A Fifth Sunday of Lent Thought to Start the Week Off Right
The stark and brutal reality of Our Lord's Cross begins to come into sharper focus on this Fifth Sunday of Lent. In less than two weeks, Christians around the world will enter into the Passion and Death of Our Lord Jesus Christ. It's time to both anticipate and make plans for Holy Week, now one week away.
The traditional calendar of the Catholic Church calls this "Passion Sunday," the first Sunday of Passiontide. The tradition of covering statues in purple can still be observed as it once was for centuries (although this practice is rare these days). Doing so mortifies our sense of sight, helping us to focus in a more singular way on the events so dramatically and movingly captured in the Stations of the Cross.
Whether your parish church covers statues or not, here's something written by Father Edward Leen that might help us all keep our hearts and minds where they should be during these waning days of Lent:
“The Cross of Christ is not merely a reminder of a historical fact; nor is it merely the presentation of a dogmatic truth; nor is it only a revelation of the awful gravity of sin and a warning of the rigors of justice with which it is chastised; it is not even primarily an eloquent plea for gratitude and love. It is, of course, all that, but it is besides, something of yet greater moment. It is above all else a sacrifice, which whilst redeeming mankind, is, at the same time the unfolding of a theory of human existence for the instruction of mankind. It both restores life to man and explains the conditions which underlie that life.
A contemplation of the Passion, no matter how sympathetic it may be, no matter how deeply it may move the emotions, will be in large measure robbed of its fruits, unless it issues for the contemplative in a clear realization and a practical grasp of the lesson the Passion is meant to convey. Each scene of the sufferings of Jesus as it offers itself to the imagination and the thought of the Christian must have, as the permanent background of all the words that so often reinforced and summarized His ascetical instructions to the people: “Whosoever doth not carry his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:27). The Cross is the symbol of the Christian way of living. It teaches that sacrifice is the essential condition of attaining the good the Savior won for men at the cost of His Precious Blood; and that sacrifice is the lot not only of the Savior, but of the saved as well. The Cross is not only for Christ, it is for the Christian also. The Cross is a sign, as a book is a sign, for men to read. It gives all Christians to understand that the Christian calling demands that each follower of Christ develop in himself that attitude of soul which was Christ’s, and which found its most significant expression in the Passion…”
I hope Father Leens comments will help to enrich and enliven our souls during these final days of Lent. Taking the time to contemplate the details of Our Lord's suffering should help us to more deeply understand why we've persisted in the practice our Lenten discipline of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. These particular words of Father Leen bear repeating as they remind us that we are (or should be) literally united to Our Lord's Cross in our daily lives. Perhaps their repetition will allow us to recall our true calling - the way of the Cross - even in the midst of our busy work days this week.
"Each scene of the sufferings of Jesus as it offers itself to the imagination and the thought of the Christian must have, as the permanent background of all the words that so often reinforced and summarized His ascetical instructions to the people: “Whosoever doth not carry his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:27)...The Cross is not only for Christ, it is for the Christian also."
The traditional calendar of the Catholic Church calls this "Passion Sunday," the first Sunday of Passiontide. The tradition of covering statues in purple can still be observed as it once was for centuries (although this practice is rare these days). Doing so mortifies our sense of sight, helping us to focus in a more singular way on the events so dramatically and movingly captured in the Stations of the Cross.
Whether your parish church covers statues or not, here's something written by Father Edward Leen that might help us all keep our hearts and minds where they should be during these waning days of Lent:
“The Cross of Christ is not merely a reminder of a historical fact; nor is it merely the presentation of a dogmatic truth; nor is it only a revelation of the awful gravity of sin and a warning of the rigors of justice with which it is chastised; it is not even primarily an eloquent plea for gratitude and love. It is, of course, all that, but it is besides, something of yet greater moment. It is above all else a sacrifice, which whilst redeeming mankind, is, at the same time the unfolding of a theory of human existence for the instruction of mankind. It both restores life to man and explains the conditions which underlie that life.
A contemplation of the Passion, no matter how sympathetic it may be, no matter how deeply it may move the emotions, will be in large measure robbed of its fruits, unless it issues for the contemplative in a clear realization and a practical grasp of the lesson the Passion is meant to convey. Each scene of the sufferings of Jesus as it offers itself to the imagination and the thought of the Christian must have, as the permanent background of all the words that so often reinforced and summarized His ascetical instructions to the people: “Whosoever doth not carry his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:27). The Cross is the symbol of the Christian way of living. It teaches that sacrifice is the essential condition of attaining the good the Savior won for men at the cost of His Precious Blood; and that sacrifice is the lot not only of the Savior, but of the saved as well. The Cross is not only for Christ, it is for the Christian also. The Cross is a sign, as a book is a sign, for men to read. It gives all Christians to understand that the Christian calling demands that each follower of Christ develop in himself that attitude of soul which was Christ’s, and which found its most significant expression in the Passion…”
I hope Father Leens comments will help to enrich and enliven our souls during these final days of Lent. Taking the time to contemplate the details of Our Lord's suffering should help us to more deeply understand why we've persisted in the practice our Lenten discipline of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. These particular words of Father Leen bear repeating as they remind us that we are (or should be) literally united to Our Lord's Cross in our daily lives. Perhaps their repetition will allow us to recall our true calling - the way of the Cross - even in the midst of our busy work days this week.
"Each scene of the sufferings of Jesus as it offers itself to the imagination and the thought of the Christian must have, as the permanent background of all the words that so often reinforced and summarized His ascetical instructions to the people: “Whosoever doth not carry his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:27)...The Cross is not only for Christ, it is for the Christian also."
We adore Thee O Christ and we bless Thee,
Because by Thy Holy Cross Thou Hast Redeemed the world.
Comments