Introduction
Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! A blessed Easter to you! We can rejoice in the bridge to Heaven being completed in Christ's dying and rising. In this article I will address some of the lessons I learned through my personal journey through Lent. Lent is a time to journey deep within ourselves and perform a solid review of our spiritual life. It is a season to grow in closeness to our Creator or to realize that He seems distant. Either way, it is a time of self reflection and awareness, with the hope of Easter ahead.
Lessons Learned
1. Discipline
In the days leading up to Lent I usually begin to set a Lenten discipline or disciplines. Since being back in the Church and meeting with my spiritual director, I have built my Lenten exercises around the big three: prayer, fasting, and alms giving. This three basic spiritual exercises are the foundation of a fruitful Lent as I have discussed before. This year I chose to pray a daily rosary (prayer); limit my smartphone use in my room (fasting); and give a specified amount from my paycheck to the Church, visit my Grandmother's husband in the nursing home, and pray for my aunt as she battles cancer (alms giving).
These three disciplines seems simple enough. In fact, as I reflect on them I have this impression that these really weren't Lent specific disciplines. This is why I may feel like my Lent was not very fruitful, but more on this later. The justification for these disciplines is to jump start my spiritual disciplines through out the year and beyond. I used to pray the rosary daily, but since have done it once to thrice per month. I used to be in a good place in terms of reading the books on my long reading list, but have turned to my smartphone and TV when bored in my room. I used to give somewhat regularly to the Church, but it was never a very defined amount or frequency.
The season started very slowly. My adherence to my Lenten exercises was very loose. Visiting my Grandmother's husband and praying for my aunt went well. The rest, however, was not very good at all. Perhaps this was due to a lack of vision or direction as an intended result of the exercises. I will certainly be discussing this with my spiritual director in our next meeting. Putting in place a discipline without a clear purpose is going to, rightly, seem pointless and will produce bad results. The point of our Lenten discipline should be Christ; He is the focus. A good discipline will guide us toward Christ and a desire to be close to Him.
2. Christ's Passion
Most people know what Christ's Passion is (the suffering, crucifixion, and death of Christ). However, there is so much to analyze and learn from Holy Week; how Holy Week came to be, what events occurred, and what they mean for us and our relationships with our God. For Lent I chose to do some spiritual reading and picked up the second volume of the "Jesus of Nazareth" series by Pope Benedict XVI. His brilliant exegesis of Sacred Scripture and infusion of Sacred Tradition revolving around Christ's Passion was an a amazing read.
This article would be lengthy if I discussed the entirety of the book in detail, so I will focus on the part of the book with the greatest impact. The part of the book that struck me the most, was how he discussed the dating of the Institution of the Eucharist, which is traditionally celebrated on Holy Thursday. However, as Pope Benedict points out, this would mean that Christ's execution would have taken place on the feast of the Passover. John's Gospel tells us that Jesus died on the day of preparation when the lamb's were slaughtered. This was powerful to me, because Christ is the lamb being slaughtered. And with this discovery, I have a new found appreciation for the Gospel according to St. John.
I love how the book was set up to go step by step in the order of events that happened during Holy Week. For someone that needs time to digest the theological density of Pope Benedict XVI, it was quite easy to follow. My edition came with a glossary as well, so any terms or ideas that I found foreign were made understandable with the help of the glossary. This book may not be for new comers to theological thought, but certainly should be on everyone's reading list.
3. Prayer and Self Reflection
While my discipline during Lent was weak, my prayer and self reflection was very strong. While I reflected on small everyday actions most days, I didn't do my deepest self examination unless I was before the Blessed Sacrament at my parish's Adoration Chapel. The logic behind this was simple. When journeying deep into your soul, depending on your life experiences, it can become very dark. When someone is in the midst of darkness, one is very vulnerable to confusion and attacks from evil sources.
While journeying "into the darkness" as I called it in my spiritual journal, I would reflect on where I was spiritually. I wanted to examine where my sins took me, what my relationship with the Lord was during the dark times. My examinations also allowed me to be at peace with what resulted from past sins. Ultimately my journey took me to a place of hope and thanksgiving. Knowing how dark things were in the past let me appreciate how bright things are now. I became truly grateful for how God has never abandoned me even when I deserved abandonment. God remained faithful! God did not stop seeking me out!
