Pope Benedict XVI on Lent

Laetare Levity

Archbishop Jose Gomez on Lent

What to Make of Ash Wednesday Marking

Ash Wednesday is the second most attended Mass in the Catholic calendar, even though it is not officially a holy day of obligation.

One of the features of the Ash Wednesday liturgy is the application of ashes on the faithfuls' foreheads to mark the start of Lent to represent our consciousness of our own sin and need for repentance. These sacramentals are not uniformly applied in the same manner, hence the waggish graphic of Ash Art.

Some non-liturgical Protestants question whether Christians should advertise their faith by walking around wearing schmutz on their forehead. They would question why we are not adhering to Matthew's admonition not to trumpet their faithfulness in public.

However, walking around with Ashes on their forehead is not exactly a boast of one's virtue.  In fact it is the opposite.  And unless Fr. Hollywood applies "The Hitchcock" or "Harry Potter" ashes, the mark is a variation of the Cross.  In the ancient world, the cross was a sign of shame, as it was the cruel way the Romans enforced their authority against "criminals".  In Christendom, it is a reminder of the Via Dolorosa which each of us are invited to take in our walk of faith.

Lest anyone think that Ash Wednesday Ash art is just a benign symbol, consider the case of Stuart Varney.  In 2001, the host of CNN's Moneyline, quit after CNN head honcho Ted Turner mocked those with ashen crosses on their foreheads as "Jesus Freaks".  

St. Ephrem the Syrian on Prayer

Pope Francis on Lent

Pope Francis used his Angelus prayer and reflection at St. Peters Square to recognize the spiritual combat which the Church Militant is enlisted to engage in during Lent.

[T]oday is the first Sunday of this liturgical time that makes reference to the 40 days Jesus spent in the desert, after his baptism in the Jordan River. In today's Gospel, St. Mark writes: "The Spirit drove Jesus out into the desert, and he remained in the desert for forty days, tempted by Satan. He was among wild beasts, and the angels ministered to him" (1,12-13). With these simple words, the evangelist describes the test voluntarily faced by Jesus, before beginning his Messianic mission. 

It is a test in which the Lord leaves victorious and that prepares Him to announce the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. He, in those 40 days of solitude, confronted Satan "in close combat", He unmasks his temptations and conquers him. And through Him, we have all conquered but we must protect this victory in our daily lives. 

The Church reminds us of that mystery at the beginning of Lent, so that it may give us the perspective and the meaning of this time, which is a time of combat. Lent is time of combat! A spiritual combat against the spirit of evil (cfr. Collective Prayer of Ash Wednesday). And while we cross the Lenten "desert", we have our gazed fixed upon Easter, which is the definitive victory of Jesus against the Evil One, against sin and against death. This is the meaning of this first Sunday of Lent: to place ourselves decisively on the path of Jesus, the road that leads to life. To look at Jesus. Look at what Jesus has done and go with Him. 

 This path of Jesus passes through the desert. The desert is the place where the voice of God and the voice of the tempter can be heard. In the noise, in the confusion, this cannot be done; only superficial voices can be heard. Instead we can go deeper in the desert, where our destiny is truly played out, life or death. And how do we hear the voice of God? We hear it in his Word. For this reason, it is important to know Scripture, because otherwise we do not know how to respond to the attacks of the evil one. And here I would like to return to my advice of reading the Gospel every day. Read the Gospel every day! Meditate on it for a little while, for 10 minutes. And also to carry it with you in your pocket or your purse. But always have the Gospel in hand. The Lenten desert helps us to say no to worldliness, to the "idols", it helps us to make courageous choices in accordance with the Gospel and to strengthen solidarity among the brothers. 

 Now let us enter into the desert without fear, because we are not alone: we are with Jesus, with the Father and with the Holy Spirit. In fact, as it was for Jesus, it is the Holy Spirit who guides us on the Lenten path; that same Spirit that descended upon Jesus and that has been given to us in Baptism.

Lent, therefore is an appropriate time that should lead us to be ever more aware of how much the Holy Spirit, received in Baptism, has worked and can work in us. And in the end of the Lenten itinerary, in the Easter Vigil, we can renew with greater awareness the Baptismal covenant and the commitments that flow from it.

