Lent, Day Forty-Two, Tuesday of Passion Week

Lent, Day Forty-Two, Tuesday of Passion Week
Jesus, in whom the fullness of God dwells, has become our home. By making his home in us he allows us to make our home in him. By entering into the intimacy of our innermost self he offers us the opportunity to enter into his own intimacy with God. By choosing us as his preferred dwelling place he invites us to choose him as as our preferred dwelling place. This is the mystery of the incarnation. It is beautifully expressed during the Eucharist when the priest pours a little water into the wine, saying: "By the mingling of this water and wine may we come to share in the divinity of him who humbled himself to share in our humanity."

Henri J.M. Nouwen
Intimacy, Fecundity, and Ectasy in Christian Perspective, pg_

Scripture:
¹ The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
²     He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
³     he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
    for his name’s sake.

⁵ You prepare a table before me
    in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
    my cup overflows.
⁶ Surely your goodness and love will follow me
    all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
    forever.

Psalm 23:1-3, 5-6

PRAYER
Everlasting God, you have offered me an intimate place that I can call "home" where I can rest and be healed. Help me accept this true home, where feelings and emotions can be expressed without censorship. Let this home be a place where it is good to be; a house where love is always present. Amen.

LENTEN ACTION
Remember that the fronds waved in joy by those welcoming Jesus into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday become the ashes of death and dust: the source of the marks that are put on our foreheads at the beginning of Lent. Use this day to examine your own feelings about death. During this week in which Christ faced his death, you may wish to examine your own mortality.

Lent, Day Forty-One, Monday of Passion Week

Lent, Day Forty-One, Monday of Passion Week
We know that it is important to spend time in solitude. We even start looking forward to this strange period of uselessness. This desire for solitude is often the first sign of prayer, the first indication that the presence of God's Spirit no longer remains unnoticed. As we empty ourselves of our many worries, we come to know not only with our mind but also with our heart that we never were really alone, that God's Spirit was with us all along... The pains and struggles we encounter in our solitude thus become a way to hope, because our hope is not based on something that will happen after sufferings are over, but on the real presence of God's healing Spirit in the midst of these sufferings.

Henri J.M. Nouwen
Making All Things New: An Invitation To The Spiritual Life, pg 82

Scripture:

5 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we^[a] have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ² through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we^[b] boast in the hope of the glory of God. ³ Not only so, but we^[c] also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; ⁴ perseverance, character; and character, hope. ⁵ And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

Romans 5:1-5

PRAYER
God of glory, I pray that you will help me build that inner solitude, that secret place of peace, apart from the world, apart from life's pain and struggles. Grant me the spiritual strength to wear the outer world as a loose garment, one that can be quickly shed If my inner life is strong, if it is lived with you, nothing in the world will seriously upset me. As I practice finding this place of silence, let me cherish it as a place to hear your Word and from which to face the world. Amen.

LENTEN ACTION
This day is the time to actively enter into the Passion of Christ. Jesus did not expect his life on earth to go smoothly just because his Father loved him. Just the opposite occurred, out of the Father's great love he sent his only-begotten Son to an ignominious death on the cross for our benefit. Then we must acknowledge that love is not free of pain, hurt, humiliation, and death. Inventory your sins and find true sorrow for the deeds that brought Jesus to this place of crucifixion.

Lent, Day Forty, Passion Sunday

Lent, Day Forty, Passion Sunday
We spend a lot of energy wondering who can be blamed for our own or other people's tragedies--our parents, ourselves, the immigrants, the Jews, the gays, the blacks, the fundamentalists, the Catholics, ...
But Jesus doesn't allow us to solve our own or other people's problems through blame. The challenge he poses is to discern in the midst of our darkness the light of God. In Jesus' vision everything, even the greatest tragedy, can become an occasion in which God's works can be revealed.
How radically new my life would be if I were willing to move beyond blaming to proclaiming the works of God... All humans beings have their tragedies... We seldom have much control over them. But do we choose to live them as occasions to blame, or as occasions to see God at work?

Henri J.M. Nouwen
The Sabbatical Journey, pg 80

Scripture:
As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. ² His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
³ “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. ⁴ As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. ⁵ While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
John 9:1-5

PRAYER
My God and my refuge, strip away my habit of blaming either others or myself-for any big or little tragedies in my life. Challenge me to move beyond the "blame game" and to understand that these misfortunes and setbacks are not under my control. Teach me instead to live through these events and see them as fruitful opportunities for faith and love. Amen.

LENTEN ACTION
Review past episodes of your life when you were determined to blame others for destructive events. Did you finally acknowledge that blaming is a way to avoid seeing God's hand at work in your life? Are you still relying on blame as a "way out" today? If so, in what way?Are there community "scapegoats" who are blamed for disastrous occurrences? How can those whom we set up as scapegoats be exonerated? You may also want to observe the tradition of eating figs on Palm Sunday and decorating your home with pussy willows. Or you may wish to select and address Easter cards.

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The Donkey

By G. K. Chesterton

When fishes flew and forests walked   

   And figs grew upon thorn,   

Some moment when the moon was blood   

   Then surely I was born.

With monstrous head and sickening cry

   And ears like errant wings,   

The devil’s walking parody   

   On all four-footed things.

The tattered outlaw of the earth,

   Of ancient crooked will;

Starve, scourge, deride me: I am dumb,   

   I keep my secret still.

Fools! For I also had my hour;

   One far fierce hour and sweet:   

There was a shout about my ears,

   And palms before my feet. 

