Welcome to Lent

Matthew 6:16-18

Concerning Fasting

And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Lent always creeps up on me. Every year, even after eleven years of Mardi Gras Madness, I'm totally surprised, caught out! I'm never ready. I never want to. . . .

Jesus has no desire to catch us out. So the Church invites us to give alms, to fast, to pray during these journey days. It doesn't have to be a solemn time. And we shouldn't fake it, if it is not for us a solemn time. St. Francis used to wander about Italy, we are told, bewailing: Love is not loved! And, perhaps he is not. But Love loves, and you and I can love too, because we are loved. Remember, it is joyful hope that we live in; Jesus is with us, welcome to Lent.

On the Mardi Gras

If ever I cease to love
If ever I cease to love
May cows lay eggs and fish grow legs
If ever I cease to Love

On the Sunday prior to Lent, the Eighth per Annum

Hosea 2:16b, 17b, 21-22

Thus says the LORD:
I will lead her into the desert
and speak to her heart.
She shall respond there as in the days of her youth,
when she came up from the land of Egypt.
I will espouse you to me forever:
I will espouse you in right and in justice,
in love and in mercy;
I will espouse you in fidelity,
and you shall know the LORD.

II Corinthians 3:1b-6

Brothers and sisters:
Do we need, as some do,
letters of recommendation to you or from you?
You are our letter, written on our hearts,
known and read by all,
shown to be a letter of Christ ministered by us,
written not in ink but by the Spirit of the living God,
not on tablets of stone but on tablets that are hearts of flesh.

Such confidence we have through Christ toward God.
Not that of ourselves we are qualified
to take credit for anything as coming from us;
rather, our qualification comes from God,
who has indeed qualified us as ministers of a new covenant,
not of letter but of spirit;
for the letter brings death, but the Spirit gives life.

Mark 2:18-22

The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were accustomed to fast.
People came to him and objected,
“Why do the disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees fast,
but your disciples do not fast?”
Jesus answered them,
“Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them?
As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast.
But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them,
and then they will fast on that day.
No one sews a piece of unshrunken cloth on an old cloak.
If he does, its fullness pulls away,
the new from the old, and the tear gets worse.
Likewise, no one pours new wine into old wineskins.
Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins,
and both the wine and the skins are ruined.
Rather, new wine is poured into fresh wineskins.”

On the Seventh Sunday per Anuum

Isaiah 43:18-19, 21-25

Do not remember the former things,
or consider the things of old.
I am about to do a new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
and rivers in the desert.
The wild animals will honour me,
the jackals and the ostriches;
for I give water in the wilderness,
rivers in the desert,
to give drink to my chosen people,
the people whom I formed for myself
so that they might declare my praise.

Yet you did not call upon me, O Jacob;
but you have been weary of me, O Israel!
You have not brought me your sheep for burnt-offerings,
or honoured me with your sacrifices.
I have not burdened you with offerings,
or wearied you with frankincense.
You have not bought me sweet cane with money,
or satisfied me with the fat of your sacrifices.
But you have burdened me with your sins;
you have wearied me with your iniquities.

I, I am He
who blots out your transgressions for my own sake,
and I will not remember your sins.

On the Memory of the Martyrs

Today is the anniversary of the death / martyrdom of Sr. Dorothy Stang. Though unlikely to be remembered in the U.S. media, she should be remembered in our hearts.

If Mary Stuart can pray for us, then so can Dorothy Stang. And if she can pray for us, perhaps we can do something for the poor we see among us today!

God does not desire Martyrs, but justice, mercy, peace.

Let us rejoice in the good that God has brought to fruition in the life and ministry of Sr. Dorothy Stang and ask him to give us the courage to follow her example of loving service.

I refer curious readers to a post made some time ago.

Another Pointless Example of Self Discovery. . .

You Are a Soy Latte

At your best, you are: free spirited, down to earth, and relaxed At your worst, you are: dogmatic and picky You drink coffee when: you need a pick me up, and green tea isn't cutting it Your caffeine addiction level: medium

What Kind of Coffee Are You?

On the Feast of St. Apollonia, Virgin and Martyr

From the Martyrology:

Apollonia was an aged virgin of Alexandria, who, in the reign of the Emperor Decius, was brought before the idols to worship them, but refused, declaring that Christ Jesus is Very God, and that to him worship is due.

