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)

February 4th Fast

+

JMJ

"None of us can be the master of our own soul in a short time or hold it firmly in our grasp from our very first steps. We should be content to gain small victories over our most unruly passions from time to tome. We must bear with others, but first of all we must exercise forbearance toward ourselves and be patient with our own lack of perfection. Is it right for us to want to have interior peace without having first passed through the ordinary struggles of life?

Keep up the following practices. In the morning, prepare your soul to be at peace. Take care throughout the day to remember that resolution and to reaffirm it.  Should you become disturbed, do not lose heart and do not be pained by it, but having recognized the situation calmly humble yourself before God and attempt to restore your mind to peace.  Say to your soul,"Now friend, we have made a misstep, let us proceed more carefully." And each time you fall, do the same thing. When you are at peace, make good use of the time, making as many acts of humility as you can, however insignificant they may be. For as Our Lord says, he who is faithful in little things will have great ones entrusted to him. Above all, do not lose your courage, but be patient, watchful, and ready with a spirit of compassion. God will hold you in his hand, and if he lets you stumble, it will be only so that you realize that you would collapse entirely if he did not hold you up, and thus make you tighten your grip upon his hand."

St. Francis de Sales

 

December 3rd Fast

 +

JMJ

"Patience is a precept for salvation given us by our Lord our teacher: 'Whoever endures to the end will be saved. And again: If you persevere in my word, you will truly be my disciples; you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.'

Dear brethren, we must endure and persevere if we are to attain the truth and freedom we have been allowed to hope for; faith and hope are the very meaning of our being Christians, but if faith and hope are to bear their fruit, patience is necessary." (St. Cyprian)

In his multi-volume work, The Liturgical Year, Dom Prosper Gueranger, reminds the faithful that the four weeks of Advent symbolize the four thousand years the Israelites waited for God's Anointed. The Benedictine abbot in particular exhorts Christian souls to unite in prayer with the saints of the Old Law in this holy time:

"Let therefore our desires and our confidence have their free utterance in the ardent supplications of the ancient prophets, which the Church puts on our lips during these days of expectation; let us give our closest attention to the sentiments which they express."

There are various periods in our life in which a conclusive end date allows one to ready himself for the task or the occasion presented to him.  Discipline and attention are more easily imposed in these phases because of the definitive nature of the time. It is those fulfillments that are open-ended which demand great patience, and trust in God's providence.  

Like the ancient Hebrews who frequently rebelled as they waited long for the promised Messiah, one may tire in his entreaties, interpreting silence as abandonment so that even the devout soul may begin to falter as he seeks an answer to his vital need.  He cannot see a way for his torment to end, and so forces a solution that is not necessarily sinful, but that is not in keeping with God's will.  

Rather than view this time as a burden of ambiguity, one is invited to understand it as an extension of God's mercy for it allows him to make ready his heart for the task God has prepared.  St. Joseph was unaware of his vocation to be the spouse of the Mother of God until it was revealed to him by the angel; yet his heart was steadfast, his spirit fortified by the years of prayer and discipline he surely practiced as a devout son of Abraham. Simeon and Anna were blessed to recognize the Messiah because of their patient perseverance in prayer as they endured each day in expectation of His coming unlike the impatient Pharisees, who forcefully sought to impose their false Messianic conception, thereby fulfilling Isaiah's tragic prophecy:

"You shall indeed hear but never understand, and you shall indeed see but never perceive. For this people's heart has grown dull, and their ears are heavy of hearing..." (Mt. 13: 14-15)

Advent offers an opportunity to practice patience and trust in Divine Providence, being mindful of God's fulfillment of past promises and having confidence in the fulfillment of future ones.  This holy season is a reminder that time is graciously given not as a burden, but as a mercy; that one's will must not be imposed out of frustration and fatigue, but that God's will must be accepted and searched out in patience and humility.

November 5th Fast

+

JMJ

"I admit that we are all weak, but if we want help, the Lord God has given us the means to find it easily. One priest may wish to lead a good, holy life, as he knows he should. He may wish to be chaste and to reflect heavenly virtues in the way he lives. Yet he does not resolve to use suitable means, such as penance, prayer, the avoidance of evil discussions and harmful and dangerous friendships. Another priest complains that as soon as he comes into church to pray the office or to celebrate Mass, a thousand thoughts fill his mind and distract him from God. But what was he doing in the sacristy before he came out for the office or for Mass? How did he prepare? What means did he use to collect his thoughts and to remain recollected?"

St. Charles Borromeo

When an illness arrives unannounced, a person is quick to seek a remedy for his suffering.  Out of a desire to avoid the doctor, he may mask the malignancy by an anesthetic, hoping to ignore the problem and forego the necessary steps to address it. Yet as reality dawns upon him that this is not a temporary dilemma, he is driven by the yearning to be whole once more, and his pain propels him to engage an experienced physician.  A competent authority then discourages any analgesic so that the source is more easily found.  Upon discovery, a physician plots his course, tasking his charge to follow a specific regimen, not simply to minimize the pathogens, but to eliminate them altogether.

Just like in matters of body, in matters of the spirit, when one recognizes a loathsome weed that has polluted the garden of his soul, he might first assuage his self-inflicted wound with numbing distractions.  He recognizes his habitual vice, but slothfully remains complacent rather than honestly assessing the situation. Examining his conscience, one humbly acknowledges the need for conversion but recoils at the necessary self-denial and detachment required to eradicate the disease that plagues him.  Finally, the desire to overcome wins his heart and he implores his Savior for the grace to triumph.  Yet no victory is won without a plan in place to combat the enemy at hand.   

When St. Joan of Arc encountered the army of the French under the command of La Hire, she first cleared the camp of all the distractions that benumbed the men into inertia and diverted them from their purpose. Next, she ordered all to go to confession, and attend Mass.  Finally, she set a strategy in place in order to break the siege of Orleans. 

The moment of temptation is too great to conquer when no prior preparation has been made. Like the saintly maid, one must tackle sinful habits with readiness and resolve; prayer and self-denial.