الخميس, 26 ابريل, 2007

Get Hungry for Lent!!!

It has been said so well, “It isn’t that the Jews keep the Sabbath! The Sabbath keeps the Jews.”  It isn’t so much that we keep Lent; the truth is that Lent, even a Lent feebly kept by us, then keeps us, makes us, shapes us, marks us, names us.

Hungry for What?

1. Get hungry for the Lent’s late Liturgies:
   All of Lent’s blessings and impact flows from and back to our prayers, particularly the late Liturgies.  The melodies of the Lent and the words are strong enough to bear Lent’s weight.  In the Liturgies, in the Church and during our personal prayers at home, we enter into the intercession and pleas for mercy that is intense during Lent.  We kneel before the Lord with a contrite spirit and repentant heart saying in the Fraction, “Let us also fast by uprooting every evil to live in purity and righteousness and proceed to this Holy Sacrifice and gratefully partake of it”.  This pondering of God’s mercy is ever linked to praising and thanking God for the Passover mystery into which we have been baptized and of which we partake as Holy Communion.
2. Get hungry for the Lent’s Gospel readings:
   
   The Sunday’s readings of the Lent are carefully chosen to lead the soul from earth to heaven.  They start with Preparation by Fasting, Prayer and Giving Alms; the three pillars of Christian worship and service (Matthew 6:1-18). See the attached program of Sunday Readings.
   
   ”We should not be confident that the outside fasting of food is enough alone for the purity of the heart and body, unless it is accompanied by the fasting of the soul.”  St. John Cassian.
3. Get hungry for the Love and Reign of God:
   
   This is the most important part in Lent, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.”  (Matthew 5:6).  Therefore, get hungry for the word of God and meditate on it day and night (Psalm 1).  “For man does not live on bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”  (Matthew 4:4).  Get hungry for Christ’s righteousness to cover your nakedness with His pure white wedding garment (Revelation 3:18).
   
   ”The true fast is that in which sins, anger, tongue and instincts are under control.”  St. Basil the Great.
   
   What in our lives do we need to put aside that we may clear our sight and see?!  Clear our appetite and taste! Clear our ears and hear!  Clear even our sense of smell and long for what St. Paul calls the fragrance of Christ!  “For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.”  (2 Corinthians 2:15).  Lent is learning to be a hungry Christian, part of the basic job description!  It may well be that for many this must relate in part to food and drink, what and how much.  We might eat lower on the food chain, choose a much more limited menu and get insight into our normal eating habits.
   
   ”Having control of what we say is better than having control over our bodies and guarding our hearts against sin is best of all.”  St. Isaac the Syrian.
4. Get hungry for Lent’s hymns:
   
   The melodies and sad hymns of the Lent’s prayers fill the soul with deep thoughts and meditations.  Every Sunday we chant the response the reading of the Acts with our hearts and not with our mouths saying, “Remember me O my Lord, Remember me O my God, Remember me O my King, when you come into your Kingdom.
   
   On weekdays we chant, the Gospel response saying with depth and contrition, “I have sinned, I have sinned O my Lord Jesus forgive me.  For no servant is without sin and no master without forgiveness.  Your mercies O my Lord I will praise, forever and ever, and from generation to generation, I will declare Your truth out of my mouth.”
   
   During Lent we are moving towards being at peace with God, with all people and with ourselves, hence, the weekday Gospel response is (Tee Herenee), “The peace of God which surpasses all knowledge dwell in your hearts through Jesus Christ our Lord.”  (Philippians 4:7).

Finally, Lent in not about suffering; it is about freedom.  It is about discovering the sources of real joy in our lives remembering, “For the joy of the Lord  is your strength.”  (Nehemiah 8:10).