As we begin this Lenten season, I thought I would share a few thoughts, but before I get too far, I would like to give a hat tip to a few sources that have helped me prepare for this reflection. Earlier this week, my friend Tom Perna wrote a great reflection on Psalm 41. I’m hoping he will give a similar treatment on Psalm 51 for Ash Wednesday. I found it particularly interesting that as we begin Lent, much focus is brought to our sinfulness, our weakness, that we must also find comfort in that if we will give ourselves fully to God, we will find the joy of salvation, through God’s loving mercy.
Second one is not to a friend (yet, but would like to know him!) is Father Dwight Longenecker, Parish Priest at Our Lady of the Rosary in Greenville, South Carolina. You may have read his blog, but I have found that I would like to add his book, The Gargoyle Code, to my reading list now. It is based on CS Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters¸ and focuses on two gargoyles during Lent, beginning on Shrove Tuesday. That post made me realize that the Enemy is always working against us, and never sleeps, constantly plotting our destruction. Fr Longenecker posted this excerpt today, and I pray he will forgive me for not seeking permission in advance, but I hope that you might find it to be efficacious and certainly poignant as we begin to prepare for the Resurrection of the Lord.
Those of you that attend Mass on Ash Wednesday will see the most peculiar phenomenon: In many cases, the church will be packed to the rafters, even though it is not a Holy Day of Obligation! I have often wondered why people that cannot find their way to any mass on any Sunday will search high and low to find a place to receive ashes on their forehead. Sometimes I wonder if we should not be seeking to get ashes every Sunday, if that would draw them in. This makes me ponder the message of today’s Gospel reading (Mt 6:1-6, 16-18), where Jesus warns us about practicing our piety in order that other men may see it. WOW! So why then, are we going to Mass, and then walking about showing them off all day? Doesn’t this seem to contradict precisely what Christ is telling us? So, I dug a bit, and then of course, I should have just turned to New Advent for the answer! On Ash Wednesday ashes are put on us by the priest to remind US that we are mere mortals, not so we can show off!”
Lent is a time for prayer, fasting and alms giving. We must also be mindful of Christ’s warning to be careful in how we approach this. Do not do it simply for the viewing pleasure of others, seek humility, meekness, and discretion in how you proceed on your Lenten journey. This morning we were all mindful to prepare for today in most ways that it were an ordinary day, teeth were brushed (even by the 12 year old!), clean fresh clothes, I took time to shave, while being mindful that today we are entering into the desert, and pray that with the Father’s mercy, and the Son’s saving grace, we will be a better instrument of the Spirit’s work in the world. We will attend mass this evening, and receive our ashes, and then go home together, strengthened by the graces received in attending mass with our community.
We have of course made some choices in things that we would offer up for Lent, most I will not mention, but the one I will is our choice to offer up the viewing of television during Lent. I was on the fence on this one until yesterday. I said to myself, “Self, you are strong; you can control your television viewing. That silly lady you married is being, well, silly.” Then I read the excerpt from The Gargoyle Code for Shrove Tuesday, and knew that I had to enter into this joyfully, and to provide my family the leadership and loving example we need.
Another goal is to refocus my prayer life, to keep it private as we are reminded by the Lord, but to find intentionality in my prayer. As the spiritual head of my household, I know that if I am not praying well, then my family is not praying well. A speaker at a conference once told us, “Prayer is your relationship with God!” So, if I my prayer life is not what it should be, then it stands to reason that my relationship with God is not what it should be. Let us use this time to strengthen our relationship with God that we might hear Him in the whisper in the wind, and find our place with Him in Heaven.
I am not suggesting that if you are not regularly praying that you should leap into a full Rosary every day! If you can do that, then you will be richly rewarded, but many try this and fail. Years ago, I was told to start off with an Ave and a Glory Be. Then up to a decade of the Rosary, and so on.
Alms giving is a subject that frequently causes many to cringe. But why, I wonder? All things come from God, though we may not recognize it as such. Our time, treasure and talents are from God, we are called to share them, not to hoard them. For what comes of that which we stockpile when we go to our eternal reward? You are dust, and to dust you shall return. At a later time, I will talk about how we plan for our alms giving, our charity. For now, I would remind you to set aside a portion of your time, your talent, and of course, your treasure to return back in gratitude for the life we are given.
