Lent - a time of violence!
God, the Father, in his infinite grace and mercy sent his son to Earth to save the mankind, to shed the blood of the new and everlasting covenant to atone our sins, to rescue us from the death which sin brings to our lives (Rom 6: 23) and to become like him, for one day we will reach the fullness of grace, glory and happiness that he holds in heaven.
It turns out that original sin has negatively affected all of humanity and instead of being drawn to God, to Jesus' sacrifice, to seek heaven, holiness and life in abundance he has brought us (John 10:10), we prefer to bind in the earthly things and to live as if God did not exist.
INSPIRED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT, THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH CELEBRATES THE FULLNESS OF THE MYSTERY OF GOD'S LOVE FOR HUMANITY IN THE PERSON OF JESUS CHRIST, THE CENTER OF ALL THINGS, IN ORDER TO CALL OUR ATTENTION TO THE REALITY THAT WE CANNOT LIVE WITHOUT GOD OR AWAY FROM HIS PRESENCE!
Following the cycles of these celebrations, the most important feasts are Christmas, where we relive the mystery of the Savior who is born among us, a child is given for our salvation (Isaiah 9); and Easter that leads us to the mystery of Christ who suffers, is crucified, dead and buried, and resurrects on the third day.
The truth is that God does nothing without a good preparation and because of the fact that the Catholic Church is the only Christian Church whose founder is Jesus Christ himself, everything that the Holy Church does, it does require a preparation. Thus, the Holy Church invites us to live this wonderful period called Advent in preparation for the great celebration of Christmas and also a time of grace in preparation for Easter, called Lent.
What is Lent? Is it really a time of violence? In what sense? Why? What for? What is all of this for the modern world?
Let us begin today by answering the last of the questions first and answering all others in the course of our spiritual direction today.
In his time, the great prophet Isaiah cried out and proclaimed with a prophetic voice the reality of the people who abandoned their Creator and started to live as if he did not exist. The truth that many would no longer hear, he prophesied boldly:
"Listen, you heavens; earth, attend, for Yahweh is speaking, 'I have reared children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me. The ox knows its owner and the donkey its master's crib; Israel does not know, my people do not understand. ' Disaster, sinful nation, people weighed down with guilt, race of wrong-doers, perverted children! They have abandoned Yahweh, despised the Holy One of Israel, they have turned away from him." (Isaiah 1:2-4)
By being used to represent the very own voice of God, the prophet always condemned sin that was and still is the biggest reason of death and misfortune. He, very much like God himself, would always welcome back to his house and his heart with the tenderness love the sinner but still would invite him to change his attitude, to change his life and stop sinning.
"When you stretch out your hands I turn my eyes away. You may multiply your prayers, I shall not be listening. Your hands are covered in blood, wash, make yourselves clean. Take your wrong-doing out of my sight. Cease doing evil. Learn to do good, search for justice, discipline the violent, be just to the orphan, plead for the widow." (Isaiah 1:15-17)
The grace of God would be poured out abundantly and mightily upon all those who would welcome these prophetic words and change their attitudes.
"Come, let us talk this over, says Yahweh. 'Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow; they should be like wool. If you are willing to obey, you should eat the good things of the earth." (Isaiah 1:18-19)
In a similar way, in his days the prophet Ezekiel was raised up by God to cry out the truth, denounce sin and call people to a genuine and truthfully conversion, so that the righteousness of God would be seen because he has no pleasure when a sinner dies, but he wants everyone to convert themselves and change their lives, so that they may have the fullness of life.
"Son of man, say to the House of Israel, "You are continually saying: Our crimes and sins weigh heavily on us; we are wasting away because of them. How are we to go on living?"
Say to them, "As I live -- declares the Lord Yahweh -- I do not take pleasure in the death of the wicked but in the conversion of the wicked who changes his ways and saves his life. Repent, turn back from your evil ways. Why die, House of Israel?" 'Son of man, say to the members of your nation, "The uprightness of an upright person will not save him once he takes to wrong-doing; the wickedness of a wicked person will not ruin him once he renounces his wickedness. No one upright will be able to live on the strength of uprightness, having once taken to sinning. If I say to someone upright: You are to live, and then, trusting in this uprightness, he does wrong, none of the uprightness will be remembered; because of the wrong-doing, he will die. If, however, I say to someone wicked: You are to die, and he turns back from sin and does what is lawful and upright, if he returns pledges, restores what he has stolen, keeps the laws that give life and no longer does wrong, he will live and will not die." (Ezekiel 33:10-15)
The result of the prophecies always depends on how they are welcomed and on the goodwill of the people who listen to it. If you are opened to the grace of God you will have strength to change your life and to live a life rooted by faith, and that means a life that is pleasing to God because without faith it is impossible to please him.
"Now it is impossible to please God without faith, since anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and rewards those who seek him." (Hebrews 11:6)
How faith is generated in our hearts? It is generated by listening to the preaching based on the word of God (Romans 10: 9). But who preaches the word of God and teaches about what God actually wants out of us?
