Lent 2023 laudare, benedicere, praedicare T O P R A I S E , T O B L E S S , T O P R E A C H
"Return to me with your whole heart."
Joel 2:12
By: Sister Imelda Ann, O.P.
Anumber of years ago, one of my second grade students (not pictured) was telling me that his family had bought a new appliance What it was I do not remember, but what had excited him and his sister was not the appliance but rather the large box in which it was delivered They had taken this box outdoors, and as their house was built on top of a hill, they took turns getting in the box while the other sent it tumbling down the hill with sibling inside. My student described his bumpy, painful tumble down the hill inside the giant box. “But,” he said, “it wasn’t so bad, because I had a spare stash of bacon in my pocket ”
It is easy to relate to this child’s bumpy, painful ride when we reflect on the difficulties, the crosses in our own lives That sense of being tumbled, not able to see the direction in which we are moving, and having no idea when and where this painful stretch of the journey will end. However, can we also see how often we take comfort in our “ spare stash of bacon”?
As Christians, we know, at least theoretically, that we are meant to take up our cross and follow Christ There is a breaking, a death that must occur before we can experience resurrection Easter is not about Christ returning to the same old life; it is about new life, Eternal Life. The same is true of our own resurrection, on the Last Day, but also the resurrections that follow our daily deaths to self
But do we attempt to assuage the pain of those daily crosses by seeking comfort in the goods of this world? Food, alcohol, entertainment and numerous other pleasurable goods can easily be used as pain killers or may act like decoys, which lure us away from the eternal good to which the Cross leads, by presenting passing goods that are more immediately within our reach That is not to say that the goods of this world are evil; the problem is that we tend to turn goods into gods. We seek comfort and consolation in these things rather than in God who is our Comfort and Consolation
The reason for our fasting – be it from food or drink, T.V. or radio, social media, etc. - should be to increase our hunger for “the true bread from heaven For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world” (John 6:32-33) Jesus is the Bread which sustains us in our journey through life, so whatever form of fasting we can take on to help us recognize our deep need for him is worth the sacrifice.
The
Catholic tradition of fasting directly counteracts
this tendency We recognize the goodness of created things, yet at certain times, such as Lent, we deny ourselves these earthly comforts in order to refocus and recommit ourselves to following Christ on the Via Crucis which leads to Life and Resurrection. Fasting is not about losing weight, not even about increasing our self-mastery, although it certainly can have these and other positive side effects
Praying ..with St. Dominic
Dominic was known to be a man of God, who always "spoke to or of God." Sometimes his brethren would observe this devoted friar when he was engrossed in prayer and recorded various positions and methods he used while praying to God, which eventually came to be known as the Nine Ways of Prayer. During this season of Lent, the Church encourages us to focus on prayer, fasting and almsgiving, to repent and return to God with our whole hearts In order to renew our practice of prayer, we can look to St. Dominic and incorporate some of his own ways of praying into our own expressions of devotion to and love of God
Sometimes our holy father Dominic was also seen praying with his hands and arms spread out like a cross, stretching himself to the limit and standing as upright as he possibly could.The holy man of God, Dominic, did not use this kind of prayer regularly, but only when, by God’s inspiration, he knew that some great wonder was going to occur by virtue of his prayer
1st Way: Bowing Deeply
Dominic, standing with his body erect, would bow his head and his heart humbly before Christ his Head, considering his own servile condition and the outstanding nobility of Christ, and giving himself up entirely to venerating him He taught the brethren to do this whenever they passed before a crucifix showing the humiliation of Christ Similarly he told the brethren to humble themselves like this before the whole Trinity whenever ‘Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit’ was recited solemnly.
8th Way: Prayerful Reading
Dominic would settle himself down to read or pray, recollecting himself in himself and fixing himself in the presence of God. Sitting there quietly, he would open some book before him, arming himself first with the sign of the cross, and then he would read And he would be moved in his mind as delightfully as if he heard the Lord speaking to him The man of God had a prophetic way of passing over quickly from reading to prayer and from meditation to contemplation
6 t h W a y : C r u c i f o r m
By Sister Matthew Marie, O.P.
Have you ever been asked to do something which you thought was just not possible? The apostles can certainly relate to this as we recall the multiplication of the loaves and fish. They try to get Jesus to disperse the crowds so they can take care of their own needs Jesus’ response is, “You give them something ” Their poverty in being able to provide dinner for so many is apparent as they respond, “All we have with us is five loaves and two fish.” Jesus doesn’t dismiss the meager provisions of the apostles. He asks them and He asks us to bring what we have, even if we think it is lacking Jesus wants our cooperation, just as He asked for the cooperation of the apostles In our poverty, we have to rely on Jesus What is presented to Jesus He blesses and breaks so that it can satisfy the many
If we think about what happens at the offertory of the Mass, we bring to Jesus the gifts of bread and wine which He has given to us. We have nothing that He has not given to us. He blesses those gifts, breaks them, and returns them to us - now become His own flesh and blood for the life of the world.
How often does our poverty of time, poverty of knowledge, and poverty of material goods get in the way of our service to Our Lord? We need simply to give Him what He has already given to us and He will bless it and break it – break our dependence on ourselves so that we may distribute to others what He has given for them It will be more than enough if we give what has been given to us Be ready to gather up the leftovers!
Winter Travels
MARCHFORLIFE / Severalofoursisters, includingourpostulantstraveledtoDCforthe MarchforLife.Weweredelightedtoseemany studentsfromschoolswhereoursistersteach (includingBishopMachebeuffromDenver, CO,picturedabove)
SEEK23 / Weweregrateful tobeabletoattendthe FOCUSSEEKConferencein St.Louis.Duringthe conference,theDominicans offeredatalkonand enrollmentintheAngelic WarfareConfraternity, andwewerepleasedthat hundredsofstudentswere interested
VOCATIONEVENTS / SisterCecilia
AnneandSisterMonicaMarietraveled toBismarck,NDtoattendtheVocation JamboreeattheUniversityofMary.
SisterCeciliaAnne,anativeofNorth Dakota,wasinterviewedbyMsgr JamesSheaduringtheJamboree
TT Travels
UNIVERSITY OFVIRGINIA/ SisterMaraGraceandSisterAnn ThomasvisitedtheCatholicHoos atUVA Thesistersgaveatalkon tipsfordeepeningone'sprayer
life
CANADA/ InFebruary,SisterMaraGraceand SisterAnnThomasjoinedthesistersservingin Vancouver,BCtohostamorningretreatforwomen whereSisterMaraGracespokeonFemininityand PrayerwhichwasfollowedbyEucharistic Adoration Aftertheretreatmorning,thesisters enjoyedlunchwithsomeoftheattendees
SEATTLE/ Whileinthepacific northwest,thesistersvisitedthe UniversityofWashington They lovedspendingtimewiththe studentsandwitnessingthejoy andlifeattheCatholicCenter whichisservedbythe Dominicanfriars
EUCHARISTICREVIVAL
/ Several sisters living at the Motherhouse made a pilgrimage in March to the Shrine of the Blessed Sacrament in Hanceville, AL and to St Bernard's Abbey in Cullman, AL
