What am I going to do for Lent?

Lent begins  Ash Wednesday. What am I going to do for Lent? The supper table is a good place to ask myself the question, because Lent is about renewing ourselves as we are and where we live. The supper table is where we usually look at  life here and now.

We usually  face those closest to us there. Doing something for Lent must mean doing something for them, first of all, the people across the table–or maybe those who have left our table. A scripture reading early on in Lent says: “Don’t turn your back on your own.”   Renewing our relationship with those closest  to us is one of the ways we renew ourselves.

Besides the supper table, I guess we should also ask that question “What am I going to do?” in the place where I work, or where I go to school. Don’t turn your back on them either.

Lent is for renewing ourselves as we are, in real life and real time. It’s not about changing us into different people or changing the world we live in or going to Mars.

The Ash Wednesday scriptures tell us to pray, to fast and give alms. What am I going to do for Lent? How about praying everyday? How about fasting from my own hard opinions of others? How about thinking about others and not just myself?

What am I going to do for Lent? I hope I can get closer to God, and that means for me to get closer to Jesus Christ. Where should I begin? Let me look in the scriptures, especially the scriptures we read during Lent.

One thing we shouldn’t forget when we ask that question  is  another question: “What’s God going to do for us during Lent?” That’s even more important. Lent is a time of God’s grace, more than we can hope for, beyond what we could possibly earn. The great sign of God’s limitless giving is the Passion of his Son, a wondrous gift beyond all others.

Ash Wednesday and Mystical Death

A letter St. Paul of the Cross wrote about “mystical death” may help us celebrate Ash Wednesday.

“Life for true servants and friends of God means dying every day: ‘We die daily; for you are dead and your life is hidden with Christ in God.’ This is the mystical death I want you to undergo. I’m confident that you will be reborn to new life in the sacred mysteries of Jesus Christ, as you die mystically in Christ more and more each day, in the depths of the Divinity. Let your life be hidden with Christ in God…

“Think about a mystical death. Dying mystically means thinking only of living a divine life, desiring only God, accepting all that God sends and not worrying about it. It means ignoring everything else so that God can work in your soul, in the sanctuary of your soul, where no creature, angelic or human, can go and there you can experience God working and being born, as you mystically die.

“But I’m in a hurry, and this note is getting too mystical, so listen to it with a grain of salt, because we don’t get it.”    (Letter, Dec 28, 1758)

Ash Wednesday’s a good time to try to “get” what the saint is saying.  Ashes are placed on our foreheads in the form of a cross and some simple words are said: “Remember you are dust and to dust you shall return.”

A reminder we will die. Yet, this brief symbolic acts says much more. A daily mystical death is also taking place within us. Our physical life will end, the ashes tell us;  the day and hour unknown. But ashes in the form of a cross say Jesus Christ changes death. “Dying, you destroyed our death. Rising, you restored our life.” Jesus Christ has made his risen life ours. His gift is hidden from us, yet he promises we will experience it when we enter his glory.

Meanwhile, the mystery of his death and resurrection is at work in us now. Enter this mystery mystically,  St. Paul says. Daily, deliberately, attentively accept God working within you. A new life is being born in you, though you may not see it.  Desire it, accept what God sends, without worry. God is working within you through the mystery of the Lord’s cross.

Yet, as the saint says in his letter, he has to hurry off, like the rest of us,  to something else. He’s going somewhere, or has something to do, or someone to see, and he tells his correspondent that you can’t think about deep things too long. No, we can’t.

And so, we only glimpse this mystery as ashes are placed on us. Still, let’s hear the Lord’s voice in today’s readings and the signs of the liturgy. Ash Wednesday is an ambassador sent by God reminding us he is at work in us; he’ll send  graces through the days of Lent and Easter. Yes, in all the days of our life.

Let us embrace his cross each day and die mystically and be born anew.

If you’re interested in more on Ash Wednesday and Lent, go here.