So many focus on the “suffering” part of Lent. We should instead focus on the chance this is for us to grow in relationship with Christ, uniting all that we do, all that we are to Him, and especially, yes, to offer up our sufferings in unity with Him on the Cross at Calvary. He alone has borne our sins; He alone could provide us with justification. Only through Christ, the Son, can we find the Father. Only in these times of challenge can we change our lives and convert our hearts that we can properly receive the love intended for us from all eternity.
During this time of Lent, please do not think of it as an arduous task, something to be painstakingly endured and to suffer through. Empty yourself of worldly wants and open your hearts to be receptive of the gift that God so lovingly wants to bestow on all His children. Pray without ceasing, that your relationship with God will never cease, and you will find your life change in ways you could never imagine. Give until it hurts, and then give a little more. All of this, not so your neighbor can marvel at your piety, but that you might be grow in love with Our Lord.
Showing posts with label Jesus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jesus. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Monday, February 7, 2011
Educating our Children, or Who Do You Think You’re Foolin’?
What exactly does it mean to have an education today, or for that matter to be educated? We’ve spent the last week or so discussing things that are right, wrong, and indifferent about how and why our children are educated today. We have the parochial and private school option, the public school option, the charter (quasi public/private) school, and of course, lest we forget, the home school option.
In my own opinion, there is not a great deal of difference today between the private/parochial school and public school options, except for perhaps a religion class tossed in, to be able to identify a school as a teaching arm of the particular flavor of that religion. There are, after all, Christian schools, Catholic schools, Jewish schools, Muslim/Islamic schools, and so on. There are private schools with no outwardly apparent religious agenda, but many times there is an agenda catered to.
Hilaire Belloc wrote in “Survivals and New Arrivals” about attacks upon the Catholic faith coming from nationalized education. He rightly commented that our Faith, indeed any faith, is under attack when subjected to such a system. The reason: a standard is established- to the exclusion of all others. In such a situation, truly one’s faith is put to the test just as certainly as the sun will come up in the morning.
So what do we do? I think that as parents, as primary teachers of our children, we need to be certain that our children know certain things, key among them, of course, being our faith. I happened upon “The Dangerous Book for Boys” recently, and perhaps inspired this piece. The list of topics is too long to repeat, in reading the titles, some are humorous, but all make a point- to be a good boy, you have to be well rounded. Subjects include science, poetry, literature, knot tying, fire lighting, games, history, grammar, even a section on girls (only two pages, but I figure the author is trying to get the lads to pace themselves). Perhaps one of my favorite sections, not to be bested by A brief history of Artillery, was Essential Gear. Please indulge me as I enumerate appropriate “gear” for a boy:
Swiss Army Knife Compass Handkerchief
Box of Matches A shooter (marble) Needle and thread
Pencil and Paper Small flashlight Magnifying glass
Band-aids Fishhooks
Notice a lack of Ipods, Cell phones, laptop computers, big screen televisions? Many of these things I had as a boy, except for probably the Shooter (though my mother reminds me that early on I did play marbles). And I didn’t feel lacking or incomplete. But I wonder that even my own son couldn’t hunt and skin a rabbit.
At the risk of inciting an onslaught of criticism, I quote Robert Heinlein, “A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly.”
I know, I know, many of his other quotes are completely heretical, but I would contend, after conversing with my bride, that Heinlein was a wounded man in many regards. I suspect that if one had suggested to him that many of his thoughts were indeed Catholic, he would have scoffed, and quoted another of his characters, and disparage religion altogether.
In fairness to the ladies, I perused the “Dangerous Book for Girls” and came away wanting. Many of the topics were similar to the boys, but almost saccharine in their approach. I submit there should have been more than one page devoted to boys, but alas, I am not the author, but would contend there is far more to know about us men than would fit on one page of a book guiding young ladies. The girl’s book also boasts its own list of essentials, and I find my approval returning:
Swiss Army Knife Bandana Rope and Twine
Journal and Pencil
w/backup pen Hair band Bungee cord (not for boys?)
Flashlight Compass Safety pins
Duct tape (what???) Deck of Cards A good book
Patience
Now I find my blood boiling (well, not really boiling, but you get my point). Why do the girls get a compass, and the boys don’t? Are we not establishing a stereotype early on that men won’t use it anyway, so why waste it? Duct tape? We all need duct tape. And I can find at least a hundred uses for bungee cords, thank you very much. And how is a boy to learn how to play poker, a section that has SIX WHOLE PAGES devoted to it? Perhaps the cards are a tradeoff for the section devoted to timers and tripwires.
