Dad’s Lenten Blog

Thoughts during Lent

Each day during Lent, I’ll try to put some thought for you all to read. Just little nuggets about our faith. I’ll keep them very brief!

  • Waiting

    Something struck me at Mass on Sunday. It was the Transfiguration gospel. It was when at that when at the top of the mountain Elijah and Moses appeared in front of Jesus, they began to speak to each other. We are not told of the conversation.

    Here’s the thing. There were no mortal souls in heaven. Every human being ever born from the beginning of time was waiting for the Resurrection of Jesus to enter to heaven. There is only one way to heaven and that is through Jesus Christ. So all the souls of those who had departed the earth were waiting, anticipating, hoping and I have to believe, praying. So what could’ve been this conversation between Moses and Elijah and Jesus? Neither Moses or Elijah were in heaven. They must’ve known that Jesus’s mission was unfolding. That heavens gate would soon be opened.

    There was a famous visionary named Anne Catherine Emmerick in the 17th century who is had visions of the Passion of Christ. Much of Mel Gibson’s movie was based on those visions. In one story I had read, Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane and, as we all know, in great anguish of about what was going to happen. She described her vision and said, “Jesus, in his great agony, turned and saw the multitude of souls on their knees, praying for Him.” I don’t know why that is always stuck with me when I picture Him there in the garden, but it has. He knew He would be abandoned by his closest friends and followers. The pain and burden about to placed on Him. Maybe that sight fortified Him in some way.

    How many hundreds or thousands of years were those souls anticipating this moment not fully understanding its magnitude. From the simplest of people to the great prophets. Maybe Jesus told Moses and Elijah to go back and tell all the souls to prepare.? Where did Jesus go for three days between His death and Resurrection? We say, in the Creed, that after his death, he descended into hell. But it is not the hell of eternal damnation. It was the dwelling place for those souls. All the souls who had been waiting.

  • Freedom

    I saw a bird the other day. It flew up with a little branch in its beak. It looked around and flew away. It occurred to me that this little bird was  really free. It was free to fly where it wanted and when it wanted in the direction it wanted to go and where it wanted to land. It was free to decide where it wanted to build a nest. But yet, it has instincts. Innate. The instinct to eat to drink and to build a nest to lay eggs. 

    I thought to myself what it doesn’t have is will. What is the difference? We have similar instincts; when we’re hungry, we eat, when we are thirsty, we drink. These are innate  to all of us. But what sticks out is the difference between me and the bird, and that is will. 

    I can decide what I want to do and when I want to do it, I decide to stand up. I decide to sit down. I can decide to go work out. I can decide to do many things. It’s these decisions that make us different from all creatures. Ultimately it is the freedom of Will.

    When God created us, He gave us free will. The ability to choose. We are not robots or slaves. It’s the ultimate act of love. When God created the angels He gave them free will. The free will to choose love, to choose God. It was free will that let Satan and all of the fallen angels to choose pride over God. Likewise for us, He gives us freedom. The freedom to choose. Freedom is not a right it is a gift. The gift of free will.

    When I think of Jesus in the garden, hunched down. Sweating blood from anxiety. It makes me really pause. His whole life on earth had come to this. He knew what He was about to endure. He had the freedom of choice. He had healed the sick, raise people from the dead, walked on water, calm the oceans and storms. Certainly He could choose a different path. But He didn’t. 

    Instead, with full knowledge of what it’s about to happen He united his will with God’s will. He chose to save me. To save all of us. God did not make Him choose. He did not force Him. In the greatest act of love, Jesus willed himself to walk the path to the cross.

    We cannot forget that He was a man. Flesh in blood just like us. What could it be like to take on the sins of all mankind? It’s an unfathomable burden that we can’t even contemplate.When they ripped the flesh from his body, He could have made them stop. When they placed the cross on his shoulders He embraced it. It was his choice. His will.

    And where did He get His strength from?  It came from God’s love for us. He loves us so much that He gave his only Son so that we could be with Him forever. Jesus united His will with His Father.

    The bird can fly where it wants but is driven by instinct. I can decide where I want to go but I am driven by will. If I can just unite my will with God’s will, then I know the path will lead me to heaven. It’s not easy, there are many burdens, many crosses, many temptations. But we can will ourselves to pray, to go to Mass, to go to confession, to offer up our problems and weaknesses. And the more we decide to do those things, we all know, the closer we get to clarity, to peace, to His will for us.

    Just think how precious this gift is. It is the gift of love. It the gift of true freedom.

  • What is that feeling?

    It’s not something you can really describe to someone.

