Lectio Divina March 2013
Respect for Nature. That respect for nature may grow with the awareness that all creation is God's work entrusted to human responsibility.
Clergy. That bishops, priests, and deacons may be tireless messengers of the Gospel to the ends of the earth.
Lectio Divina March - Marzo - Marzo 2013
| Ipad-Iphone | Kindle | ||
| English | download ebook | download ebook | download PDF |
| Español | descargar eBook | descargar ebook | descargar PDF |
| Italiano | download eBook | download eBook | download PDF |
- Friday, March 1, 2013
- Saturday, March 2, 2013
- Sunday, March 3, 2013
- Monday, March 4, 2013
- Tuesday, March 5, 2013
- Wednesday, March 6, 2013
- Thursday, March 7, 2013
- Friday, March 8, 2013
- Saturday, March 9, 2013
- Sunday, March 10, 2013 - 10
- Monday, March 11, 2013
- Tuesday, March 12, 2013
- Wednesday, March 13, 2013
- Thursday, March 14, 2013
- Friday, March 15, 2013
- Saturday, March 16, 2013
- Sunday, March 17, 2013
- Monday, March 18, 2013
- Tuesday, March 19, 2013
- Wednesday, March 20, 2013
- Thursday, March 21, 2013
- Friday, March 22, 2013
- Saturday, March 23, 2013
- Sunday, March 24, 2013
- Monday, March 25, 2013
- Tuesday, March 26, 2013
- Wednesday, March 27, 2013
- Thursday, March 28, 2013
- Friday, March 29, 2013
- Sunday, March 31, 2013
Lectio Divina: Easter of the Resurrection of the Lord (C)
Written byTo see in the night and believe for love
John 20, 1-9
1. Let us invoke the Holy Spirit
Lord Jesus Christ, today Your light shines in us, source of life and joy. Send the Spirit of love and truth, so that, like Mary Magdalene, Peter, and John, we too may discover and interpret the light of the Word,
the signs of Your divine presence in our world. May we welcome these signs in faith that we may always live in the joy of Your presence among us, even when all seems to be shrouded in the darkness of sadness and evil.
2. The Gospel
a) A key to the reading:
For John the Evangelist, the resurrection of Jesus is the decisive moment in the process of His glorification, indissolubly linked with the first phase of this glorification, namely His passion and death.
The event of the resurrection is not described in the spectacular and apocalyptic details of the synoptic Gospels. For John, the life of the Risen One is a reality that asserts itself silently, in the discreet and irresistible power of the Spirit.
The faith of the disciples is announced, "While it was still dark" and begins through the vision of the material signs that recall the Word of God. Jesus is the great protagonist of the story, but He does not appear personally.
b) The text:
On the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they put him.” So Peter and the other disciple went out and came to the tomb. They both ran, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and arrived at the tomb first; he bent down and saw the burial cloths there, but did not go in. When Simon Peter arrived after him, he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there, and the cloth that had covered his head, not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place. Then the other disciple also went in, the one who had arrived at the tomb first, and he saw and believed. For they did not yet understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead.
c) A subdivision of the text for a better understanding:
Verse 1: introduction and events prior to the description of the situation;
Verse 2: Mary’s reaction and the first announcement of the newly discovered fact;
Verses 3-5: the immediate reaction of the disciples and the interaction among them.
Verses 6-7: verification of the event announced by Mary;
Verses 8-9: the faith of the other disciple and its relationship with the Sacred Scriptures.
3. A moment of interior and exterior silence
to open our hearts and make room within for the Word of God:
- A slow re-reading the whole passage;
- I am in the garden: the empty sepulcher is before my eyes;
- I allow Mary Magdalene’s words to echo within me;
- I run with her, Peter and the other disciple;
- I allow myself to be immersed in the joyful wonder of the faith in Jesus Christ, even though, like them, I do not see Him with my bodily eyes.
4. The gift of the Word to us
* Chapter 20 in John: this is quite a fragmented text where it is clear that the editor has intervened several times to put the stress on some themes and to unify the various texts received previously from preceding sources, at least three sources.
* The day after the Sabbath: it is "the first day of the week" and, in Christian circles, inherits the sacredness of the Jewish Sabbath. For Christians it is the first day of the new week, the beginning of the new time, the memorial day of the resurrection called "the day of the Lord" (dies Domini).
