Wednesday, 20 February 2013
Lenten Mass
Lenten Mass will take place in the Oratory every Wednesday morning at 8.30a.m. All students and staff are welcome to attend.
LENT
The season of Lent is a
highlight in the Catholic calendar. An opportunity for "spiritual
self improvement", Lent focuses on an increased emphasis on prayer,
fasting and almsgiving.
Lenten Customs
Baptism Is the Key
The key to understanding the meaning of
Lent is simple: Baptism. Preparation for Baptism and for renewing baptismal
commitment lies at the heart of the season.
Why is Baptism so important in our Lenten
understanding? Lent as a 40-day season developed in the fourth century from
three merging sources. The first was the ancient paschal fast that began as a
two-day observance before Easter but was gradually lengthened to 40 days. The
second was the catechumenate as a process of preparation for Baptism, including
an intense period of preparation for the Sacraments of Initiation to be
celebrated at Easter. The third was the Order of Penitents, which was modeled
on the catechumenate and sought a second conversion for those who had fallen
back into serious sin after Baptism. As the catechumens (candidates for
Baptism) entered their final period of preparation for Baptism, the penitents
and the rest of the community accompanied them on their journey and prepared to
renew their baptismal vows at Easter.
Lent, then, is radically baptismal.
Ashes:
Ashes are an
ancient symbol of repentance (sackcloth and ashes). They also remind us of our
mortality ("remember that you are dust") and thus of the day when we
will stand before God and be judged. This can be linked easily to the death and
resurrection motif of Baptism. To prepare well for the day we die, we must die
now to sin and rise to new life in Christ. Being marked with ashes at the
beginning of Lent indicates our recognition of the need for deeper conversion
of our lives during this season of renewal.
Giving something up: For most older Catholics, the
first thought that Lent brings to mind is giving something up. In my childhood,
the standard was to give up sweets, a discipline that found suitable reward in
the huge amount of eggs I received on Easter. Some of my
friends even added to the Easter surplus by saving sweets all through
Lent, stockpiling what they would have eaten had they not promised to give
it up.
A few years ago I urged students
to move beyond giving up sweets to giving up some habit of sin that marked
their lives. About halfway through Lent I asked the students how they were
doing with their Lenten promise. One of the girls had promised to give up
fighting with her brothers and sisters during Lent. When I asked her
how it was going, the girl replied, "I'm doing pretty good,
but I can't wait until Easter!"
That response indicates that this girl
had only partly understood the purpose of Lenten "giving up." Lent is
about conversion, turning our lives more completely over to Christ and his way
of life. That always involves giving up sin in some form. The goal is not just
to abstain from sin for the duration of Lent but to root sin out of our lives
forever. Conversion means leaving behind an old way of living and acting in
order to embrace new life in Christ.
Penance: Lent is the primary time for
celebrating the Sacrament of Penance, because Lent is the season for baptismal
preparation and baptismal renewal. Early Christian teachers called this
sacrament "second Baptism," because it is intended to enable us to
start again to live the baptismal life in its fullness. Those who experience
the loving mercy of God in the Sacrament of Reconciliation should find
themselves standing alongside the newly baptized at Easter filled with great
joy at the new life God has given all of us.
Prayer, fasting and almsgiving: The three traditional pillars of
Lenten observance are prayer, fasting and almsgiving. The key to renewed
appropriation of these practices is to see their link to baptismal renewal.
Prayer: More time given to prayer during Lent
should draw us closer to the Lord. We might pray especially for the grace to
live out our baptismal promises more fully. We might pray for the elect who
will be baptized at Easter and support their conversion journey by our prayer.
We might pray for all those who will celebrate the sacrament of reconciliation
with us during Lent that they will be truly renewed in their baptismal
commitment.
Fasting: Fasting is one of the most
ancient practices linked to Lent. In fact, the paschal fast predates Lent as we
know it. The early Church fasted intensely for two days before the celebration
of the Easter Vigil. This fast was later extended and became a 40-day period of
fasting leading up to Easter. Vatican II called us to renew the observance of
the ancient paschal fast: "...let the paschal fast be kept sacred. Let it
be celebrated everywhere on Good Friday and, where possible, prolonged
throughout Holy Saturday, so that the joys of the Sunday of the Resurrection
may be attained with uplifted and clear mind" (Liturgy, # 110).
Fasting
is more than a means of developing self-control. It is often an aid to prayer,
as the pangs of hunger remind us of our hunger for God. The first reading on
the Friday after Ash Wednesday points out another important dimension of
fasting. The prophet Isaiah insists that fasting without changing our behavior
is not pleasing to God. "This, rather, is the fasting that I wish:
releasing those bound unjustly, untying the thongs of the yoke; setting free the
oppressed, breaking every yoke; sharing your bread with the hungry, sheltering
the oppressed and the homeless; clothing the naked when you see them, and not
turning your back on your own" (Is 58:6-7).