Lent, Day Thirty-Nine, Fifth Saturday of Lent

Lent, Day Thirty-Nine,  Fifth Saturday of Lent
Prayer requires that we stand in God's presence with open hands, naked and vulnerable, proclaiming to ourselves and to others that without God we can do nothing. This is difficult in a climate where the predominant counsel is, "Do your best and God will do the rest." When life is divided into "our best" and "God's rest," we have turned prayer into a last resort to be used only when all our own resources are depleted. Then even the Lord has become the victim of our impatience. Discipleship does not mean to use God when we can no longer function ourselves. On the contrary, it means to recognize that we can do nothing at all, but that God can do everything through us.

Henri J.M. Nouwen, DOnald P MacNeil, and DOuglas A. Morrison
Compassion: A Reflection on the Christian Life, pg 78

Scripture:
⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! ⁵ Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. ⁶ Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:4-7

PRAYER
Three-personed God, it truly frightens me to recognize that I am totally dependent on you. I know that my life is not my own, though I arrogantly act as if I am in control On the contrary, it is you who determines my destiny. Ease my worries over my dependency on you, soften my impatience with your plans for me, and help me to acknowledge that you can do all things through me. Amen.

LENTEN ACTION
Place a bowl of water on the dining room table or somewhere else accessible.Before or after meals, or when entering or leavingthe premises, each member of the household can dip a hand in the water in memory of his or her baptism in Christ.

Lent, Day Thirty-Eight, Fifth Friday of Lent

Lent, Day Thirty-Eight, Fifth Friday of Lent
When your life is more and more becoming a prayer, you notice that you are always busy converting yourself and gaining an ever-deeper understanding of your fellow [human beings]. You notice, too, that prayer is the pulse of the world you live-in. If you are really praying, you can't help but have critical questions about the great problems the world is grappling with, and you can't get rid of the idea that a conversion is not only necessary for yourself and your neighbor, but for the entire human community. This conversion of the world means a "turning around" a revolution which can lead to renewal.

Henri J.M. Nouwen
With Open Hands, pg 76

Scripture:
⁸ But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. ⁹ Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices ¹⁰ and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. ¹¹ Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.
Colossians 3:8-11

PRAYER
God forever glorious, grant me the grace to be counted among your chosen ones, those who are beloved by you. Do this for me in spite of my tendency to cling to my old and sinful practices. Help me to turn my life into an ongoing prayer that smoothes the way not only for my own transformation but also for the renewal of the whole human community. Amen.

LENTEN ACTION
Find stories of true personal transformation that also spill over into a conversion for others. Perhaps these stories might come from the lives of the saints, from the history of humanitarian efforts, or from personal witness. Record these stories for your own inspiration and add to them periodically.

Lent, Day Thirty-Seven, Fifth Thursday of Lent

Lent, Day Thirty-Seven, Fifth Thursday of Lent
How do I open my closed hands? Certainly not by violence. Not by a compulsive decision. Perhaps you can find a way to prayer in the words of the angel to the frightened shepherds--Don' be afraid of him who wants to enter your space where you live or to let him see what you are clinging to so anxiously. Don't be afraid to show the clammy coin which will buy so little anyway. Don't be afraid to offer your hate, bitterness, disappointment to him who reveals himself as love. Even if you have little to show, don't be afraid to let it be seen. You keep catching yourself wanting to deceive the other by putting on a semblance of beauty, by holding back everything dirty and spoiled, by clearing a little path that looks very proper. But that is compulsive, forced and artificial.

Henri J.M. Nouwen
With Open Hands, pg 74

Scripture:
¹² I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, ¹³ and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man,^[a] dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest.
¹⁷ When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. ¹⁸ I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.
Revelation 1:12-13, 17-18

PRAYER
God of openness and truth, when I make a clenched hand, let me see it as a symbol of violence and anger. Make my hands open as promises of friendship and love. Open my heart as well so that it is transparent and honest. Let me reveal myself in love and let me no longer rely on the pretense of perfection. Instead, let my sins reveal my humanity. Amen.

LENTEN ACTION
Instead of focusing on the faults of others (which may be mirrors of one's own failings), make a humble assessment of your own acts of greed, selfishness, and unkindness. Make amends to those you have hurt.

Lent, Day Thirty-Six, Fifth Wednesday of Lent-

Lent, Day Thirty-Six, Fifth Wednesday of Lent-
You are Christian only
   so long as you look forward to a new world,
   so long as you constantly pose critical questions to the society you live in,
   so long as you emphasize the need of conversion both for yourself and for the world,
   so long as you in no way let yourself become established in a situation of seeming calm,
   so long as you stay unsatisfied with the status quo and keep saying that a new world is yet to come. 
You are Christian only when you believe that you have a role to play in the realization of this new kingdom, and when you urge everyone you meet with a holy unrest to make haste so that the promise might soon be fulfilled.

Henri J.M. Nouwen
With Open hands, pg 72

Scripture:
 ²² News of this reached the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. ²³ When he arrived and saw what the grace of God had done, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts. ²⁴ He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord.
²⁵ Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, ²⁶ and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.
Acts 11:22-26

PRAYER
Giving and forgiving God, I have called myself your disciple but perhaps this title is truly undeserved. I want to live in comfort even though a life of sacrifice is needed for the world's renewal. I too easily turn a blind eye to injustice and put the oppressed and forgotten into the category of "someday."I hide behind the presumed safety of the status quo, even though you have asked that I work for a new kingdom. Even so, I ask your help to be converted from a member of the present secular society to a willing worker for a new order, and new life, and a new truth. Amen.

LENTEN ACTION
In preparation for Easter, plan to celebrate the sacrament of reconciliation.