Here and in verse 19, the Evangelist adopts an expression that is already traditional for Christians (e.g.: Mk 16:2, 9; Acts 20:7) and is older than the expression that later became characteristic of the first evangelization: "the third day" (e.g.: Lk 24:7, 46; Acts 10:40; 1Cor 15:4).
* Mary Magdalene: This is the same woman as the one present at the foot of the cross with other women (19:25). Here she seems to be alone, but the words in verse 2 ("we do not know") show that the original story, worked on by the Evangelist, told of more women, as is true of the other Gospels (cf. Mk 16:1-3; Mt 28:1; Lk 23:55-24,1).
The synoptic gospels (cf. Mk 16:1; Lk 24:1) do not specify the reason for her visit to the sepulcher, seeing that it inferred that the rite of burial had already been carried out (19:40); perhaps, the only thing missing is the funereal lamentation (cf. Mk 5:38). In any case, the fourth Evangelist reduces to a minimum the story of the discovery of the empty sepulcher so as to focus the attention of the reader on what comes after.
* Early, while it was still dark: Mark (16:2) says something different, but from both we understand that it was the very early hours of the morning, when the light is very weak and still pale. Perhaps John stresses the lack of light in order to contrast symbolically the darkness-lack of faith and light-welcoming of the Gospel of the resurrection.
* The stone had been taken away from the tomb: the Greek work is generic: the stone had been "taken away" or "removed" (different from Mk 16:3-4).
The verb to "take away" recalls Jn 1:29: the Baptist points Jesus out as " Lamb who takes away the sin of the world". Perhaps the Evangelist wishes to recall the fact that this stone "taken away", flung away from the sepulcher is the material sign that death and sin have been "taken away" by the resurrection of Jesus? It also describes a larger event, the moving of the stone, which would otherwise be lost on the reader. For anyone who has moved even landscape stones in the garden, it is obvious that stone is heavy and takes more than one person to move a stone of any real size, especially one that would cover a sepulcher. The moved stone signifies something important has happened here, even before entering.
* So she ran and went to Peter and the other disciple: Mary Magdalene runs to those who share her love for Jesus and her suffering for His atrocious death, now made worse by this new discovery. She turns to them, perhaps because they were the only ones who had not run away with the others and had remained in contact with each other (cf. 19:15, 26-27 ). She wants to at least share with them this final pain of the outrage committed against the body.
We see how Peter and the "beloved disciple" and Magdalene are characterized by a special love that unites them with Jesus: it is indeed reciprocal love that makes them capable of sensing the presence of the loved person.
* The other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved: is someone who appears only in this Gospel and only beginning with chapter 13, when he exhibits great intimacy with Jesus and deep understanding with Peter (13:23-25). He appears at every decisive moment of the passion and of the resurrection of Jesus, but remains anonymous and many theories have been advanced on his identity. He is probably the anonymous disciple of the Baptist who follows Jesus together with Andrew (1:35.40). Since the fourth Gospel never speaks of John the apostle, and keeping in mind that this Gospel recounts details clearly known to an eyewitness, the "disciple" has been identified with John the apostle. The fourth Gospel has always been attributed to him even though he may not have materially written it, yet the origin of this particular tradition is that this Gospel and other writings are attributed to John. This also explains why he is someone who is somewhat idealized.
"The one whom Jesus loved": It is clear that this is an addition not from the apostle, who would not have dared boast of having such a close relationship with the Lord, but from his disciples who wrote most of the Gospel and who coined this expression after reflection on the clearly privileged love between Jesus and him (cf. 13:25; 21:4,7). Where we read the simpler expression "the other disciple" or "the disciple", obviously the editors did not make the addition.
* They have taken the Lord out of the tomb: these words, which recur in verses 13 and 15, show that Mary was afraid that body-snatchers had taken the body, a thing common then, so much so that the Roman Emperor had to promulgate severe decrees to check this phenomenon. In Matthew (28:11-15), the chief priests use this possibility to discredit the fact of the resurrection of Jesus and, eventually, to justify the lack of intervention on the part of the soldiers who guarded the tomb.
* The Lord: the title "Lord" implies an acknowledgment of divinity and evokes divine omnipotence. That is why this term was used by Christians for the risen Jesus. Indeed, the fourth Evangelist uses this term only in Paschal stories (see also 20:13).
