The Lunar New Year and Lent often coincide, which I always find a tad discordant. The Lunar New Year is all about abundance and the 15 days of family gatherings and feasting veer toward the excessive. It was with no small relief that I entered into Lent on the third day of the LNY, and I even welcomed the obligatory fasting of Ash Wednesday.
So what am I doing this Lent to live it, as Pope Francis exhorts, more intensely as a privileged moment to celebrate and experience God’s mercy? The Pope encourages attentive listening to the word of God. He singles out Mother Mary, whose receptivity allowed her to be evangelized by the Holy Spirit, who made her virginal womb fruitful.
In attempting to be open to the promptings of the Holy Spirit, fasting from indifference so to speak, I have found many opportunities to engage in works of mercy, both spiritual and corporal. Every day I have been presented with chances to help others, show my love for my neighbour, and it all becomes a question of where I place my energies for the needs of others can and do conflict with my busy work week. I cannot do everything. I need to find the balance.
It has been difficult and I have recently overstretched myself and find myself physically exhausted. So it is time to pull back a little. Pulling back means being less Martha-like to being more like Mary who sat at the feet of the Lord to listen. Otherwise, I am teetering on the edge of tired grouchiness and impatient intolerance, which completely defeats my good intentions of a fulfilling Lent.
Thus it is good to have a quiet weekend to rest, catch up on housework, cook and reflect on what the Holy Father has to say:
For all of us, then, the season of Lent in this Jubilee Year is a favourable time to overcome our existential alienation by listening to God’s word and by practising the works of mercy. In the corporal works of mercy we touch the flesh of Christ in our brothers and sisters who need to be fed, clothed, sheltered, visited; in the spiritual works of mercy – counsel, instruction, forgiveness, admonishment and prayer – we touch more directly our own sinfulness. The corporal and spiritual works of mercy must never be separated. By touching the flesh of the crucified Jesus in the suffering, sinners can receive the gift of realizing that they too are poor and in need. By taking this path, the “proud”, the “powerful” and the “wealthy” spoken of in the Magnificat can also be embraced and undeservedly loved by the crucified Lord who died and rose for them. This love alone is the answer to that yearning for infinite happiness and love that we think we can satisfy with the idols of knowledge, power and riches. Yet the danger always remains that by a constant refusal to open the doors of their hearts to Christ who knocks on them in the poor, the proud, rich and powerful will end up condemning themselves and plunging into the eternal abyss of solitude which is Hell. The pointed words of Abraham apply to them and to all of us: “They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them” (Lk 16:29). Such attentive listening will best prepare us to celebrate the final victory over sin and death of the Bridegroom, now risen, who desires to purify his Betrothed in expectation of his coming.
As I enter into the second week of Lent, I ask for perseverance to continue to listen attentively and to make this season of fasting one of great abundance.
So what am I doing this Lent to live it, as Pope Francis exhorts, more intensely as a privileged moment to celebrate and experience God’s mercy? The Pope encourages attentive listening to the word of God. He singles out Mother Mary, whose receptivity allowed her to be evangelized by the Holy Spirit, who made her virginal womb fruitful.
In attempting to be open to the promptings of the Holy Spirit, fasting from indifference so to speak, I have found many opportunities to engage in works of mercy, both spiritual and corporal. Every day I have been presented with chances to help others, show my love for my neighbour, and it all becomes a question of where I place my energies for the needs of others can and do conflict with my busy work week. I cannot do everything. I need to find the balance.
It has been difficult and I have recently overstretched myself and find myself physically exhausted. So it is time to pull back a little. Pulling back means being less Martha-like to being more like Mary who sat at the feet of the Lord to listen. Otherwise, I am teetering on the edge of tired grouchiness and impatient intolerance, which completely defeats my good intentions of a fulfilling Lent.
Thus it is good to have a quiet weekend to rest, catch up on housework, cook and reflect on what the Holy Father has to say:
For all of us, then, the season of Lent in this Jubilee Year is a favourable time to overcome our existential alienation by listening to God’s word and by practising the works of mercy. In the corporal works of mercy we touch the flesh of Christ in our brothers and sisters who need to be fed, clothed, sheltered, visited; in the spiritual works of mercy – counsel, instruction, forgiveness, admonishment and prayer – we touch more directly our own sinfulness. The corporal and spiritual works of mercy must never be separated. By touching the flesh of the crucified Jesus in the suffering, sinners can receive the gift of realizing that they too are poor and in need. By taking this path, the “proud”, the “powerful” and the “wealthy” spoken of in the Magnificat can also be embraced and undeservedly loved by the crucified Lord who died and rose for them. This love alone is the answer to that yearning for infinite happiness and love that we think we can satisfy with the idols of knowledge, power and riches. Yet the danger always remains that by a constant refusal to open the doors of their hearts to Christ who knocks on them in the poor, the proud, rich and powerful will end up condemning themselves and plunging into the eternal abyss of solitude which is Hell. The pointed words of Abraham apply to them and to all of us: “They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them” (Lk 16:29). Such attentive listening will best prepare us to celebrate the final victory over sin and death of the Bridegroom, now risen, who desires to purify his Betrothed in expectation of his coming.
As I enter into the second week of Lent, I ask for perseverance to continue to listen attentively and to make this season of fasting one of great abundance.
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