A Quinquagesima Sunday Thought to Start the Week Off right
The traditional calendar of the Liturgical Year has already provided us with Septuagesima Sunday and Sexigesima Sunday to help us prepare for Lent. We've referenced chapters in The Inner Life of the Soul that gave us some food for spiritual thought. This Sunday's entry for Quinquagesima Sunday in The Inner Life of the Soul points us directly at what's sitting right before our eyes:
"The season of Lent is at hand; in three days Ash Wednesday will be here; our Mother the Church calls upon us to fast, and pray, and to do penance for our sins."
If you've checked in the last two Sundays, you might already have your Lenten discipline set. If not, you've got a couple of days to prep. This isn't rocket science but it's serious and calls for a sincere commitment.
Here's a suggestion for those of us who can't fast - for whatever the reason: 10 minutes of meditation each day on Our Lord's Passion. Come to think of it, you could do this even if you do fast. Why not? If you need a resource to help you in your meditation, you might consider The Passion and Death of Our Lord Jesus Christ by Alban Goodier, S.J. I've used it. It's detailed, dives deep and, as a result, you should find it quite moving.
Another suggestion: During the first days of Lent, kneel (or sit) humbly before a crucifix (either in church or at home). Ask yourself: Who is it that suffers? What does He suffer? Why does He suffer? Some answers from The Inner Life of the Soul:
Who is this that suffers?
"Did you ever see a mother when her little child lay dying?...He who suffers on Calvary is more to us than child to mother or mother to child. Oh, as we look up and watch Him, are not our hearts breaking with grief and love?"
I can answer this from personal experience. If you follow this blog, you know that our eldest child died as the New Year began, the result of a stroke he suffered on December 15th. His mother and I watched him for 18 days lying in intensive care. Towards the end, we knew there was no longer hope; he was dying. Those images are still fresh and haunting my mind. I assure you they provide a doorway to meditating on Our dying Lord. In so doing, I believe our son can intercede here and ensure that Lent is not just some formal exercise, but a personal journey that expresses my love for Jesus Christ.
Why does He suffer?
"He suffers - God help us! - for your sins and mine. We drove the nails through those innocent hands and those harmless feet; we drove the spear through that blessed heart; we pressed the thorns into his venerable forehead...Can you tell me why grief and love do not overwhelm us? why these hearts of ours do not break?"
Again, we are drawn into the Passion and Death of Our Lord not as an historical event, or some religious obligation prescribed by the Church, but in a manner that will help us draw closer to Him. Yes, our fasting and other penance makes reparation for our sins. Yes, Lenten discipline will strengthen our soul and toughen our body to resist temptation. But unless we focus our hearts and minds on Jesus Christ, our Savior, we run the risk of making this about us rather than an expression of our love for Him.
What does He suffer?
If you have never understood this, it's critically important to learn it now. The fact is, Our Lord suffered in a manner and to a degree beyond the suffering of any individual ever.
"He suffered bodily anguish to an unparalleled degree, because of the unparalleled sensitive organization of His human frame. Beside this, He suffered interior anguish beyond our powers of conception; and ignominy, shame, and insult to the last degree...We speak of the spitting, the stripping, the scourging, the blows of the rough fist upon that innocent head and face, the taunts, the gibes, the sneers, the awful lies; but what words can convey the sickening and outrageous horror of the whole terrible trial? The immaculate Mother of God could stand to behold it. We sinners must kneel with the Magdalen at the foot of the awful tree."
Knowing what He endured helps us to bear our own suffering - especially the suffering caused by the wrong-doing of others, and, yes, in my own case, the suffering of having our child die only two months ago. Do we dare hope for the grace to respond to our suffering as He did to His?
"Hooted at, the by-word and jest of the brutal soldiery and jeering multitude, Thy sacred character dragged in the dust, and Thy holiest name blasphemed, what is Thy answer, O Lord of the universe! to Thy slanderers and slayers? 'Father! forgive them, for they know not what they do.'"
