others. Christ “draws me to Himself” in order to unite Himself to me, so that I learn to love the brothers with His own love.

Blood and water

“They shall look on Him whom they have pierced.” Let us look with trust at the pierced side of Jesus from which flow “blood and water” (Jn 19:34)! The Fathers of the Church considered these elements as symbols of the sacraments of Baptism and the Eucharist. Through the water of Baptism, thanks to the action of the Holy Spirit, we are given access to the intimacy of Trinitarian love. In the Lenten journey, memorial of our Baptism, we are exhorted to come out of ourselves in order to open ourselves, in trustful abandonment, to the merciful embrace of the Father (cf. Saint John Chrysostom, Catecheses, 3,14ff). Blood, symbol of the love of the Good Shepherd, flows into us especially in the Eucharistic mystery: “The Eucharist draws us into Jesus’ act of self-oblation … we enter into the very dynamic of His self-giving” (Encyclical Deus caritas est, 13). Let us live Lent then, as a “Eucharistic” time in which, welcoming the love of Jesus, we learn to spread it around us with every word and deed. Contemplating “Him whom they have pierced” moves us in this way to open our hearts to others, recognizing the wounds inflicted upon the dignity of the human person; it moves us, in particular, to fight every form of contempt for life and human exploitation and to alleviate the tragedies of loneliness and abandonment of so many people. May Lent be for every Christian a renewed experience of God’s love given to us in Christ, a love that each day we, in turn, must “regive” to our neighbour, especially to the one who suffers most and is in need. Only in this way will we be able to participate fully in the joy of Easter. May Mary, Mother of Beautiful Love, guide us in this Lenten journey, a journey of authentic conversion to the love of Christ. I wish you, dear brothers and sisters, a fruitful Lenten journey, imparting with affection to all of you, a special Apostolic Blessing.

From the Vatican, 21 November 2006.

BENEDICTUS PP. XVI



© Copyright 2006 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana[/quote]

[url="http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/messages/lent/documents/hf_ben-xvi_mes_20061121_lent-2007_en.html"]http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict...nt-2007_en.html[/url]

[MC IMaGiNaZUN]

fast from anger, feast on gratitude

fast from vengance, feast on generosity

fast from hatred, feast on love

fast from cynicism, feast on good-will

this should give us all something to think about, emptying ourselves of the poison of the worldly deception, and filling ourselves with God. This is how we overcome the illusions of the devil.

I myself, am going to train for battle under the tutelage of Holy Father St. Augustine.

Keep me in your prayers.

SHALOM

[TeresaAvila]

Thank you for sharing this

[quote name='Totus Tuus' post='1200756' date='Feb 19 2007, 05:59 PM']Hey! I heard this (the Holy Father's Lenten message) is really good meditation for this Lent
[url="http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/messages/lent/documents/hf_ben-xvi_mes_20061121_lent-2007_en.html"]http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict...nt-2007_en.html[/url][/quote]

[EJames]

gloire à Jésus-Christ!

Besides the traditional Monastic fasts,and reading of '[url="http://www.amazon.com/John-Climacus-Classics-Western-Spirituality/dp/0809123304"]The Ladder of Divine Ascent' by St John Climacus [/url]each morning and all the means toward interior purification -the non use of internet..i will be praying Wednesday and Friday mornings, and each nite at Compline, the [b]Lenten 'Prayer of St Ephraim'[/b], prayed universally in the Eastern Christian Churches and many monasteries,( like the Brothers and Sisters of Bethlehem and the Assumption)
\during this time..i share with you , who may not know it
Pax et Bonum
[i]The Prayer of St. Ephrem is taken in the Byzantine Church during the Liturgy of the Presanctified (Liturgy of Pope St. Gregory the Great, prayed by both Catholic and Orthodox alike during this period), during all services of the Divine Offices during Lent and at various other times during the day - upon arising and before retiring for the night.]
[/i]
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[i]{Making a prostration} =sign of the cross, with prostrating, forehead touching floor[/i]
[b]O LORD,[/b] Master of my life, grant that I may not be infected with the spirit of slothfulness and idle curiosity,
of ambition and vain talking.
[i]{Making a prostration}[/i]
Grant instead to me, your servant, the Spirit of purity ,humility, patience and neighbourly love.
{Making a third prostration}
Yes,O Lord and King, grant me the grace of being aware of my sins and of not judging my brethren.
For blessed are you, now and for the ages of ages.
Amen.
[i]then each with bows[/i]
O God, have mercy on me, a sinner!
O God, in your mercy wipe out my sins!
I have sinned without number, Lord; have mercy on me!
[i]Concluding Prayer[/i]
Lord Jesus Christ, King of Kings, You have power over life and death. You know what is secret and hidden, and neither our thoughts nor our feelings are concealed from You. Cure me of duplicity; I have done evil before You. Now my life declines from day to day and my sins increase. O Lord, God of souls and bodies, You know the extreme weakness of my soul and my flesh. Grant me strength in my weakness, O Lord, and sustain me in my misery. Give me a grateful soul that I may never cease to recall Your benefits, O Lord most bountiful. Be not mindful of my many sins, but forgive me all my misdeeds. O Lord, disdain not my prayer - the prayer of a wretched sinner; sustain me with Your grace until the end, that it may protect me as in the past. It is Your grace which has taught me wisdom; blessed are they who follow her ways, for they shall receive the crown of glory. In spite of my unworthiness, I praise You and I glorify You, O Lord, for Your mercy to me is without limit. You have been my help and my protection. May the name of Your majesty be praised forever. To you, our God, be glory. [b]Amen.[/b]
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[i]All this is summarized and brought together in the concluding petition of the lenten prayer in which we ask "to see my own errors and not to judge my brother." For ultimately there is but one danger: pride. Pride is the source of evil, and all evil is pride. Yet it is not enough for me to see my own errors, for even this apparent virtue can be turned into pride. Spiritual writings are full of warnings against the subtle forms of pseudo-piety which, in reality, under the cover of humility and self-accusation can lead to a truly demonic pride. But when we "see our own errors" and "do not judge our brothers," when, in other terms, chastity, humility, patience, and love are but one in us, then and only then the ultimate enemy--pride--will be destroyed in us. [/i]
[img]http://home.it.net.au/~jgrapsas/Ikons/ladder.jpg[/img][img]http://saintelias.com/foto/big/poklon_illu.jpg[/img]