After the creation of the world many men were good and righteous before God. After a while a few people among the mankind were chosen like Noah, Moses, Abraham, etc for a specific duty. There was division of the tasks then and certain people like kings, priests and prophets were in charge of preaching, for they were the only ones who received the Spirit of the Lord at the time.
Then Jesus came, who was the very word of God, the holy word that was made flesh in the womb of the Virgin Mary and became man (John 1). At the Last Supper he wrote his testament instituting the Holy Mass and from the cross he gave his Holy Mother to humanity in the person of John. It was from the same cross where he died, from which flowed the blood and water from his opened heart that he founded his Church: One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic. And it was at Pentecost that his Church began to organize itself and to act in the name of Christ.
NOWADAYS THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IS THE NEW EZEKIEL, THE NEW ISAIAH, IT IS CHRIST IN THE MIDST OF THE MODERN WORLD THAT ONE MORE TIME WANT TO FORGET ABOUT HIS CREATOR, TURN THEIR BACK TO HIM AND LIVE THE LIBERTINE LIFE OF SIN - THE PURELY CARNAL LIFE. NO! WE WERE NOT MADE FOR THAT AND THE CHURCH SHARING CHRIST'S VOICE CRY OUT EVERY YEAR TO THE WORLD THROUGHOUT LENT: CONVERT YOURSELVES! GET BACK TO GOD!!!
Most of us know that "Lent" has this name because it is a mention of the period equivalent to forty days. It is forty days because it is the exact time Jesus spent in the desert, where he was tempted by the devil in preparation for the beginning of his ministry. It also recalls to the period when the people of God led by Moses walked for forty years also in the desert.
Therefore, Lent is a time when the Church invites us to go to the desert and walk the same steps that Christ walked.
"Filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the desert, for forty days being put to the test by the devil. During that time I have nothing at all and at the end I was hungry. Then the devil said to him, 'If you are Son of God, tell this stone to turn into a loaf.' But Jesus replied, 'Scripture says: Human beings live not on bread alone.' Then I will give you all this power and their splendor, for it has been handed over to me, for me. to give it to anyone I choose. From the homage, then, to me, and it shall be all yours. ' But Jesus answered him, 'Scripture says: You must do homage to the Lord your God, he alone you must serve.' Then he led him to Jerusalem and set him on the parapet of the Temple. 'If you are Son of God,' he said to him, 'throw yourself down from here, for scripture says: He has given his angels orders about you, to guard you, and again: They will carry you in their arms in case you trip over a stone. ' But Jesus answered him, 'Scripture says: Do not put the Lord your God to the test.' Having exhausted every way of putting him to the test, the devil left him, until the opportune moment." (Luke 4:1-13)
It is interesting that St. Luke says that the devil departed from him until another time, AFTER HE HAD HIM TRIED IN EVERY WAY. That means these are all the temptations of the evil one that we need to overcome.
In another words, St. John describes what these three temptations are:
"Do not love the world or what is in the world. If anyone does love the world, the love of the Father finds in the place in him, because everything is in the world - disordered bodily desires, disordered desires of the eyes, pride in possession - is not from the Father but from the world. And the world, with all its disordered desires, is passing away. But whoever does the remains of God remains for ever." (1 John 2:15-17)
In another moment we are going to reflect deeply onto this verse from the first letter of Saint John, but for now, we must think about the temptations that Christ suffered.
Firstly the devil tempted Jesus to turn the stones into bread and Jesus was fasting for forty days without eating anything. THIS IS THE CONCUPISCENCE OF THE FLESH! So, to show that he was not a slave of the body's appetites, he refused this evil offering, thus giving us the recipe against the capital sin of greediness - that is FASTING!
This fasting is the first practice we are called to do in Lent by the Mother Church: a genuine fasting in which we learn to have self-control over our body, our actions and our lives, living in a moderate and balanced way.
How to fast? Jesus himself teaches us:
"When you are fasting, do not put on a gloomy look at the hypocrites of: In truth I tell you, they have had their reward. But when you fast, put scent on your head and wash your face, so that no one will know you are fasting except your Father who is all done in secret; and your Father who is all that is done in secret will reward you." (Matthew 6:16-18)
Then the evil one offers Jesus power and glory, that would be given to him if he comes to bow before him. THAT IS THE CONCUPISCENCE OF THE EYES! Jesus was not stupid to the point to come to bow before Satan and worship him in exchange of glory (the way that unfortunately many of us are). Many people, even tough they are within the Church, are so obsessed with power, glory and fame that they accept whatever it takes for them to became famous. Jesus gives us the recipe against the capital sins of pride and vainglory - that is PRAYER!
That is the second practice we are invited to perform during this special period: to intensify our prayers, to be in a much deeper and intimate communion with God, to be more times and constantly at Holy Mass, in prayer with the mysteries of the Holy Rosary, in personal prayer, in reading and meditating about the marvelous Word of God, in a life of intensity seeking the presence of the Lord. If we do this way we will have our eyes healed and will not be so very much attracted by things that displease our Lord.
