Many of us are familiar with the Salesian phrase “Let us do little things with great love.” At my parish, we made this our Lenten theme. Here is a story of how sometimes the greatest lessons can be taught by the youngest among us...
What I Give You
Eat Fish
Last Friday, I had fish for dinner. It was a Friday during Lent, meaning most Catholics observe the meatless Friday rule by having fish on their dinner menu. Fridays during Lent are one of the few times I eat fish. I don’t like fish, never have, and probably never will but it’s Lent, and I eat fish. I’ve learned to tolerate this annual penance, not happily, but I sit at the table and quietly eat what I don’t enjoy. I do it because it helps me live the spirit of the season.
Eating fish on Lenten Fridays helps me remember that this season is a time for me to discover those things that are less tasteful in my life. Lent is a time to reflect and identify the habits, attitudes and behaviors that prevent me from successfully “living Jesus.” Fish Fridays help me remember the practice of Lent and maintain the spirit and focus of this penitential season.
Linguistically, lent is derived from an old English word meaning springtime. In Latin, “lente” means slowly. Lent points to the coming of spring and invites us to slow down our lives to take stock of ourselves. Saint Francis de Sales preached, wrote and advised many on the spirit of Lent and fasting. Here are some of his encouragements for this season.
Saint Francis wrote that “fasting is not a virtue,” but fasting can lead us to virtue. Paraphrasing Francis in his Introduction to the Devout Life, he encourages us to fast with our whole being. If we have offended God through the eyes, ears, tongue and other senses, why should we not also make them fast? The ears, by depriving them of listening to destructive and cynical talk, only to fill the mind with negative and dark images. The tongue, by avoiding judgmental, offensive, gossipy and negative comments or discussions. “We ought also to cut off useless thoughts, vain memories, superfluous appetites and desires of our will.”
Eating fish on Fridays is not going to save my soul. But, as I abstain from meat on Fridays, it reminds me to abstain from actions, behaviors and attitudes that lead me away from Christ. Lent, in a small way, allows us to imitate Christ’s forty days in the desert. It is a time to let ourselves be unprotected, vulnerable and aware of our sinfulness so that we may turn again to the light leading us to God through the mercy of Christ. Lent invites us to stop eating whatever protects us from facing the desert inside us so we can finally give the angels a chance to feed us.
The need for Lent is in all of us. Without this time, we cannot correctly prepare; hearts open, thirsting and ready for the waters of life and the grace of Easter.
So, Eat Fish!
Father Jack Loughran, OSFS
Provincial
Toledo-Detroit Province
A Salesian Spirituality of Imperfection
As human beings we are more alike than we are different. One characteristic we all share is that each of us, at some point in our lives, has made a mistake and, despite our good will and intentions, will probably continue to make them.
Saint Francis de Sales was aware of this. In fact, he said that the spiritual life itself is comprised largely of mistakes because it is in our mistakes that we realize our own humanity, our own limits, and our need for God. He writes, “We must never be astonished at finding ourselves imperfect…because there is no cure for it.” Saint Francis asks us to acknowledge something we’d often rather avoid; namely, that as humans we are not, and will not be, perfect. Instead, we must ask ourselves how we respond to our mistakes.
Do we:
Take the time to learn from them or dismiss them?
Take responsibility when it is our fault or blame others?
Do we work to correct it or resort to self-pity?
Are we honest and accountable or do we play the victim?
Finally, Saint Francis also reminds us that after every mistake there is one thing we must do: pick ourselves up and continue moving forward as Jesus did when carrying the cross to Calvary. During that walk Jesus was physically battered, emotionally drained, and going through physical upheaval. Yet, after each fall, Jesus picked Himself up and continued going forward and persevered until He reached His destination. How did He do it? First, Jesus was supported through His prayer, His constant communication with the Father who loved Him and was with Him during His suffering. Second, Jesus was supported by His friends who met Him on the way like His mother Mary, Mary Magdalene and the Beloved Disciple, John.
Sometimes we can feel this way too: like we are carrying the weight of the world as we go through our days. And the tools that Jesus used, prayer and friendship, we ought to use too. By prayer we share our most intimate needs, desires, hopes, dreams and fears with God. We ask God to be with us on the way. And in friendship, we become closer to the people who will walk with us during our successes and our mistakes.
