April 1st Fast

 +JMJ

"After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished said (to fulfill the scripture), 'I thirst,' A bowl full of vinegar stood there; so they put a sponge full of the vinegar on hyssop and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the vinegar, he said,'It is finished'; and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit." (Jn. 19:28-30)

 St. Teresa of Kolkata famously said,"I know that God will not give me anything I cannot handle. I just wish He would not trust me so much." How often in life does one echo these words in his heart? How often does he pray for the strength to endure seemingly endless tests of patience? How frequently does he sympathize with another famous Teresian quip (this time from the great saint of Avila):"If this is how you treat your friends, no wonder you have so few of them?"  

If one thing is certain about the Royal Road of the Cross it is that it is not a short one.  It is understood that God could have redeemed the world in any way He chose; one drop of Christ's blood would have been sufficient to pay our ransom. And yet, Our Savior chose to fill his cup of suffering up to the very brim. His mental anguish in Gethsemane was not enough; his betrayal by his one apostle and abandonment by his other apostles was not enough; his scourging and crowning with thorns was not enough. How his body, his human nature, must have ached to stay on the ground after each fall on the way to Calvary! Oh, surely He must have yearned to die in the arms of His beloved mother as she sorrowfully met Him on the Via Dolorosa.  

But it was not until His strength had been completely emptied that Christ breathed His last on Good Friday. For having poured out His sacrificial love as a ransom for sinners, He now cries out for that same love in the words,"I thirst". The love that satisfies is not one that is given in a burst of affection, or a brief moment of self-denial.  This love that the Greeks called "agape" is one that demands the total gift of self. One who strives to practice it does not say,"the burden is too heavy, the time is too long, the cross is too much." He may beg for assistance, but is prepared to persevere, plodding along steadily, rising when he falls, determined to shoulder the weight until the Lord may say to him:"It is enough."

March 4th Fast

 +JMJ

"'I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him,'Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me as one of your hired servants.' And he arose and came to his father. But while he was yet at a distance, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him,'Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' But the father said to his servants,'Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring in his hand, and shoes on his feet; and bring the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.'" (Lk. 15:21-24)

In Willa Cather's novel, Death Comes for the Archbishop, the bishop and his assistant come upon a ramshackle pueblo, during one of their missionary journeys.  The occupants of the hovel are a loathsome man and his timid, native wife, who silently communicates to the travelers that they are in danger, wordlessly imploring them to make haste in their departure.  After the clerics successfully flee to the nearest village, the woman, aptly named Magdelena, manages to escape her abusive husband, subsequently pouring forth her wretched story to the two missionaries.  

Enticed by the prospect of marrying a wealthy American, Magdelena entered into a bond with a man who she soon discovered to be a murderous and cruel knave.  She suffered in darkness until she was given hope by the solicitous gaze of the bishop; the look of love that came from Christ. This hope prompted her to flee, despite the danger if she were caught.  After her husband is apprehended and justly punished for his crimes, the bishop places Magdelena in the convent of the Sisters of Loretto, where she lives as a servant. As Cather writes,

"She was devoted to the nuns, and so happy in the service of the Church that when the Bishop visited the school he used to enter by the kitchen-garden in order to see her serene and handsome face. . . After the blight of her horrible youth was over, she seemed to bloom again in the household of God."

As Lent begins, the Church reminds her children that they are not made for this world but for the next.  Detaching from the material (even legitimate) goods of this world facilitates a greater attachment and appreciation for the goods of the next world, our everlasting home.  By foregoing this world's pleasures, one is given the opportunity to cultivate a spirit of gratitude for even the simple and mundane.  He does not look upon his work as a drudgery that must be endured, but a task that he is privileged to undertake.  Suffering and self-denial can either produce resentment and anger for the loss of goods one imagines he deserves or acceptance and gratitude for the necessities too often overlooked. Disillusioned and bruised by the lure of a comfortable life, Magdelena finds healing in the security of service to God.  No longer desiring riches that cannot satisfy, she finds contentment in the abundance of graces showered upon her as she embraces her life of humble servitude.  Like the Psalmist, she may cry out:

"Let me dwell in your tent forever! Oh, to be safe under the shelter of your wings!" (Ps. 61:4)