When I came to this conclusion during my last session of reflection, tears began streaming down my face. I was entering Holy Week with an renewed appreciation for what God has done. Jesus, knowing the fault of Man, marched to the Cross. He bore my sins (and yours) and was slaughtered like the lambs during the day of preparation. The bridge to Paradise was built, and we now have an ability to cross this bridge back to our Creator!
Conclusion
After thinking that this year's Lent was a let down I have concluded that, even though it did not go according to plan, God still showed part of Himself. The journey into the darkness of the past brought me into the light of hope. This hope was celebrated during the Easter Vigil, when we go from darkness into light. I pray that you also were able to learn something about yourself and our awesome God during Lent. I pray that we will journey onward with the victory we share in Christ.
Credo Domine!
Showing posts with label Pope Benedict XVI. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pope Benedict XVI. Show all posts
01 April 2016
18 March 2016
Fighting Mediocrity: Keeping the Soul Awake
In my personal reflections you may begin to piece together a theme. I will go ahead and reveal the theme; anxiety. I leave it up to you to confirm this theme. I am anxious to enter seminary and begin formation. I am anxious to go out into the diocese and shepherd souls (under the diocese's Shepherd the Bishop of course). I am anxious to get my life moving, yet I find myself stuck in this waiting period.
You may have read the introductory paragraph and thought, "He is quite awake." And if you have interacted with me in person, you may have thought, "He is filled with energy." Those two observances are correct; I am very energetic and excitable. However, I am talking about what is deep within every person; the soul. How we are in front of others may be completely different than what our soul is actually feeling. 2015 turned out to be very difficult for me after the Bishop said I am to wait until my military obligation is complete. Initially I said I was at peace with it, but this peace was manufactured by me so it wouldn't last long. It didn't. I entered a place close to depression. I simply sulked spiritually and my soul almost fell asleep.
As I was reading "Jesus of Nazareth: Holy Week" by Pope Benedict XVI, I came across a condition of the soul that absolutely struck me. He discusses how the drowsiness of the disciples opens up possibilities for Satan (p. 153). What he says next is, what I believe to be, a nice affirmation of what I believe to be true about sin and righteousness. Of course Pope Benedict articulates it much more beautifully than I, "Such drowsiness deadens the soul, so that it remains undisturbed by the power of the Evil One at work in the world and by all the injustices and suffering ravaging the earth." (ibid). Sin and righteousness are opposing forces, always. The Church has discussed this in a more detailed format using vices and virtues, which are essentially a break down of the battle between the two.
Pope Benedict goes on to say, "In its state of numbness [when sin is beating righteousness], the soul prefers not to see all this [truly see evil for what it is]; it is easily persuaded that things cannot be so bad, so as to continue in the self-satisfaction of its own comfortable existence." (ibid, injects added). This is a profound reflection on the state of a drowsy soul! When we are spiritually tired, we become complacent. We turn inward and then seek to satisfy what we believe we need, which at this point is disordered (disordered, because God calls us to turn outward toward creation). When we turn inward, we go down a very slippery slope. It is as if we walk on ice. We have control at first, but we can begin to become too comfortable with our ability to walk on ice that we eventually slip and fall. Down we go!
I think it can be said of the rise of the secular society that it has slipped and is now sliding down the slope. At first society wrestled with the New Age thoughts and ideas, but it eventually became tired of seeing the evil in the world, and began turning inward. When turning inward, it embraced self satisfaction at all costs. We can now look at society and firmly say its motto is "It's all about me". We see this in business, marriage, relationships with peers, education, politics, etc. What is ironic is that society tells itself that all of this is for the greater good of society. I think we need not continue discussing the state of society in this article, but I do believe it is good to note when performing a self reflection of our soul.
After almost a year of struggle, I find myself beginning to accept where God wants me. God's peace is beginning to fill me versus me attempting to build peace. He has filled my life with people seeking closeness with the Lord. One of my faithful Catholic friends has challenged me to make 2016 not a year of mediocrity. So far 2016 has been an amazing year and I look forward to making the rest of it. The high point of the year will certainly be my trip to Europe where I will visit family in Nuremberg, Germany, go on a short pilgrimage to Rome, and see a friend in London. I am considering adding a trip to visit the Dachau Concentration Camp to get face to face with the evil that plagues the world. I am truly blessed to have the opportunity to make this journey.
