Ruminations of an Irascible Hermit.: Lent as preparation for the Victory of Love

Wednesday, February 14, 2024

Lent as preparation for the Victory of Love

As we enter into the Holy season of Lent, I wanted to remind you all as I also remind myself - anything we do during Lent (prayer, fasting, almsgiving) need to be in love. Without love it is all empty and we risk becoming the hypocrites that Jesus specifically warms us not to be in the Gospel for Ash Wednesday (Mt 6:1-6, 16-18).

We fast so that we can learn self control. We do extra prayers or penances so that we can grow closer to God and remember He is always with us, whilst we so often get caught up in the distractions and responsibilities of life that stress us out. We give alms, perform acts of charity and mercy so that our hardened hearts are softened by the Holy Spirit, so that we love others as Jesus commanded us to and that our charity to others is done as if it was done for Jesus himself. Ultimately all of the spiritual practices, asceticism and prayers are about transformation. The transformation of our hearts so that in our union with Christ, He may shine out through us to others and so that they can encounter the love and mercy of God.

So this Ash Wednesday and this Lent, don’t get caught up on arguments about types of fasting. Don’t get caught up in discussions on fasting only on bread and water, or about modern rules for fasting being far less strict than in the past etc… but instead remember that whatever we do this Lent, needs to be done out of love. Love for God, love for our neighbour and ultimately love for ourselves because it is Christ who loves us and has redeemed us. The love of Christ for us should be what urges us and compels us in everything we do or say (2 Corinthians 5:14-15).

I wish you all a blessed and fruitful Lent as we enter the desert with Jesus and led by the Holy Spirit - to prepare our hearts to celebrate with joy the wonder of the Resurrection. God bless you all and please keep me in your prayers 🙏

As the Collect for Ash Wednesday says :

Grant, O Lord, that we may begin with holy fasting
this campaign of Christian service,
so that, as we take up battle against spiritual evils,
we may be armed with weapons of self-restraint.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.

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Disclaimer

Please note. I am a Catholic layman, not a qualified theologian or philosopher. What I say and write here are my own personal thoughts and ideas, although I always try to conform my writings to the Magisterium of the Church.

I- with firm faith believe and profess everything that is contained in the symbol of faith: namely,

I believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen. I believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, one in Being with the Father. Through him all things were made. For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven: By the power of the Holy Spirit, he was born of the Virgin Mary, and became man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered, died and was buried. On the third day he rose again in fulfillment of the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son he is worshipped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets. I believe in the one holy catholic and apostolic church. I acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

With firm faith I believe as well everything contained in God's word, written or handed down in tradition and proposed by the church--whether in solemn judgment or in the ordinary and universal Magisterium--as divinely revealed and called for faith.

I also firmly accept and hold each and every thing that is proposed by that same church definitively with regard to teaching concerning faith or morals.

What is more, I adhere with religious submission of will and intellect to the teachings which either the Roman pontiff or the college of bishops enunciate when they exercise the authentic Magisterium even if they proclaim those teachings in an act that is not definitive.