 

h/t: Zenit 

Pope Francis on Falling

Words of wisdom as we continue on our Lenten Journey as well as our lifelong companionship with Christ.

Lenten Prayer for Transformation

God, our living Creator,
you who draw green shoots from the frozen earth,
you who warm the springtime sleeping in the winter,
look on us, your children, who are sometime frozen in deep ruts,
sometimes far from the dreams you have for us.

You showed Peter, James, and John the dazzling face of Christ.
Inspire us as you did them.

Transform us into the brilliant image of your Son Jesus,
who lives and reigns with you
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. 

Amen

Big Easy Catechetics

As the Church enters into the penitential season of Lent on Ash Wednesday, the faithful are encouraged to engage in prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.  

One of the Lenten disciplines which can confuse Catholics is culinary abstinence which is required of all on Ash Wednesday as well as all Fridays of Lent.  This is generally understood as no meat (red meat, pork or poultry).  But what about alligator? 

Those in the "Big Easy" Archdiocese fare better than downriver Detroiters in circumventing Lenten Fast rules.  Due to a historical dispensation, the Archdiocese of Detroit allows their flock to "enjoy" muskrat.  

Detroit originally was a French city founded by the Marquis du Cadillac in 1701.  After the French and Indian Wars, the French surrendered Fort Ponchatrain du Detroit to the British in 1760 and it later became American territory after  the Jay Treaty of 1796.

  At the start of the Nineteenth Century, Father Gabriel Richard noticed that his Northwest Territories flock was not faring well during the Lenten fast with no flesh.  Since many area Catholics were from French-Canadian trapper stock, Fr. Richard engaged in some catechetical casuistry as he reasoned that since muskrats were aquatic animals then they should be considered fish-like for Lenten purposes. 

Chef Johnny Kowslowski & muskrat meal

To this day, downriver suburbs of Detroit have a historical dispensation for consuming muskrat during Lenten dietary disciplines.  Muskrat, much like alligator, is said to have to consistency of chicken, except the rodent is said to have a "unique" taste.  The best sounding recipe requires a marinade in French liqueur which supposedly makes it edible. 

Fr. Gabriel Richard is well known for penning the phrase "Seramus meliora; resurgent cineribus" ("We hope for better things; it will rise from the ashes").  The city of Detroit took that as it's motto after it burnt down in 1805.  Yet I also connect the phrase to the option of eating muskrat. 

Personally, the big easy for celebrating the Lenten season would involve  a Wisconsin Fish Fry.  But vive la difference and roulez les bonnes temps.

Prayer at the Commencement of Our Lenten Journey

Jesus, beloved friend,

you call us to a season of growth and repentance.

You have high hopes for us;

may we not disappoint you.

May we see your face ahead of us,

beaming at the end of our Lenten journey.

Give us the strength and energy to run

towards you during this season.

Give us the integrity and generosity in each new challenge.

We ask this of you who lives and reigns 

with God the Father

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God for ever and ever.

Amen.

                ~ Anonymous

Meditation on Ash Wednesday

Fingernails scrubbed clean as latrines
in the army, this symbol
of a man dirties his thumb
with our skin, the powdery ash riding high
on his pores, not sinking in
before he sketches the gray
of our dirt-birth across a brow
we were born to furrow.

Listen to the sound of forgiveness:
the crossing of skin, the cult-
like queuing up to explode
in ripped whispers, “Lord,
have mercy, Lord, have
mercy, Lord, have mercy.”

And we want it. And we take it
home with us to stare back
from a lover’s forehead,
to come off in a smear on the sheets
as we roll onto each other’s skin,
or to wear like a bindhi this medal of our not winning
each day we wake to the worlds
we are and are not.

And when we wake too early
before the light of just-becoming-day
sneaks in on us, and we stand lonely, deceived
into piety, scrubbing away the grime of our humanness
like fierce fierce toothbrushes on latrines
in the army, there it is still,
raw with our washings:
the human beneath.

B XVI Lenten Discipline?

Well, if you've got to give up something....