There are any number of things that one can argue effectively are needed to be known in order formulate a proper education. As parents, we draw upon our own experiences and the counsel of those within our circles to discern what is appropriate, and what is not. We can choose to shelter our children from the world and leave them ill-prepared to operate within it. Or we can give them the tools to be what God has intended us to be, as Christ tells us in this Sunday’s Gospel reading, “You are the salt of the earth.” As Fr Oliver Vietor exhorts us in his homily, “Be Salty!”
If we remember Christ telling us the most important commandment, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength,” and the new commandment He gave us, “Love your neighbor as yourself”, then we would do well in teaching our children what it means to be children of God, and to prepare for the eternal kingdom.
In my own opinion, there is not a great deal of difference today between the private/parochial school and public school options, except for perhaps a religion class tossed in, to be able to identify a school as a teaching arm of the particular flavor of that religion. There are, after all, Christian schools, Catholic schools, Jewish schools, Muslim/Islamic schools, and so on. There are private schools with no outwardly apparent religious agenda, but many times there is an agenda catered to.
Hilaire Belloc wrote in “Survivals and New Arrivals” about attacks upon the Catholic faith coming from nationalized education. He rightly commented that our Faith, indeed any faith, is under attack when subjected to such a system. The reason: a standard is established- to the exclusion of all others. In such a situation, truly one’s faith is put to the test just as certainly as the sun will come up in the morning.
So what do we do? I think that as parents, as primary teachers of our children, we need to be certain that our children know certain things, key among them, of course, being our faith. I happened upon “The Dangerous Book for Boys” recently, and perhaps inspired this piece. The list of topics is too long to repeat, in reading the titles, some are humorous, but all make a point- to be a good boy, you have to be well rounded. Subjects include science, poetry, literature, knot tying, fire lighting, games, history, grammar, even a section on girls (only two pages, but I figure the author is trying to get the lads to pace themselves). Perhaps one of my favorite sections, not to be bested by A brief history of Artillery, was Essential Gear. Please indulge me as I enumerate appropriate “gear” for a boy:
Swiss Army Knife Compass Handkerchief
Box of Matches A shooter (marble) Needle and thread
Pencil and Paper Small flashlight Magnifying glass
Band-aids Fishhooks
Notice a lack of Ipods, Cell phones, laptop computers, big screen televisions? Many of these things I had as a boy, except for probably the Shooter (though my mother reminds me that early on I did play marbles). And I didn’t feel lacking or incomplete. But I wonder that even my own son couldn’t hunt and skin a rabbit.
At the risk of inciting an onslaught of criticism, I quote Robert Heinlein, “A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly.”
I know, I know, many of his other quotes are completely heretical, but I would contend, after conversing with my bride, that Heinlein was a wounded man in many regards. I suspect that if one had suggested to him that many of his thoughts were indeed Catholic, he would have scoffed, and quoted another of his characters, and disparage religion altogether.
In fairness to the ladies, I perused the “Dangerous Book for Girls” and came away wanting. Many of the topics were similar to the boys, but almost saccharine in their approach. I submit there should have been more than one page devoted to boys, but alas, I am not the author, but would contend there is far more to know about us men than would fit on one page of a book guiding young ladies. The girl’s book also boasts its own list of essentials, and I find my approval returning:
Swiss Army Knife Bandana Rope and Twine
Journal and Pencil
w/backup pen Hair band Bungee cord (not for boys?)
Flashlight Compass Safety pins
Duct tape (what???) Deck of Cards A good book
Patience
Now I find my blood boiling (well, not really boiling, but you get my point). Why do the girls get a compass, and the boys don’t? Are we not establishing a stereotype early on that men won’t use it anyway, so why waste it? Duct tape? We all need duct tape. And I can find at least a hundred uses for bungee cords, thank you very much. And how is a boy to learn how to play poker, a section that has SIX WHOLE PAGES devoted to it? Perhaps the cards are a tradeoff for the section devoted to timers and tripwires.
There are any number of things that one can argue effectively are needed to be known in order formulate a proper education. As parents, we draw upon our own experiences and the counsel of those within our circles to discern what is appropriate, and what is not. We can choose to shelter our children from the world and leave them ill-prepared to operate within it. Or we can give them the tools to be what God has intended us to be, as Christ tells us in this Sunday’s Gospel reading, “You are the salt of the earth.” As Fr Oliver Vietor exhorts us in his homily, “Be Salty!”
If we remember Christ telling us the most important commandment, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength,” and the new commandment He gave us, “Love your neighbor as yourself”, then we would do well in teaching our children what it means to be children of God, and to prepare for the eternal kingdom.
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