Ash Wednesday Thoughts

We should be humble in mind, putting aside all arrogance, pride and foolish anger. Rather, we should act in accordance with the Scriptures, as the Holy Spirit says: The wise person must not glory in his wisdom nor the strong one in his strength nor the rich one in his riches. Rather, let him who glories glory in the Lord by seeking him and doing what is right and just. Recall especially what the Lord Jesus said when he taught gentleness and forbearance. Be merciful, he said, so that you may have mercy shown to you. Forgive, so that you may be forgiven. As you treat others, so you will be treated. As you give, so you will receive. As you judge, so you will be judged. As you are kind to others, so you will be treated kindly. The measure of your giving will be the measure of your receiving.”

St. Clement of Rome

Ash Wednesday and Mystical Death

An excerpt from a letter of St. Paul of the Cross about mystical death may help us celebrate Ash Wednesday.

“Life for true servants and friends of God means dying every day: ‘We die daily; for you are dead and your life is hidden with Christ in God.’ This is the mystical death I want you to undergo.

I’m confident that you will be reborn to a new life in the sacred mysteries of Jesus Christ, as you die mystically in Christ more and more each day, in the depths of the Divinity. Let your life be hidden with Christ in God…

Think about mystical death. Dying mystically means thinking only of living a divine life, desiring only God, accepting all that God sends and not worrying about it. It means ignoring everything else so that God can work in your soul, in the sanctuary of your soul, where no creature, angelic or human, can go. There you experience God working and being born as you mystically die.

But I’m in a hurry, and this note is getting too mystical, so listen to it with a grain of salt, because we don’t get it.”    (Letter, Dec 28, 1758)

On Ash Wednesday, ashes are placed on our foreheads in the form of a cross and some simple words are said: “Remember you are dust and to dust you shall return.”

A reminder we will die. Yet, so much more is said in this brief symbolic act. A daily mystical death is also taking place within us. Our physical life will end, the ashes tell us;  the day and hour are unknown. But ashes in the form of a cross tell us Jesus Christ changes death. “Dying, you destroyed our death. Rising, you restored our life.” Jesus Christ has made his risen life ours. Though his gift is hidden, we will experience it when we enter his glory.

Meanwhile, the mystery of his death and resurrection is at work in us now. Share this mystery mystically,  St. Paul of the Cross says in the letter quoted above. Daily, deliberately, attentively turn to God working within you. A new life is being born in you, though you may not see it.  Desire it, accept it in whatever God sends, without worry. God is working within through the mystery of the Lord’s cross.

Yet the saint, like the rest of us, has to hurry off to something else. He’s going somewhere, or has something to do, or someone to see, and he tells his correspondent that you can’t think about deep things too long. It’s a mystery beyond us.

And so, we only glimpse this mystery as ashes are placed on us. Still, may we hear the Lord’s voice in the day’s readings and in the signs of the liturgy. Ash Wednesday is an ambassador sent by God reminding us of his work for us; he will send his graces through the days of Lent and Easter. Yes, through all the days of our life.

Let us embrace his cross each day and die mystically and be born anew.

If you’re interested in more on Ash Wednesday and Lent, go here.

Lent and Easter

It takes time to believe. The disciples of Jesus needed time to believe in him and understand the meaning of his life, death and resurrection. So do we.

That’s why we return each year to the mysteries of his life, death and resurrection. This Wednesday–Ash Wednesday– we begin a season for believing. You can find some thoughts of the Lenten-Easter seasons at http://www.cptryon.org.

Will the bad times we live in bring more people to look for support in the mysteries of faith?  Maybe. But institutional religions like ours don’t seem to give the assurance they once gave. In fact, all the world religions, according to some, are holding the world back from progress.

Belief doesn’t occur in a vacuum. The world we live in affects the way we believe, and our faith is shaken as so many institutions we depend on–finance, government, religions, international bodies–seem to fail us.

One blessing this season of grace may bring is new hope in the world’s institutions. It’s so easy to criticize them; they’re not perfect and certainly need change. But without them, the world can’t develop as it should.

“We were hoping,” the disciples said to Jesus as they made their discouraged way to Emmaus. At the end of the journey, they were hoping again. Will our hope grow again?