It seems to me that today, our readings from Mass call us to see the real ways we are called to deny ourselves so that others may rise to new life. This is the Resurrection Way: Giving of my time, my talent or my treasure, whatever it may be, for those who I encounter or meet this day and every day, one day at a time.
This is an Extraordinary Year of Mercy, called by Pope Francis so that we may focus on the ways we are to live the Gospel of Mercy in our ordinary lives. How much can I, one person, do? How can I, within my busy day, clothe the homeless and care for the needy? It seems impossible or unrealistic.
During Lent I am encouraged to PRAY. I can pray for those who I will meet today. I can pray for those that speed by me on the highway, who I don't even know. I can pray for those who will hear the news today that they have a terminal illness. I can pray for those who are weighed down by grief and see no way out of it. I can pray for so many needs in our world, just by watching the news which breaks open for me the many sufferings people endure in this historic time of our nation and world.
I am also encouraged to FAST. What sense is it to deny oneself? Who gains from my going without something that gives me pleasure, be it food, entertainment, or any naturally good thing in my life? Who do I really help by giving up the intangible things of my life, like my opinion, my way, my control, my preferences? What good is it to give up anything at all? One answer may be that to give up, is only part of the process of fasting. The food, material good or attitude which is given up, is offered as a prayer for the people I pray for. As Jesus offered up his agony and death on the cross for me, voluntarily, I can choose to offer something of my daily life for others, in imitation of Jesus. God accepts this letting go of my ego as a prayer and blesses it.
I am encouraged to GIVE ALMS, or to give concretely to another less fortunate or in need. Many people believe that giving money is the only way to give alms. It is most definitely an effective way to help others, but giving of my time and talent are also valuable ways of giving of myself. Serving at a local food pantry or soup kitchen, making a meal for an ill or grieving parishioner or friend, taking the time to write a note or make a long-overdue phone call to someone in need of companionship . . . these are all ways of changing MY plans, my time and my agenda, to reach out and love another. These are ways of denying myself too.
St. Ignatius of Loyola, one of the greatest saints in our Church, taught us well of the value of dying to self. May all my efforts to die to self so that others may rise in Christ be centered upon my desire to give God ALL of my life, each day of my life. As St. Ignatius said so well: "Give me only YOUR love and YOUR grace. That's enough for me."
Blessed Celine Borzecka, the Foundress of the Sisters of the Resurrection, proclaimed the spirituality of self-denial in another way for all of us who follow the Risen Christ today: We follow him, "Through the Cross and Death, to Resurrection and Glory." Our lives, centered on the Risen Lord, we embrace the opportunities that come our way to take up our cross of suffering, as Jesus did. We walk to Calvary as he did. We divest ourselves for Christ and seek to walk the road of self-denial. We seek to embrace the Cross in our lives as much as we seek to embrace the Resurrection. All of our efforts to deny ourselves in imitation of Christ, are offered as prayer for others. This is what Jesus did. How can we not strive to follow him entirely?
This is an Extraordinary Year of Mercy, called by Pope Francis so that we may focus on the ways we are to live the Gospel of Mercy in our ordinary lives. How much can I, one person, do? How can I, within my busy day, clothe the homeless and care for the needy? It seems impossible or unrealistic.
During Lent I am encouraged to PRAY. I can pray for those who I will meet today. I can pray for those that speed by me on the highway, who I don't even know. I can pray for those who will hear the news today that they have a terminal illness. I can pray for those who are weighed down by grief and see no way out of it. I can pray for so many needs in our world, just by watching the news which breaks open for me the many sufferings people endure in this historic time of our nation and world.
I am also encouraged to FAST. What sense is it to deny oneself? Who gains from my going without something that gives me pleasure, be it food, entertainment, or any naturally good thing in my life? Who do I really help by giving up the intangible things of my life, like my opinion, my way, my control, my preferences? What good is it to give up anything at all? One answer may be that to give up, is only part of the process of fasting. The food, material good or attitude which is given up, is offered as a prayer for the people I pray for. As Jesus offered up his agony and death on the cross for me, voluntarily, I can choose to offer something of my daily life for others, in imitation of Jesus. God accepts this letting go of my ego as a prayer and blesses it.
I am encouraged to GIVE ALMS, or to give concretely to another less fortunate or in need. Many people believe that giving money is the only way to give alms. It is most definitely an effective way to help others, but giving of my time and talent are also valuable ways of giving of myself. Serving at a local food pantry or soup kitchen, making a meal for an ill or grieving parishioner or friend, taking the time to write a note or make a long-overdue phone call to someone in need of companionship . . . these are all ways of changing MY plans, my time and my agenda, to reach out and love another. These are ways of denying myself too.
St. Ignatius of Loyola, one of the greatest saints in our Church, taught us well of the value of dying to self. May all my efforts to die to self so that others may rise in Christ be centered upon my desire to give God ALL of my life, each day of my life. As St. Ignatius said so well: "Give me only YOUR love and YOUR grace. That's enough for me."
Blessed Celine Borzecka, the Foundress of the Sisters of the Resurrection, proclaimed the spirituality of self-denial in another way for all of us who follow the Risen Christ today: We follow him, "Through the Cross and Death, to Resurrection and Glory." Our lives, centered on the Risen Lord, we embrace the opportunities that come our way to take up our cross of suffering, as Jesus did. We walk to Calvary as he did. We divest ourselves for Christ and seek to walk the road of self-denial. We seek to embrace the Cross in our lives as much as we seek to embrace the Resurrection. All of our efforts to deny ourselves in imitation of Christ, are offered as prayer for others. This is what Jesus did. How can we not strive to follow him entirely?
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