* We do not know where they have laid Him: these words recall what happened to Moses, whose place of burial was unknown (Deut 34:10). Another implicit reference is to the words of Jesus Himself when He says that it is impossible to know where He was going (7:11, 22; 8:14, 28, 42; 13:33; 14:1-5; 16:5).
* They both ran, but the other disciple outran Peter…but he did not go in: This passage shows the anxiety that these disciples were living through.
The fact that the "other disciple" stopped, is more than just a gesture of politeness or respect towards someone older, it is the tacit acknowledgment that Peter, within the apostolic group, held a place of pre-eminence, even though this is not stressed. It is, therefore, a sign of communion. This gesture could also be a literary device to move from the event in terms of faith in the resurrection to the following and peak moment in the story.
* The linen cloths lying and the napkin…rolled up in a place by itself: although the other disciple did not go in, he had already seen something. Peter, crossing the entrance of the sepulcher, discovers the proof that no theft of the body took place: no thief would have wasted time to unfold the body, spread the cloths in an orderly fashion (on the ground would be translated better by "spread out" or "laid carefully on the floor") and then to roll up the napkin in a place by itself. Such an operation would have also been complicated because the oils with which the body had been anointed (especially myrrh) acted like glue, causing the cloths to stick perfectly and solidly to the body, similar to what happened to mummies. Besides, the napkin is folded; the Greek verb can also mean "rolled", or it could indicate that that piece of light cloth had, in large part, preserved the form of the face over which it had been placed, almost like a mortuary mask. The cloths are the same as those cited in Jn 19:40.
Everything is in order in the sepulcher, even though the body of Jesus is not there, and Peter was well able to see inside the sepulcher because the day was breaking. Different from Lazarus (11:44) then, Christ rises, completely abandoning his funerary trappings. Ancient commentators note that, in fact, Lazarus had to use the cloths again for his definitive burial, while Christ had no further use of them because he was not to die again (cf. Rom 6:9).
* Peter…saw…the other disciple…saw and believed: at the beginning of the story, Mary also "saw". Although some translations use the same verb, the original text uses three different verbs (theorein for Peter; blepein for the other disciple and Mary Magdalene; idein, here, for the other disciple), allowing us to understand that there is a growth in the spiritual depth of this "seeing" that, in fact, culminates in the faith of the other disciple.
The anonymous disciple had certainly not seen anything other than what Peter had observed. Perhaps he interprets what he sees differently from others because of the special relationship of love he had with Jesus (Thomas’ experience is emblematic, 29: 24-29). In any case, as indicated by the tense of the Greek verb, his is still an initial faith, so much so that he cannot find ways of sharing this experience with Mary or Peter or any of the other disciples. (There is no further reference to this).
However, for the fourth Evangelist, the double "see and believe" is quite meaningful and refers exclusively to faith in the resurrection (cf. 20:29), because it was impossible to truly believe before the Lord had died and rose (cf. 14:25-26; 16:12-15). The double vision-faith, then, characterizes the whole of this chapter and "the beloved disciple" is presented as a model of faith who succeeds in understanding the truth about God through material (cf. 21:7).
* As yet they did not know the Scripture: this obviously refers to all the other disciples. Even for those who had lived close to Jesus, then, it was difficult to believe in Him, and for them, as for us also, the only gateway that allows us to cross the threshold of authentic faith is knowledge of the Scriptures (cf. Lk 24:26-27; 1Cor 15:34; Acts 2: 27-31) in the light of the events of the resurrection.
5. A few questions to direct our reflection and its practice
a) What, in the concrete, does it mean for us "to believe in Jesus the Risen One"? What difficulties do we encounter? Does the resurrection solely concern Jesus or is it really the foundation of our faith?
b) The relationship that we see among Peter, the other disciple and Mary Magdalene is clearly one of great communion in Jesus. In what persons, realities, institutions do we find this same understanding of love and the same "common union" founded on Jesus today? Where can we read the concrete signs of the great love for the Lord and "His own" that inspired all the disciples?
c) When we look at our lives and the reality that surrounds them, both near and far, do we see as Peter saw (he saw reality, but holds on to them to the death and burial of Jesus) or do we see as the other disciple saw (he saw facts and discovers in them signs of new life)?
