Monastic Mumblings, a Friar's Journey

This Holy Week, forever changed our world

Lent is ending, Holy Week is upon us, the Church seasons are turning, Redemption is right around the corner.

 We approach the end of Lent with the knowledge that we often have not kept our Lenten disciplines as well as we would have liked. I certainly haven't. I have had trouble this year, forgetting some things, focusing on others. Perhaps one of the values in keeping them is not in keeping them perfectly, but there is value in failing at them...that it's at that very point when we've fallen flat on our faces, when we're lying there bruised and breathing in the dirt, that we find ourselves in a place where we can meet the Christ Who fell under the weight of His cross; Who knows what it is like to fall. There is no place in this life, where Our Lord has not been, and is being, beside us.

Julian of Norwich tells us that "..He allows some of us to fall harder and more seriously than we have ever done before, as we imagine. And then we suppose that we are not entirely wise, and that all we have begun is nothing. But this is not so. For it is necessary for us to fall, and it is necessary for us to see it."

If we did not fall, we would not know how feeble and wretched we are of ourselves, nor should we know so fully the marvelous love of our Maker…. We shall see in truth that we never lost any of His love, nor were we ever of less worth in His sight. And by the test of this failure we shall have a noble and marvelous knowing of love in God…

This week, the week that forever changed our world, we walk with Jesus from the highs of Palm Sunday through the shadows of Maundy Thursday, the shock and pain of Good Friday, to the heartbreaking despair of Holy Saturday. But we yet have a great hope; as the Light breaks on Easter Sunday, we will meet Him again, alive, One who knows our falleness, yet still calls us to Him. So we also will know that "things which were cast down are being raised up, and things which had grown old are being made new", and that all things are being brought to their perfection by Him through whom all things were made, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Come with us, walk with Him, this Week that changed our World.

Almighty and everliving God, in Your tender love for the human race You sent Your Son our Savior Jesus Christ to take upon Him our nature, and to suffer death upon the cross, giving us the example of His great humility: Mercifully grant that we may walk in the way of His suffering, and also share in His resurrection; through Jesus Christ our Lord, Who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Feast of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

It has been an interesting conversation recently how social justice has been attacked by certain entertainers and politicians.  Redistributionist, socialist and Marxist, are just a few of the epithets hurled at many of us who seek to serve the poorest in Christ's name. Perhaps one of the problems is the way we read Scripture. The Bible doesn't seem to view us as individuals as much as we may understand ourselves. When God speaks to us via the Apostles and in the Hebrew prophets, it is my understanding that the 'you' He speaks to, is most often 'us' and not a single person necessarily. He speaks to communities and cultures demanding justice for the poor.

Today, as we celebrate the Annunciation, the words of Our Lady come to mind. "He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, and has lifted up the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty."

Sounds a bit redistributionist to me. ;) 

Be that as it may, today, since the Church celebrates the birth of Christ on 25th of December; it is only natural to celebrate the Annunciation nine months earlier, on 25 March.

 Luke tells us how an Angel from God (Gabriel) comes to Mary and tells her that she had been chosen to be the mother of the Christ.  Wow, that never ceases to amaze me how in those few lines how the world changes.  Mary answers the Angel,” Here I am, the handmaid of the Lord. Let it be to me as you have said." In that electric moment of acceptance by Mary, the Incarnation breaks into this world in a way that we just can't totally understand. The Word became flesh.

The Annunciation is some thing to remember and to remind us that Love once came and lived for us and that same Love also died for us.

The Angel of the Lord announced unto Mary.
And she conceived by the Holy Ghost.
And the Word was made flesh,
And dwelt among us.
Pray for us, O holy Mother of God.
That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Pour Your grace into our hearts, O Lord, that we who have known the Incarnation of Your Son Jesus Christ, announced by an angel to the Virgin Mary, may by His cross and passion be brought to the glory of His resurrection; Who lives and reigns with You, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever . Amen.

Sacrament of Confirmation

"Recall then that you have received the Spiritual seal, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of right judgment and courage, the Spirit of knowledge and reverence, the Spirit of holy fear in God's presence. Guard what you have received. God the Father has marked you with His sign; Christ the Lord has confirmed you and has placed His pledge, the Spirit, in your hearts." (St. Ambrose)

The laying on of hands is one of the oldest sacraments of the Church. In the book of Acts the Apostles laid their hands on believers so that they would receive the Holy Spirit. This rite of laying on hands became connected to Baptism, and the two formed one rite. My children were baptized as infants, so the laying on of hands has delayed until an age of maturity (the Church usually considers that to be between the ages of 12 and 16)  to make their own, mature confession of faith. Today my youngest son received the Sacrament, and was filled with the Holy Spirit.  Today, just as in the Early Church, our Bishop placed his hands on my son's head and he prayed for the Holy Spirit to fill him with grace and strength.

This Confirmation was especially poignant to me today. Yesterday my son was in a hit an run accident, right outside his work. He had walked out and a speeding truck rounded the building and hit him. When I got there the police and ambulance crew were there, working him up on a back board.  Seeing my child bloody and strapped to a gurney is something I never, ever want to see again. His injuries were pretty scary looking but in the end, mostly superficial, though he did break two teeth.

It never ceases to amaze me how the Lectionary Scriptures speak into the events of my life.  Today's Gospel was the Prodigal Son, and the father running to greet his son took on much greater meaning to me today, as I had ran to my own son's side yesterday.

By the sacrament of Confirmation, he as a baptized adult is more perfectly bound to the Church and I firmly believe that his life will be enriched with a special strength of the Holy Spirit. He has grown into a good, strong young man in the Faith, and I am proud of him.

Defend, O Lord, Your servant, with Your heavenly grace,
that he may continue Yours for ever, and daily increase in
Your Holy Spirit more and more, until he comes to Your everlasting kingdom.
Amen.