Spirituality / Lent
Lent is the season to spend some time comparing our life journey to that of Jesus in order to ready our hearts to celebrate Easter. Through her insightful reflections, Sr. Kathryn Hermes offers busy Catholics a daily opportunity for deeper contemplation and a chance to experience the healing touch of Jesus. Â
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Minute Meditations for Lent by Kathryn J. Hermes, FSP With prayers by Christine S. Setticase, FSP
BOOKS & MEDIA BOSTON
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The Scripture quotations contained herein are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Cover design by Rosana Usselmann Cover photo by istockphoto.com / Nikada Photos by Mary Emmanuel Alves, FSP, and Ann Richard Heady, FSP All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. “P” and PAULINE are registered trademarks of the Daughters of St. Paul. Copyright © 2009, Daughters of St. Paul Published by Pauline Books & Media, 50 Saint Paul’s Avenue, Boston, MA 02130-3491 Printed in the U.S.A. www.pauline.org Pauline Books & Media is the publishing house of the Daughters of St. Paul, an international congregation of women religious serving the Church with the communications media. 123456789
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INTRODUCTION any have found strength and solace in the insightful and challenging words of Sister Kathryn J. Hermes, FSP. In response to requests for seasonal reflections, we have prepared these themed excerpts as a Lenten guide. It is both Sister Kathryn’s hope and our own that these short meditations will help focus our daily struggles toward new life in Christ.
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“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:10
he Father’s power is good and life-giving.When the world turned its violence on the Father’s Son, he did not “put those wretches to a miserable death” (Mt 21:41) as in the parable of the owner of the vineyard. Rather, he strengthened Jesus to endure his torture and persecution without hate or feelings of revenge, but with trust, hope, forgiveness. The Father strengthened Jesus to love his enemies while they hated him. Rejection put Jesus on the cross, but it is precisely on the cross that he fulfilled the Father’s need to communicate his love for us and the goodness of his power. If this is the way God intervened in the suffering of his own Son at the violent hands of another, this is the way God will intervene in the suffering of anyone who trusts in him.
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Prayer: Lord, I place my trust in you.
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“I have said this to you, so that in me you may have peace. In the world you face persecution. But take courage; I have conquered the world!” John 16:33
esus says,“I have conquered the world!” So the suffering due to evil in our lives can be turned into a valuable means of reconciliation between God and us and between us and our brothers and sisters. “All shall be well.” At the judgment we will say, “Because things were the way they were, things were well.You have never made a mistake. May you, Lord, be blessed!” We find refuge in the fact that we are loved and cared for by our God, even when we have failed him. He glories in a repentant heart.We need only turn to God and we are received into his gentle hands. Here we find the Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit— embracing us as a loving parent. Love, the inner life of the Trinity, flows into all creation, especially into each loving human being.
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Prayer: Lord, thank you for your gentle ways.
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Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. Philippians 2:5–7
esus made himself vulnerable. He shed tears in his life, died a seeming failure, and left this earth with only a handful of followers who had earlier deserted him. As he hung on the cross, he had only his trust in his Father ... Jesus made tears sacred because he cried. He knew the agony and the frustration of our problems. He chose to bear all that is human, and to bring it with him on his return to the Father. The One who sits at God’s right hand knows what it is to cry. He preached an upside-down world in which the poor, the marginalized, the suffering, those who agonize through emotional pain, are the first, the guests of honor, and the privileged.
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Prayer: Lord, reach out to me in your humanness. 12
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O LORD, God of my salvation, when, at night, I cry out in your presence, let my prayer come before you; incline your ear to my cry. For my soul is full of troubles, and my life draws near to Sheol. I am counted among those who go down to the Pit; I am like those who have no help, like those forsaken among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, like those whom you remember no more, for they are cut off from your hand. Psalm 88:1–5
o worship God in the midst of adversity and misfortune is to understand fully who you are in relation to God. Imagine yourself before God, bowing low in adoration, perhaps unable to speak, or perhaps even angry with God.Allow yourself to worship and to praise despite your feelings.What is this experience like?
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Prayer: Lord, may I adore you always as my God and Savior. 13
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And going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed,“My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not what I want but what you want.” Matthew 26:39
wrestle with the cross till I fall in love with the Crucified and embrace his death in order to experience his resurrection ... Without the mystery of the cross, life would be incomprehensible. Often we cannot face the cross directly in prayer. Even Jesus prayed to his Father, “Let this cup pass from me.”We need to be patient and respectful with ourselves when still in shock over bad news, a betrayal, an unjust situation, or whatever form the cross takes in our life... When you are ready, pick up the Scriptures, the lives of the saints, or another book. Let God freely speak to your situation.
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Prayer: Lord, be near to me in difficult times.
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So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. Colossians 3:1–3
he sufferings that people embrace with God often take on some of God’s immensity and mystery. Saint Benedict Joseph Labré made the world his cloister when people repeatedly told him he did not have a religious vocation. His life’s dream was dashed, but he began a slow, lifelong pilgrimage marked by scrupulosity and mystical prayer, ridicule and acts of charity. Only just before his death did he become free of scruples and depression. Like Saint Benedict, you may know only the anguished struggle. . . . It does not matter. Christ creates a sculpture of your life, using the illnesses of your body and the sufferings of your mind to chisel the richest details.
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Prayer: Lord, help me to fulfill my destiny.
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Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:6–7
od came to companion us in our suffering by coming into our midst. In Christ, God learned what our suffering was like. God didn’t tell us what to do to fix this suffering or show us how to sidestep it. He drew near to us. He suffered with and for us. He died in darkness, powerlessness, and abandonment to destroy the power of sin and evil that held us captive, but he didn’t take evil away and we still feel its consequences. God’s divine love follows the dynamic of the cross.
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Prayer: Lord, walk by my side in life’s darkest moments.
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