When it comes to rising from our mistakes, let’s:
Recognize our mistakes (our imperfections)
Take responsibility for their consequences
Pray & patiently try to change ourselves to avoid making them
Tell others what we are doing
Persevere in making the needed adjustments as we try and try again
As Saint Francis advises, “Perfection consists in fighting against our imperfections…In this enterprise, we must have courage and patience…in this…we are always victorious provided we are willing to fight.” In other words, we fail only when we fall and decide to remain down. We are perfect when we fall and then rise again, trusting in God’s love and mercy, and determined to change and do better.
May God be praised!
Meditation by Oblates in Formation: Frist Sunday of Lent
First Sunday of Lent Lk 4:1-13
Filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the desert for forty days, to be tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and when they were over he was hungry. The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” Jesus answered him, “It is written, one does not live on bread alone.” Then he took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a single instant. The devil said to him, “I shall give to you all this power and glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I may give it to whomever I wish. All this will be yours if you worship me.” Jesus said to him in reply, “It is written: You shall worship the Lord, your God, and him alone shall you serve.”
Salesian Quote
“True devotion consists in a constant, resolute, prompt, and active will to do whatever we know is pleasing to God.”
- Introduction to the Devout Life IV.13
Reflection
In this Sunday’s Gospel, we see Jesus being offered some incredible things of this world. However, he doesn’t have to think about them. He doesn’t need to make a pro/con list or run a cost/benefit analysis. He simply hears what is offered and rejects it. He knows what he is about and to whom he belongs.
Today, as we move about a world filled with temptations for pleasure, power, and wealth, may we always seek to imitate Christ in the way we make our daily decisions, both the great ones and the small ones. Let us pray that we may grow in devotion, always resolute and prompt in doing good. And may we, like our Lord, constantly remember what we are about and to whom we belong.
Craig Irwin, OSFS
Transitional Deacon at Saint John Neumann, Reston, VA
Being Ordained in June
Lent 2022
Next Wednesday Lent begins as it always does, with the imposition of ashes. Why ashes? The Old Testament speaks of three important spiritual attitudes associated with ashes: mortality, repentance, and intercessory prayer.
MORTALITY: Immediately after the Fall, God reminds our first parents that they were created from the earth and “unto dust” they shall return. We Christians believe in the Resurrection. Therefore, for us, death is not a morbid thought at all. Indeed, it prompts us to take life very seriously and to make the very best use of every day and of the present moment of every day. We know that, at death, we will be judged by how well we practiced the double commandment of love, the spirit of the beatitudes, and the spiritual and corporal works of mercy. Lent is a sober reminder that a concrete love of God and neighbor is life’s highest spiritual priority. For this reason, let’s frequently remind ourselves during the days of Lent how we can better love God and neighbor –not in the abstract but in the concrete and nitty-gritty of our daily lives with family, friends, colleagues, enemies, and strangers—and especially with the marginalized and less fortunate.
REPENTANCE: Do any of us need to be reminded that we are sinners? We confess that fact in the penitential rite at the beginning of every Mass and frequently in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Lent is the liturgical season when we take especially seriously the need to undergo whatever conversion of life or of thought or of action is necessary to become the person and the Christian that God calls us to be. For many, repentance may not include so much conversion from sin but a conversion to do the good that we have neglected to do or to forgive the hurt that we have thus far been unwilling or unable to forgive, and so on. Therefore, during these forty days let’s frequently take the state of our heart to God in quiet prayer. Let God heal whatever needs to be healed or forgiven. And let God prompt in us whatever concrete good we still need to do.
INTERCESSORY PRAYER: When her people were threatened with extinction, Queen Esther covered herself in ashes and prayed fervently to God for their deliverance, and her intercessory prayer on their behalf was heard. Let’s pray during this Season for ourselves, for our family and friends, and for our very troubled Church and pandemic-hurting world. Let’s learn to pray as that great woman prayed –with perseverance, humility, and confidence.
Prayer, fasting, almsgiving: these Lenten practices take on a deeper meaning when they are coupled with an appreciation of our mortality, our need for conversion and repentance, and our duty to pray for ourselves, for others, and for our Church and world!
Rev. Lewis S. Fiorelli, OSFS
Provincial
Wilmington-Philadelphia Province
