Lent Begins: Time to Get to Work
(Originally posted February 11, 2016)
With our foreheads now bereft of their ashes, we begin the real work of Lent at work. Our challenge during the work day will be to observe the discipline of this Holy Season not only without breaking stride but also without forgetting or perhaps even ignoring the "spirit of Lent" as we go about our business. Your diligent efforts to perform the duties of your job continue even as this penitential season calls you to special acts of prayer, fasting and almsgiving.
Having made general suggestions to help you determine which special acts might apply in your individual situation, we'll focus the next few post on more specifics. To do this, we will turn to an old friend, 'The Rule of St. Benedict" and its "Tools of Good Works." As we've mentioned on occasion in the past, reading the Rule of St. Benedict can help us working folks in many ways. For example, simplicity, balance and moderation permeate all the great saint's writing. We may not be monks, but we who work in the world ought to recognize the value of simplicity, balance and moderation - as well as the challenge. Just imagine a world where these three were the rule not the exception.
More specific to Lent, the Rule is permeated with discipline, fasting and penance. But the lessons learned ought not be restricted to these forty days, but rather should extend to the entire year. So perhaps our first lesson from the Rule should be to think about our Lenten discipline in that light. Don't just slog through your fasting and abstinence just so you can really live it up once Easter arrives. Instead, focus on drawing closer to God. If the sacrifices you make help you to think more about the act of inestimable, infinite love that is the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ, you will draw closer to Him. Such intimacy will inspire you to live a more holy life, even at your place of work.
Acts of mortification like giving up certain foods or some form of fasting shouldn't be simply acts of penance in reparation for sin. Performing them should motivate us to expand and improve our time devoted to actions which will cultivate your intimacy with God, such as prayer, spiritual reading, applying yourself diligently to every aspect of your work. Apropos St. Benedict's Rule, remember that monks and nuns sanctify their lives in just the same way that we lay people do, by sanctifying the ordinary.
In this light, beginning next week, the "Tools of Good Works" from St. Benedict's Holy Rule will help us focus on those acts of almsgiving that might be amplified during Lent in the work place. Remember that the concept of almsgiving encompasses giving not just money, but anything else of yourself in a spirit of charity.
Wrapping up today's thoughts, remember that you don't need to live a terribly austere life to become holy, to draw closer to God. You do need to remember, though, that grace builds upon nature, which just means that each of us works out our salvation through the ordinary activities of daily life. Try to use your Lenten discipline as a reminder, a means to sharpen your understanding and appreciation of this. And whatever special acts of prayer, fasting and almsgiving you might pursue (or your spiritual director might recommend), lets all band together in common cause and pray for each other, that our actions consistently reflect our intentions during these forty days.
We'll close with these words about monks from Cardinal Newman. They perfectly follow the Ash Wednesday exhortation we received with our ashes: "Remember man, thou art dust and unto dust thou shalt return." I hope you'll see how we Catholic men at work can and should share this same spirit with our holy brethren in monasteries...
With our foreheads now bereft of their ashes, we begin the real work of Lent at work. Our challenge during the work day will be to observe the discipline of this Holy Season not only without breaking stride but also without forgetting or perhaps even ignoring the "spirit of Lent" as we go about our business. Your diligent efforts to perform the duties of your job continue even as this penitential season calls you to special acts of prayer, fasting and almsgiving.
Having made general suggestions to help you determine which special acts might apply in your individual situation, we'll focus the next few post on more specifics. To do this, we will turn to an old friend, 'The Rule of St. Benedict" and its "Tools of Good Works." As we've mentioned on occasion in the past, reading the Rule of St. Benedict can help us working folks in many ways. For example, simplicity, balance and moderation permeate all the great saint's writing. We may not be monks, but we who work in the world ought to recognize the value of simplicity, balance and moderation - as well as the challenge. Just imagine a world where these three were the rule not the exception.
More specific to Lent, the Rule is permeated with discipline, fasting and penance. But the lessons learned ought not be restricted to these forty days, but rather should extend to the entire year. So perhaps our first lesson from the Rule should be to think about our Lenten discipline in that light. Don't just slog through your fasting and abstinence just so you can really live it up once Easter arrives. Instead, focus on drawing closer to God. If the sacrifices you make help you to think more about the act of inestimable, infinite love that is the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ, you will draw closer to Him. Such intimacy will inspire you to live a more holy life, even at your place of work.
Acts of mortification like giving up certain foods or some form of fasting shouldn't be simply acts of penance in reparation for sin. Performing them should motivate us to expand and improve our time devoted to actions which will cultivate your intimacy with God, such as prayer, spiritual reading, applying yourself diligently to every aspect of your work. Apropos St. Benedict's Rule, remember that monks and nuns sanctify their lives in just the same way that we lay people do, by sanctifying the ordinary.
In this light, beginning next week, the "Tools of Good Works" from St. Benedict's Holy Rule will help us focus on those acts of almsgiving that might be amplified during Lent in the work place. Remember that the concept of almsgiving encompasses giving not just money, but anything else of yourself in a spirit of charity.
Wrapping up today's thoughts, remember that you don't need to live a terribly austere life to become holy, to draw closer to God. You do need to remember, though, that grace builds upon nature, which just means that each of us works out our salvation through the ordinary activities of daily life. Try to use your Lenten discipline as a reminder, a means to sharpen your understanding and appreciation of this. And whatever special acts of prayer, fasting and almsgiving you might pursue (or your spiritual director might recommend), lets all band together in common cause and pray for each other, that our actions consistently reflect our intentions during these forty days.
We'll close with these words about monks from Cardinal Newman. They perfectly follow the Ash Wednesday exhortation we received with our ashes: "Remember man, thou art dust and unto dust thou shalt return." I hope you'll see how we Catholic men at work can and should share this same spirit with our holy brethren in monasteries...
“in having neither hope nor fear of anything below; in daily prayer, daily bread, and daily work, one day being just like another, except that it is one step nearer than the day before it to that great Day which will swallow up all days, the day of everlasting rest.Wishing you all a happy and holy Lent!
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