Edited February 20, 2007 by EJames

[Guest eight_days_after]

this year it took me forever to discern what i was going to do for lent... God is asking alot of me this year and it truely will be a life changing experience, i am quite thankful.... i'm not sure if i should list them or not....?

I ask for prayers... it will be difficult... lol one of the things i am attempting to give up is complaining, so i have about 23 minutes to get as much in as possible

I will be praying for you all as well!

God bless you and may you all have a wonderful Lenten season!

oh! and i wont be randomly hanging out in the Phat Chat room anymore... perhaps only on Sundays... I am only going allow myself to come on phatmass once a day (and only in the vocation section.... i was going to give it up, but i realized that this is helping my journey to Christ, and He has other plans as well...) , so if you need me, either PM or email me....

Edited February 21, 2007 by eight_days_after

[cmaD2006]

I'm going to do my best to pray daily (using daily readings, office of readings, and whatever my spiritual director suggests). And I'm going to focus on healing of those things that still bug me (i.e. forgiveness, letting go).

There have been years where I do much more -- but I think for this year this is more than enough. (Letting God show me my woundedness, in my eyes is much more valuable than the sacrifices that I could offer; for then my sacrifice is to allow Him to transform me).

Not sure if I'm making sense, but at least that's what I'm aiming for.

Have a blessed Lent, and may it be a time of preparation so that we can all truly celebrate His Resurrection, where Jesus triumphed over sin out of love for us.

[stlmom]

I'm giving blood to the Red Cross--yes, it sounds kind of unusual for a penance, but it does give some perspective on what it means to shed blood for someone .

[the lords sheep]

I'm doing the usual fasting and I'm giving up chocolate.

I'm going to try to use this season to seek forgiveness from a few people. There are a few people in my life that I need to ask forgiveness of, especially some people that I struggle with daily. I'm trying to die to myself in little ways, especially by doing things I don't want to do (eating things I don't like, taking the stairs when I could take the elevator, hold my tongue). I'm also trying to take extra time for prayer.

Judging others is one thing I've been struggling with too. When I really start to get bad (especially inside my head) I try to think of one good thing for every bad thing I'm thinking. If I have trouble with thinking of something good, I just say: "He/she Christ's physical body here on earth. Whatever I think about him/her, I am thinking about Christ."

May you have a holy Lent!

[benedictaj]

I used to always give up chocolate.... but I gave up eating chocolate for good last October to test out self-denial. So I think I'm giving up sweets and cakes plus reading sacred scripture for half an hour every day (15 mins of the OT and 15 mins of NT). I'll probably end up reading more though!!

Have a blessed Lent everyone! This is such a beautiful time! :

[Guest phatdaddy]

wrong account.....

Edited February 22, 2007 by phatdaddy

[uruviel]

Well, it's not much but I decided to give up my pillow, make a holy hour everyday, and drink nothing but water.

[Andrea348]

* Candy

* Eating or snacking between meals

* Replacing my morning internet time with prayer/spiritual reading

[Piamaria]

I'm working on letting go and on being patient. Just trying to pay attention to the daily lessons of life. I wish I had entered before Lent. But I know my family needs this time with me. Now back on topic.

[AccountDeleted]

I gave up Diet Coke because I am addicted to it and know I won't get it in the convent. I am also trying to avoid negative comments, and to focus on positivity. My friend suggested that one because she is going to do it -- and she isn't even Catholic. She just felt that Lent was a good time to try for self-improvement. I am praying for her conversion too since she is already a person who seems so close to God.