6. Let us pray asking for grace and praising God
With a hymn taken from the letter of Paul to the Ephesians (paraphrase of 1:17-23).
The God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory,
may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation
in the knowledge of Him,
having the eyes of your hearts enlightened,
that you may know what is the hope to which He has called you,
what are the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints,
and what is the immeasurable greatness of His power
in us who believe, according to the working of His great might
which He accomplished in Christ when He raised Him from the dead
and made Him sit at His right hand in the heavenly places,
far above all rule and authority and power and dominion,
and above every name that is named,
not only in this age but also in that which is to come;
and He has put all things under His feet
and has made Him the head over all things for the church,
which is His body,
the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
7. Closing prayer
The liturgical context is of great importance in praying this Gospel and the event of the resurrection of Jesus, which is the hub of our faith and of our Christian life. The sequence that characterizes the Eucharistic liturgy of today and of the whole week leads us to praise the Father and the Lord Jesus.
Christians, to the Paschal Victim
Offer sacrifice and praise.
The sheep are ransomed by the Lamb;
and Christ, the undefiled
has sinners to His Father reconciled.
Death with life contended:
Combat strangely ended!
Life’s own Champion, slain,
Yet lives to reign.
Tell us Mary;
say what you see upon the way.
The tomb the living did enclose;
I saw Christ’s glory as He rose!
The angels there attesting;
Shroud with grave-clothes resting.
Christ, my hope, has risen:
He goes before you into Galilee.
That Christ is truly risen from the dead
we know.
Victorious King,
Your mercy show.
We may conclude our prayer also with this lively invocation by a contemporary poet, Marco Guzzi:
Love, Love, Love!
I wish to feel, live and express all this Love,
Which is a joyful commitment in the world
and a happy contact with others.
Only You free me, only You release me.
And the snows fall to water
the greenest of valleys in creation.
By Michelle Laviola, Joliet Catholic Academy
Evangelization is the process which seeks to spread the Gospel and the teachings of the gospel throughout the world. Jesus instructed his followers to go out and spread the Good News. As Catholics, this duty is required for us to develop an intimate and meaningful relationship with Christ. Though this task may seem somewhat impossible, many religious orders, such as the Carmelites, help educate us on how to promote the gospel to others. Unlike most religious orders, the Carmelites do not have a founder. The original order consisted of hermits who dedicated their life to God while residing on top of Mount Carmel. Without a founder, the Carmelites look to great figures in the Catholic Church such as Elijah and Mary for inspiration. This also means that God's founding gift, or charism, to the order is not found in a particular person, but within the community. The Carmelite charism consists of several different elements; the main one being contemplation, or a quiet meditative form of prayer. Contemplation helps the Carmelites develop a very• close relationship with the Father. They can now minimize the distractions from the outside world while in turn asking God to support the needs of the world through their prayer. Some Carmelites follow their vocations and become teachers of prayer or spiritual directors. Through these positions, Carmelite priests and nuns can expand their knowledge of the gospel and help promote evangelization amongst parishioners, and even the students that they teach.
Carmelite do more than solely dedicate their lives to God; they dedicate their lives to spreading God's moral teachings to those in need of His grace. The Carmelite as a whole are very involved with communities through-out the world. Members of the Order educate their followers on a firsthand basis. Many provinces of the Carmelite Order have opened up schools or parishes in which they can further expand their instruction of the faith. To have a strong bond with Christ, we must not only know his teachings, but also make known his teachings. This means that to prove our discipleship to God, we must send forth his good news to the world. Again, to many this may seem like a daunting task. However, God does not expect his followers to go to extraordinary means to proclaim his word. Oftentimes, it is the everyday deeds that reveal God in us all. Anytime God's love is present becomes an astonishing moment. The Carmelites are a perfect example of how ordinary people can perform extraordinary deeds wilt God's guidance. The simple act of providing a Carmelite education can change the world forever. Their students not only are educated on typical school subjects, but also on morals and God's teachings. Carmelite religion classes allow students to think at a more aesthetic perspective. Unlike math, English, or science classes, a religion class teaches students lifelong lessons that can be applied immediately to almost any situation. Carmelite teachings open up students' eyes to God's grace in the world. The lessons that the Carmelites offer are considered very valuable by most of their students. Though it may not seem like it at the time, a Carmelite education changes one's life for good. For some, it may take only a few days to realize that they should continue to pass on the values that they were taught. For others, it may take years. No matter how long it takes for someone to come to terms with their faith, the Carmelites have indeed touched another life and promoted evangelization throughout the world.