    The moment you receive Absolution from the priest in confession. When he says ” and your sins are forgiven, in the name of the Father and the Son and Holy Spirit, Amen ” Something changes inside of you. Is it a lightness? A feeling of gratefulness maybe? A sense of peace? But whatever it is, it is very real.

    We call it a “Signal Grace”, because it is a clear and present sign of Christ in our lives. It’s not a physical sign, no, but every bit as much real. We confess our sins.

    But it is not the “Sacrament of Confession”. It is the Sacrament of Reconciliation. I love that notion. It is our choice to sin, the things we have done or failed to do. And sin separates us from God. We all know that feeling. When your prayer life is low, when you just can’t seem to say a prayer. You go through the motions.

    That’s why I love the beauty of reconciliation. By seeking out the confessional we are the ones who are trying to reconcile our lives with Him. Isn’t it amazing that He is always waiting for us, with open arms, with joy that we returned.

    I think that is why we have that feeling afterwards, we can feel His joy. One of my greatest memories is watching each of you go to confession and come out, one by one “with souls as white as snow” !! Smiles all around.

  • Now that is a sacrifice

    I have always wondered about St Peter. Being a husband, a father and a provider I have always questioned how he could do it. The real sacrifice he had to make. I have always struggled, admired, contemplated and reflected on Saint Peter’s decision. So without quoting scripture, the story goes that he was out fishing all night and caught nothing. We fisherman know how that feels. And so he brings his boat ashore and is most likely putting up all of his equipment. And then Jesus walks up, looks at him and tells him to put out a little and put your nets in. If I was Peter, I would be like “I’m exhausted, there is no bite, I wanna go home and sleep!” But of course, Jesus must’ve been very convincing.

    So Peter obeyed him and put his nets back out. You know the story, the nets filled with so many fish that it almost sunk the boat. But it’s what happens next. Saint Peter recognizes that Jesus is something beyond words, something truly holy. “Depart from me Lord, for I am a sinful man.” These were Peter’s words. Jesus didn’t choose a highly exalted righteous educated man. He chose this working man, more than likely, rough around the edges.

    “Come, follow me…. and I will make you a fisher of men.” And so Peter left his boat and nets and everything behind and followed him. Wait a minute…… what???

    He left everything he worked for his whole life, he left his wife and maybe his children??? His friends?? His home?? Now that is a big decision. I can’t imagine the sacrifice. Not just for him but also his family.

    But I always come back to this. That sacrifice beared so much fruit. That “Yes, I will follow you”, though it must have been so hard, resulted in the foundation for Christ’s church on earth. 

    So in your lives remember that even the smallest sacrifices will bear fruit whether you see it or not! St Peter, Pray for Us!!

  • Lent and me

    I was sitting in Mass today after receiving ashes and thinking “what is Lent?”

    Lent actually means “spring”, which is kind of interesting. Coming out of winter to the rebirth of life all around us…. The analogy to the Jesus’s death and His Resurrection on Easter is clear.

    We all know that Lent is a time for Prayer, Fasting and giving Alms. We give up things or try to add good things to our lives. All good and important stuff.

    But then I started thinking deeper. What is Lent to me? Why do I feel called to make this a different time?

    I was staring at the Crucifix high up on the alter when it occurred to me.  Jesus suffered the worst kind of death, torture, humiliation, abandonment, unimaginable pain.  Not just for all of us… but for me.

    Some piece of that suffering belongs to me. Why? Because He loves me so much that He wants me to be with Him. He has given me a chance. He loves me so much that He took on all my sins, everything that I have done and will ever do. All He asks in return is that I ask for forgiveness.    How is that even remotely fair?  He gave His life and that is  what he wants in return?

    And then I started thinking. If I really believe that, then when was the last time I thanked him for it. When was the last time we sat down and had a real heart to heart. Sure, I pray a lot, but most of my prayers have something to do with asking for something. I’m talking about a real two way conversation in prayer.

    That’s when it occurred to me that maybe this was supposed to be the meaning of Lent.  He is calling me into a deeper relationship with Him. And how do I get there? Through two way prayers, listening in silence and quieting my mind. Listening for his voice. Opening my heart to the Holy Spirit. And doing active things, like- Reading  snippets of Scripture and the many assorted books and writings all around me; Contemplating the Saints I love; Really attending Mass. Not just being there. We are called to fast at certain times but I want to skip a meal or meals to feel that hunger pain, not to be exalted in some way, but as I reminder of His sacrifice.

    What is Lent —-  All focusing on one thing. Putting Jesus at the forefront of my life. Making Him my best friend, my Savior. And somewhere in each day of this Lent … remember the sacrifice He made for me.