So what will it be? Will our Lent be a cool, bloodless observance of certain rote religious practices, sprinkled with giving up some pleasure or pleasures that we gladly return to once Easter arrives? Or will we open ourselves, heart and soul, to the full meaning and impact of the suffering and death of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ?
"The season of Lent is at hand; in three days Ash Wednesday will be here; our Mother the Church calls upon us to fast, and pray, and to do penance for our sins."
If you've checked in the last two Sundays, you might already have your Lenten discipline set. If not, you've got a couple of days to prep. This isn't rocket science but it's serious and calls for a sincere commitment.
Here's a suggestion for those of us who can't fast - for whatever the reason: 10 minutes of meditation each day on Our Lord's Passion. Come to think of it, you could do this even if you do fast. Why not? If you need a resource to help you in your meditation, you might consider The Passion and Death of Our Lord Jesus Christ by Alban Goodier, S.J. I've used it. It's detailed, dives deep and, as a result, you should find it quite moving.
Another suggestion: During the first days of Lent, kneel (or sit) humbly before a crucifix (either in church or at home). Ask yourself: Who is it that suffers? What does He suffer? Why does He suffer? Some answers from The Inner Life of the Soul:
Who is this that suffers?
"Did you ever see a mother when her little child lay dying?...He who suffers on Calvary is more to us than child to mother or mother to child. Oh, as we look up and watch Him, are not our hearts breaking with grief and love?"
I can answer this from personal experience. If you follow this blog, you know that our eldest child died as the New Year began, the result of a stroke he suffered on December 15th. His mother and I watched him for 18 days lying in intensive care. Towards the end, we knew there was no longer hope; he was dying. Those images are still fresh and haunting my mind. I assure you they provide a doorway to meditating on Our dying Lord. In so doing, I believe our son can intercede here and ensure that Lent is not just some formal exercise, but a personal journey that expresses my love for Jesus Christ.
Why does He suffer?
"He suffers - God help us! - for your sins and mine. We drove the nails through those innocent hands and those harmless feet; we drove the spear through that blessed heart; we pressed the thorns into his venerable forehead...Can you tell me why grief and love do not overwhelm us? why these hearts of ours do not break?"
Again, we are drawn into the Passion and Death of Our Lord not as an historical event, or some religious obligation prescribed by the Church, but in a manner that will help us draw closer to Him. Yes, our fasting and other penance makes reparation for our sins. Yes, Lenten discipline will strengthen our soul and toughen our body to resist temptation. But unless we focus our hearts and minds on Jesus Christ, our Savior, we run the risk of making this about us rather than an expression of our love for Him.
What does He suffer?
If you have never understood this, it's critically important to learn it now. The fact is, Our Lord suffered in a manner and to a degree beyond the suffering of any individual ever.
"He suffered bodily anguish to an unparalleled degree, because of the unparalleled sensitive organization of His human frame. Beside this, He suffered interior anguish beyond our powers of conception; and ignominy, shame, and insult to the last degree...We speak of the spitting, the stripping, the scourging, the blows of the rough fist upon that innocent head and face, the taunts, the gibes, the sneers, the awful lies; but what words can convey the sickening and outrageous horror of the whole terrible trial? The immaculate Mother of God could stand to behold it. We sinners must kneel with the Magdalen at the foot of the awful tree."
Knowing what He endured helps us to bear our own suffering - especially the suffering caused by the wrong-doing of others, and, yes, in my own case, the suffering of having our child die only two months ago. Do we dare hope for the grace to respond to our suffering as He did to His?
"Hooted at, the by-word and jest of the brutal soldiery and jeering multitude, Thy sacred character dragged in the dust, and Thy holiest name blasphemed, what is Thy answer, O Lord of the universe! to Thy slanderers and slayers? 'Father! forgive them, for they know not what they do.'"
So what will it be? Will our Lent be a cool, bloodless observance of certain rote religious practices, sprinkled with giving up some pleasure or pleasures that we gladly return to once Easter arrives? Or will we open ourselves, heart and soul, to the full meaning and impact of the suffering and death of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ?
Happy Quniquagesima Sunday!
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