I personally have had the privilege of receiving a Carmelite education. Like with many others, it truly has changed my life. I have enjoyed exploring my faith and learning about all that God has to offer. My Carmelite education has inspired me to promote evangelization throughout my community Since starting my education at Joliet Catholic, I have decided to volunteer to try to teach others about the gospel. One of my most enjoyable opportunities was working a retreat for First Communicants to prepare them for the Sacrament of the Eucharist. It was such an amazing experience to educate the children about how sacred receiving Christ's Body and Blood really is. I loved seeing them start to comprehend how great God's love for us is, and helping them understand all that He has sacrificed for us. Even at school I help promote evangelization to my fellow students. I love discussing my faith with my religion teachers and often volunteer to lead prayer and retreats so I can help inform my peers about God's teachings.
The Carmelite Order truly has made a difference in our world today. Even amongst the modernization of our lives, the Order helps remind Jesus' disciples about the importance of our faith and our relationship with our Father. Carmelites not only teach us about our Catholic beliefs, but also how to spread them to others. I am very proud to have been brought up on Carmelite teachings and I plan to hold them and promote them both now and later on in my life.
* from Carmelite Review: Volume 51, Number 2 - Spring / Summer 2012
* Photo: Joliet Catholic Academy’s March For Life
BENEDICTUS PP. XVI
"Believing in charity calls forth charity"
“We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us” (1 Jn 4:16)
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
The celebration of Lent, in the context of the Year of Faith, offers us a valuable opportunity to meditate on the relationship between faith and charity: between believing in God – the God of Jesus Christ – and love, which is the fruit of the Holy Spirit and which guides us on the path of devotion to God and others.
1. Faith as a response to the love of God
In my first Encyclical, I offered some thoughts on the close relationship between the theological virtues of faith and charity. Setting out from Saint John’s fundamental assertion: “We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us” (1 Jn 4:16), I observed that “being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction … Since God has first loved us (cf. 1 Jn 4:10), love is now no longer a mere ‘command’; it is the response to the gift of love with which God draws near to us” (Deus Caritas Est, 1). Faith is this personal adherence – which involves all our faculties – to the revelation of God’s gratuitous and “passionate” love for us, fully revealed in Jesus Christ. The encounter with God who is Love engages not only the heart but also the intellect: “Acknowledgement of the living God is one path towards love, and the ‘yes’ of our will to his will unites our intellect, will and sentiments in the all-embracing act of love. But this process is always open-ended; love is never ‘finished’ and complete” (ibid., 17). Hence, for all Christians, and especially for “charity workers”, there is a need for faith, for “that encounter with God in Christ which awakens their love and opens their spirits to others. As a result, love of neighbour will no longer be for them a commandment imposed, so to speak, from without, but a consequence deriving from their faith, a faith which becomes active through love” (ibid., 31a). Christians are people who have been conquered by Christ’s love and accordingly, under the influence of that love – “Caritas Christi urget nos” (2 Cor 5:14) – they are profoundly open to loving their neighbour in concrete ways (cf. ibid., 33). This attitude arises primarily from the consciousness of being loved, forgiven, and even served by the Lord, who bends down to wash the feet of the Apostles and offers himself on the Cross to draw humanity into God’s love.
“Faith tells us that God has given his Son for our sakes and gives us the victorious certainty that it is really true: God is love! … Faith, which sees the love of God revealed in the pierced heart of Jesus on the Cross, gives rise to love. Love is the light – and in the end, the only light – that can always illuminate a world grown dim and give us the courage needed to keep living and working” (ibid., 39). All this helps us to understand that the principal distinguishing mark of Christians is precisely “love grounded in and shaped by faith” (ibid., 7).
2. Charity as life in faith
The entire Christian life is a response to God’s love. The first response is precisely faith as the acceptance, filled with wonder and gratitude, of the unprecedented divine initiative that precedes us and summons us. And the “yes” of faith marks the beginning of a radiant story of friendship with the Lord, which fills and gives full meaning to our whole life. But it is not enough for God that we simply accept his gratuitous love. Not only does he love us, but he wants to draw us to himself, to transform us in such a profound way as to bring us to say with Saint Paul: “it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (cf. Gal 2:20).