Fasting
should be linked to our concern for those who are forced to fast by their
poverty, those who suffer from the injustices of our economic and political
structures, those who are in need for any reason. Thus fasting, too, is linked
to living out our baptismal promises. By our Baptism, we are charged with the
responsibility of showing Christ's love to the world, especially to those in
need. Fasting can help us realize the suffering that so many people in our
world experience every day, and it should lead us to greater efforts to
alleviate that suffering.
Abstaining
from meat traditionally also linked us to the poor, who could seldom afford
meat for their meals. It can do the same today if we remember the purpose of
abstinence and embrace it as a spiritual link to those whose diets are sparse
and simple. That should be the goal we set for ourselves—a sparse and simple
meal. Avoiding meat while eating lobster misses the whole point!
Almsgiving: It should be obvious at this point that
almsgiving, the third traditional pillar, is linked to our baptismal commitment
in the same way. It is a sign of our care for those in need and an expression
of our gratitude for all that God has given to us. Works of charity and the
promotion of justice are integral elements of the Christian way of life we
began when we were baptized.
Lenten Deeds
Here
is a list of good deeds that you could do during Lent.
Pick
a different deed each day and add others.
1.
Pray for peace
2.
Tidy
your room
3.
Help
at home
4.
Cook
dinner for the family
5.
Be
friendly
6.
Smile
more often
7.
Help
your brother/sister
8.
Listen
more carefully
9.
Be
on time
10.
Say
'thanks' to someone
11.
Do
your homework
12.
Share
your possessions
13.
Pray
for the sick
14.
Be
kind
15.
Don't
complain
16.
Try
to be patient
17.
Wash
your own clothes/dishes
18.
Remember
Mother's Day
19.
Make
a 'Get Well' Card for someone who is sick
20.
Say
your prayers
21.
Give
something away
22.
Tell
someone you are sorry
23.
Help
your parents
24.
Forget
a grudge
25.
Don't
fight
26.
Remember
your Trocaire Box
27.
Mind
the baby
28.
Be
nice to your family
29.
Eat
what you are served
30.
Make
a gift for someone
31.
Go
to Mass
32.
Thank
Jesus for his love
33.
__________________
34.
__________________
35.
__________________
36.
__________________
37.
__________________
38.
__________________
Friday, 1 February 2013
Day 5: Interfaith - We Reach Out
Nostra Aetate – Decree on the Relation of the Church to
non-
Christian religions
‘The Church believes that Christ who is our peace has through
his cross reconciled Jews and
Gentiles and made them one in himself’. (Eph 2:14-16)
We recognise that people belong to different kinds of families
have different coloured skin,
different likes and dislikes, different political opinions and
different experiences of life. So too,
each religion has its own history, set of beliefs, moral code and
acts of worship. The following
chart summarises the main differences between the five major world
religions. Although there
has been a lot of conflict between religions in the past, today
all the major religions are working
to understand one another
better and to build a world where people can live together in peace.
Interfaith dialogue is the term we use to
describe different religions talking to one another.
Interfaith (or interreligious) dialogue is
different from ecumenism because it refers to dialogue
between all of the world religions, not just
the Christian churches.
Catholic Leadership on Interfaith Dialogue
World Day of Prayer Pope John Paul II
During the World Day of Prayer in 2002, Pope John Paul II led two
hundred other religious leaders in
prayers for world peace in Assisi
The members of each community of faith had travelled to Assisi from the Vatican
station in a seven-car train supplied by Italy
use the ‘peace train’ to help all participants of the World Day of
Prayer to feel equal.
Religion Christianity Islam Hinduism Buddhism Judaism
Followers 2100 million 1600 million 900 million 400 million 18 million
Sacred text Bible Qur’an Vedas Tripitaka/ Tanakh
Moral code Two Great Five Pillars Doing good Four Noble Ten
Commandments and meditation Truths Commandment
Place of Church/ Chapel Mosque Mandira Temple
Worship
Building Together Pope
Benedict XVI
A World of Peace and Fraternity
Continuing, then, the work undertaken by my
predecessor, Pope John Paul II, I sincerely pray that
the relations of trust which have developed between
Christians and Muslims over several years, will not
only continue, but will develop further in a spirit
of sincere and respectful dialogue, based on ever
more authentic reciprocal knowledge which, with
joy, recognises the religious values that we have in
common and, with loyalty, respects the differences.
Interreligious and intercultural dialogue is
necessary for building together this world of
peace and fraternity ardently desired by all people
of good will … I am profoundly convinced that in
the current world situation it is imperative that
Christians and Muslims engage with one another
in order to address the numerous challenges that
present themselves to humanity, especially those
concerning the defence and promotion of the
dignity of the human person and the rights ensuing
from that dignity.
Benedict XVI, Address to the Ambassadors of
Countries with a Muslim Majority and the
Representatives of Muslim Communities in Italy
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