The Gift of Lent

Many of us may be hearing our shepherds, our priests, recalling to our minds that the door to a wonderful journey is soon to open before us. There are mysteries ahead for us, holy joys, glories which may be hidden to our human eyes but graces from Spirit Lord flooding into our souls in such abundance that our spiritual shortsightedness will not dim their splendor.  

We are looking ahead to a powerful and mystical Gift from God: Lent. 

Lent holds the invitation from our Savior to draw close to Him. He wants to prepare our soul to meet the Father, to give meaning to His ocean of suffering on the Cross so that on Easter Sunday morning, He can present our souls to the Father in whatever measure we have allotted to Him. He gratefully takes that measure with great joy and gives us to the Father. 

Lent is a time when God blesses us so that we can recognize our sinfulness. It's a time when we grow in self-knowledge so it is a journey inward. This can only happen in prayer, prayer when it's difficult, prayer when its silence presses in, prayer when we'd rather find a thousand tasks that are suddenly all categorized as emergencies so that we can explain to God that we'll come back in a bit when things are calmer so that we can sit in solitude with Him. And the Lord waits, lovingly grateful for the small measure of time that we eventually give Him because He sees the brilliant beauty that was ordained for us in our glorified state. In His staggering love, we are worth the wait.

Solitary prayer brings us face to face with ourselves and that can bring shame, embarrassment, sorrow, pain. Christ Jesus is in every second of that pain and woundedness, waiting to heal, transform. Meeting Christ where we are is never inconsequential.

He has a mighty purpose in setting out to seek us. He desires to love us into Himself. He desires to make us His equal (St. John of the Cross OCD). Even while we live here on earth. Our Eternity begins today, wherever we are, whomever we're with, whatever we're doing. 

He needs our sins. He longs to absorb them into His wounds so that we no longer bear any scar of sin. He will bear our scars for all eternity for us.

When we feel intimidated at the thought of solitary time in prayer, St. Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face OCD  reminds us that Jesus Lord "sees our anguish, the weight that is oppressing us... He is not far, He is there, very close. He is looking at us and He is begging to take this sorrow, this agony we carry. He needs it for souls, and for our souls" (General Correspondence Vol.1).

In the weeks ahead, Holy Spirit will whisper to us, often. He graciously invites us to stop for even a moment, bend the knee wherever we are, tell Him we love Him even if it's only a loving "glance toward Heaven" (Therese). This small token of our attention and our love gives Him permission to begin to till the soil of our soul, soften it, and when the great journey of Lent begins, our soil will be ready to receive the Lord, to hear Him speak to us, teach us, leave His Fragrance that will entice us to follow wherever He leads us, dialogue with us, transform us. Our Eternity is in progress (St. Elizabeth of the Trinity OCD).

                                                             Our Holy Lent beckons.

ST. THERESE OF THE CHILD JESUS AND THE HOLY FACE CENTENARY YEAR

150 years ago today, January 2, 1873, God gave Thérèse Martin to the world. She was to become  known as His Little Flower, Saint and Doctor of the Church. This day heralds the beginning of this centenary year celebrating the  beatification of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face, Order of Carmel Discalced.

"Who is this Little Flower of God? How could she possibly touch my daily challenges, my relationship with God, my prayer life, my fears, my family hurts, my memories, my joys, my
hopes?

How could she, a French nun who lived over 100 years ago, give meaning to my sufferings today?

We set out together in this short week ahead and we seek to silently observe some aspects of her life and allow her words to draw us into astonishing answers to those seemingly impossible questions we have posed. And we begin with her name which holds mystical depths.

Therese is often called simply, St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus. In this abbreviated form of her name, we recognize her deep love for the innocence, vulnerability, total dependence of our
Savior as Child of Mary. And we are led by St. Thérèse to curl into the arms of Our Mother to allow her to teach us humility, smallness, hiddenness, abandonment. 

Thérèse lived these.

But, as Father John Clarke OCD reminds us, a mutilation of her name leads necessarily to "a mutilation of her message, her entire life... her devotion to the Passion of Christ and her desire to use the merits of Christ to bring salvation to others." 

And so we begin our walk of 7 days, one Petal each day with Thérèse.

On this, our first day of meditation, we ask..."What's in a name? What about your name?"

(Extract from SEVEN PETALS, a seven day retreat into the mysticism and profound spirituality that filled the soul of St Thérèse of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face.)

She pleaded with Our Lord Jesus to call many to win souls for Him until time ends and so to give Our Father delight: 

Theotokos

                            "Marvelous is the mystery proclaimed today: man's nature is made new as God becomes man; he remains what he was and becomes what he was not. Each nature stays distinct and forever undivided." (Liturgy of the Hours, January 1)