Jesus, here in this verse below, teaches us the prayer of the Our Father with precious advises:
"Be careful not to parade your uprightness in public to attract attention; otherwise you will lose all reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give alms, do not have it trumpeted before you; this is what the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets to win human admiration. In truth I tell you, they have had their reward. But when you give alms, your left hand must not know what your right is doing; your alms-giving must be secret, and your Father who is all that is done in secret will reward you." (Matthew 6:1-4)
Last Wednesday, in the universal Church, I mean, in every single Catholic Church throughout the world, it is celebrated Ash Wednesday, where each of the faithful receive ashes with which a cross is drawn on their forehead. Such tradition comes from Pope Pius X, who was asked for something important to remember by someone and he said, 'Remember that you are dust, and to dust you will return to it!'
Jesus himself mentions in the Gospel the penance we are called to do: sackcloth and ashes!
"What comparison can I find for this generation? It is like children shouting to each other as they sit in the market place: We played the pipes for you, and you would not dance; we sang dirges, and you would not be mourners. 'For John came, neither eating nor drinking, and they say, "He is possessed." The Son of man came, eating and drinking, and they say, "Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners." Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds. ' Then he began to reproach the towns in which most of his miracles had been worked, because they refused to repent. 'Alas for you, Chorazin! Wings for you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes." (Matthew 11:16-21)
We want to emphasize that the concupiscence is transitory and will go by as the world passes! The temptations which the devil wants us to fall into are there to fool us and bring us to renounce the right of the life, grace, salvation - the life of God in us in exchange for miserable moments of carnal pleasure.
WE HAVE TO COMBAT SIN, THE WORLD, THE EVIL ONE AND ITS TEMPTATIONS WITH THE WEAPONS WHICH CHRIST GIVES US IN THIS PERIOD OF LENT AND IN WHICH THE CHURCH IS UNITED IN PENANCE: FASTING, PRAYER AND ALMS-GIVING. UNITED WE ARE STRONGER AND THIS CALL IS DIRECTED ONLY FOR THOSE WHO ARE VIOLENT OR WANT TO BECOME VIOLENT!
Whoever wants to abandon sin, addictions, bad habits, bodily desires, the disordered desires of the eyes and the pride of life, must take by force his spiritual life, must be violent in renouncing sin, increasing their desire to acquire the virtues and the grace of the Lord. One has to be radical to the extreme to the point of snatching the Kingdom of Heaven and who says this is Jesus himself:
"Since John the Baptist came to this present time, the kingdom of Heaven has been subjected to violence and the violent are taking it by storm." (Matthew 11:12)
We want to invite you to be violent from this moment on and to assume this Lent as you have never assumed before in your life. Make your purposes with God, fast, do your penances, detach yourself from the flesh, let go of material goods and let us together live this wonderful time of preparation for the Lord's Easter, where together we will reach the resurrection after the death and the short period of these forty days through the desert of mortification looking to kill the old man in us and allow the new man live in the violence of union with Christ, for he lives in us (Galatians 2:20).
"Lord Jesus Christ ... At the beginning of Lent, together with your holy and wonderful Church, I want to accept the call to penance, conversion, abandonment of the old life and to assume the new life that comes from your cross. I want to renew the promises of my baptism, renouncing the devil and his temptations. I want to assume in my life the power of your blood and be washed and purified so that I may be renewed from head to toe in body, soul and spirit. Touch me Jesus with your wounds and take away from me the stain the sin left that perverts my ability to love. Come and give me the grace to be what you want me to be. Restore me and bring me to live my vocation.
I renounce now in the name of Jesus to every addiction, every state of conditioning my mind and body to the unbridled passions, to every filth that sin has left in me. Put your hands in my mind and restore in me the pureness of thoughts, Lord. Put your thoughts in me so that I can say with St. Paul that I have in me the mind of Christ.
Renew the deepest feeling in my soul, Holy Spirit of God, and strengthen me so that I do not conform myself to the mentality of the world, with the desires of the flesh. Along with Saint John of the Cross I want to renounce my desires to find what my heart really wishes. Lead me, Spirit of God, onto this one-way path, onto this narrow road, onto that path that leads me to the heart of God.
Virgin Mary, you who was one day that pregnant young woman who has been in haste to serve your cousin, Saint Elizabeth, helps me to serve those who need a word, a hug, an eyesight, a tenderness, an outstretched hand, who needs spiritual or financial help. Give me a pure heart like yours and open my eyes to see the reality of my misery. Mother of God and mine, be my queen and guide my steps in this desert of Lent, so that I may be more like Christ, your son and my Lord.
Father, I now offer you the purposes for this Lent ... (present your intentions to the Lord).
For all the graces that I believe I have received in this time of violence of prayer, I praise, adore, honor and exalt you, God of my life, glorious, holy and wonderful Lord. Blessed be thou for ever. Hallelujah. Amen!"
Let us, each day, renew our purpose of being better and holier in these forty days of Lent. It is a time of grace! It's a time of blessings! It is a time of healing and liberation! It is a time of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, through the cross of Christ! It's a time to better prepare ourselves for how we are going to live the rest of the year! More than New Year's resolutions, 2019 will only be new if it is holy and that is what we really want!
May God bless us and give us the grace to live this Lent in its essence - the violence!
(Adapted from Brazilian Portuguese from my other blog: www.vounessadirecao.blogspot.com)
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