The cruel executioners beat and pulled out all her teeth, and threatened to burn her alive if she would not deny Christ. To whom she answered, that for Christ Jesus' sake she was ready to die. Being taken to the place of execution she stood for a few moments as if in doubt, and then, the fire of the Holy Ghost burning up in her heart, she broke from those that held her, and leapt of her own accord into the flames. Her body was quickly consumed, and her soul departed pure to obtain the eternal crown of martyrdom.

The Oration:

O God, who among the manifold works of thine almighty power hast bestowed even upon the weakness of women strength to win the victory of martyrdom : grant, we beseech thee; that we, who on this day recall the heavenly birth of Saint Apollonia thy Virgin and Martyr, may so follow in her footsteps, that we may likewise attain unto thee.

On Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, Martyr

O my Lord and my God,
I have trusted in Thee.
O my dear Jesus,
now liberate me.
In shackle and chain,
in torture and pain,
I long for Thee.
In weakness and sighing,
in kneeling and crying,
I adore and implore Thee
to liberate me.

Mary Queen of Scots, Wednesday 8th February 1587

As I have said in another place, it is hard to say if these Royal executions can achieve the actual status of martyrdom. Mary was certainly inconvenient to many, and her religious faith played not a small part in that inconvenience.

The Roman Church has never taken seriously the sentiment that Mary was a Martyr even for the Catholic Cause, probably for cowardly and twisted political exigency.

There are many lessons to be learned here: Truth often comes with a price; generosity is always the better option; marring cousins may be a very bad idea (they may disappoint you); never put yourself in the power of someone that you have called a bastard all your life; blood is sometimes much thinner than water.

The absolute lesson, the true lesson, the lesson that Holy Mother Church would want to teach us today if only she had the courage to keep this festival, that we can take from the life and death of our Queen lies not in the question of her sanctity, of her innocence, of her legitimate rights, or even of the justice of the Catholic Cause--however true, illustrative, edifying these may be--but that no one should take it upon themselves to strike the heads off the inconvenient, whether they be pauper or prince.

Martyr, or victim of an elaborate Kangaroo Court, it cannot hurt, today, to call to mind the death of Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, nor to ask for her intercession on behalf of us who still toil in this vale of tears while we wait to join her in the Banquet of Heaven.

Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, pray of us.

On the Feast of St. Blase

From the Martyrology:

This Blase was chosen Bishop of the city of Sebaste in Armenia, in which place he enjoyed a great reputation for virtue. When Diocletian began to make the Christians the objects of his insatiable cruelty, the Saint hid himself in a cave on Mount Argaeus, where he lay till he was found by some of the soldiers of Agricolaus the Governor, who were out hunting. He was brought before the Governor, who commanded him to be thrown into irons. While he was in prison, Blase healed many of the sick, who were brought to him on account of his reputation of saintliness, and among others a boy who had been despaired of by the physicians, and who at the point of death, from a thorn which had become fixed in his throat. Blase appeared twice before the Governor, but neither cajolements nor threats could induce him to sacrifice to the gods. He was first beaten with rods, and afterwards put on the rack, where his flesh was mangled with iron combs. At last his head was cut off, whereby he finished a noble testimony to the faith which is in Christ our Lord. He bore witness on the 3rd day of February.

Patron of Dubrovnik, wild animals, candlers, and all those who suffer from illness of the throat, and one of the fourteen holy helpers, Blaise is one of my favorite saints.

Here he is pictured as special patron of the city of Dubrovnik. Catholics recieve a special blessing for their throats on his feast:

Through the intercession of St. Blase, bishop and martyr, may God deliver you from every disease of the throat and from every other illness, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

On Candlemas Day

Nunc Dimittis
Luke 2:29-32

Lord, now you let your servant go in peace; your word has been fulfilled:

my own eyes have seen the salvation which you have prepared in the sight of every people:

a light to reveal you to the nations and the glory of your people, Israel.

Today represents the very last gasp of the Christmas season, as a season of the Incarnation. Mary has reached the end of her forty days of seclusion following the birth of Jesus, and the Holy family travel to Jerusalem to Present Jesus in the Temple. Sacrifice is made in honor of Jesus, the first born. Simeon and Anna make their prophetic statements. From this day, Jesus begins the long journey which will bring him back to Jerusalem and the fulfillment of the work of salvation.

Lent is just around the corner.