Do not let mediocrity grip your soul! You risk putting your soul to sleep. As Pope Benedict showed us, a drowsy soul is one that permits evil to take hold more and more. I believe the first step in fighting mediocrity sounds overly simple, but it is effective; prayer. Prayer is the foundation of a healthy spiritual life. I will discuss the beauty of prayer and my struggles to build a solid foundation of prayer in a future article. Pax.
------------------
Sources:
1. Pope Benedict XVI Jesus of Nazareth: Part Two: Holy Week From the Entrance into Jerusalem to the Resurrection. San Fransisco: Ignatius Press, 2011.
You may have read the introductory paragraph and thought, "He is quite awake." And if you have interacted with me in person, you may have thought, "He is filled with energy." Those two observances are correct; I am very energetic and excitable. However, I am talking about what is deep within every person; the soul. How we are in front of others may be completely different than what our soul is actually feeling. 2015 turned out to be very difficult for me after the Bishop said I am to wait until my military obligation is complete. Initially I said I was at peace with it, but this peace was manufactured by me so it wouldn't last long. It didn't. I entered a place close to depression. I simply sulked spiritually and my soul almost fell asleep.
As I was reading "Jesus of Nazareth: Holy Week" by Pope Benedict XVI, I came across a condition of the soul that absolutely struck me. He discusses how the drowsiness of the disciples opens up possibilities for Satan (p. 153). What he says next is, what I believe to be, a nice affirmation of what I believe to be true about sin and righteousness. Of course Pope Benedict articulates it much more beautifully than I, "Such drowsiness deadens the soul, so that it remains undisturbed by the power of the Evil One at work in the world and by all the injustices and suffering ravaging the earth." (ibid). Sin and righteousness are opposing forces, always. The Church has discussed this in a more detailed format using vices and virtues, which are essentially a break down of the battle between the two.
Pope Benedict goes on to say, "In its state of numbness [when sin is beating righteousness], the soul prefers not to see all this [truly see evil for what it is]; it is easily persuaded that things cannot be so bad, so as to continue in the self-satisfaction of its own comfortable existence." (ibid, injects added). This is a profound reflection on the state of a drowsy soul! When we are spiritually tired, we become complacent. We turn inward and then seek to satisfy what we believe we need, which at this point is disordered (disordered, because God calls us to turn outward toward creation). When we turn inward, we go down a very slippery slope. It is as if we walk on ice. We have control at first, but we can begin to become too comfortable with our ability to walk on ice that we eventually slip and fall. Down we go!
I think it can be said of the rise of the secular society that it has slipped and is now sliding down the slope. At first society wrestled with the New Age thoughts and ideas, but it eventually became tired of seeing the evil in the world, and began turning inward. When turning inward, it embraced self satisfaction at all costs. We can now look at society and firmly say its motto is "It's all about me". We see this in business, marriage, relationships with peers, education, politics, etc. What is ironic is that society tells itself that all of this is for the greater good of society. I think we need not continue discussing the state of society in this article, but I do believe it is good to note when performing a self reflection of our soul.
After almost a year of struggle, I find myself beginning to accept where God wants me. God's peace is beginning to fill me versus me attempting to build peace. He has filled my life with people seeking closeness with the Lord. One of my faithful Catholic friends has challenged me to make 2016 not a year of mediocrity. So far 2016 has been an amazing year and I look forward to making the rest of it. The high point of the year will certainly be my trip to Europe where I will visit family in Nuremberg, Germany, go on a short pilgrimage to Rome, and see a friend in London. I am considering adding a trip to visit the Dachau Concentration Camp to get face to face with the evil that plagues the world. I am truly blessed to have the opportunity to make this journey.
Do not let mediocrity grip your soul! You risk putting your soul to sleep. As Pope Benedict showed us, a drowsy soul is one that permits evil to take hold more and more. I believe the first step in fighting mediocrity sounds overly simple, but it is effective; prayer. Prayer is the foundation of a healthy spiritual life. I will discuss the beauty of prayer and my struggles to build a solid foundation of prayer in a future article. Pax.
------------------
Sources:
1. Pope Benedict XVI Jesus of Nazareth: Part Two: Holy Week From the Entrance into Jerusalem to the Resurrection. San Fransisco: Ignatius Press, 2011.
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