When we make room for the love of God, then we become like him, sharing in his own charity. If we open ourselves to his love, we allow him to live in us and to bring us to love with him, in him and like him; only then does our faith become truly “active through love” (Gal 5:6); only then does he abide in us (cf. 1 Jn 4:12).
Faith is knowing the truth and adhering to it (cf. 1 Tim 2:4); charity is “walking” in the truth (cf. Eph 4:15). Through faith we enter into friendship with the Lord, through charity this friendship is lived and cultivated (cf. Jn 15:14ff). Faith causes us to embrace the commandment of our Lord and Master; charity gives us the happiness of putting it into practice (cf. Jn 13:13-17). In faith we are begotten as children of God (cf. Jn 1:12ff); charity causes us to persevere concretely in our divine sonship, bearing the fruit of the Holy Spirit (cf. Gal 5:22). Faith enables us to recognize the gifts that the good and generous God has entrusted to us; charity makes them fruitful (cf. Mt 25:14-30).
3. The indissoluble interrelation of faith and charity
In light of the above, it is clear that we can never separate, let alone oppose, faith and charity. These two theological virtues are intimately linked, and it is misleading to posit a contrast or “dialectic” between them. On the one hand, it would be too one-sided to place a strong emphasis on the priority and decisiveness of faith and to undervalue and almost despise concrete works of charity, reducing them to a vague humanitarianism. On the other hand, though, it is equally unhelpful to overstate the primacy of charity and the activity it generates, as if works could take the place of faith. For a healthy spiritual life, it is necessary to avoid both fideism and moral activism.
The Christian life consists in continuously scaling the mountain to meet God and then coming back down, bearing the love and strength drawn from him, so as to serve our brothers and sisters with God’s own love. In sacred Scripture, we see how the zeal of the Apostles to proclaim the Gospel and awaken people’s faith is closely related to their charitable concern to be of service to the poor (cf. Acts 6:1-4). In the Church, contemplation and action, symbolized in some way by the Gospel figures of Mary and Martha, have to coexist and complement each other (cf. Lk 10:38-42). The relationship with God must always be the priority, and any true sharing of goods, in the spirit of the Gospel, must be rooted in faith (cf. General Audience, 25 April 2012). Sometimes we tend, in fact, to reduce the term “charity” to solidarity or simply humanitarian aid. It is important, however, to remember that the greatest work of charity is evangelization, which is the “ministry of the word”. There is no action more beneficial – and therefore more charitable – towards one’s neighbour than to break the bread of the word of God, to share with him the Good News of the Gospel, to introduce him to a relationship with God: evangelization is the highest and the most integral promotion of the human person. As the Servant of God Pope Paul VI wrote in the Encyclical Populorum Progressio, the proclamation of Christ is the first and principal contributor to development (cf. n. 16). It is the primordial truth of the love of God for us, lived and proclaimed, that opens our lives to receive this love and makes possible the integral development of humanity and of every man (cf. Caritas in Veritate, 8).
Essentially, everything proceeds from Love and tends towards Love. God’s gratuitous love is made known to us through the proclamation of the Gospel. If we welcome it with faith, we receive the first and indispensable contact with the Divine, capable of making us “fall in love with Love”, and then we dwell within this Love, we grow in it and we joyfully communicate it to others.
Concerning the relationship between faith and works of charity, there is a passage in the Letter to the Ephesians which provides perhaps the best account of the link between the two: “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God; not because of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (2:8-10). It can be seen here that the entire redemptive initiative comes from God, from his grace, from his forgiveness received in faith; but this initiative, far from limiting our freedom and our responsibility, is actually what makes them authentic and directs them towards works of charity. These are not primarily the result of human effort, in which to take pride, but they are born of faith and they flow from the grace that God gives in abundance. Faith without works is like a tree without fruit: the two virtues imply one another. Lent invites us, through the traditional practices of the Christian life, to nourish our faith by careful and extended listening to the word of God and by receiving the sacraments, and at the same time to grow in charity and in love for God and neighbour, not least through the specific practices of fasting, penance and almsgiving.
4. Priority of faith, primacy of charity
Like any gift of God, faith and charity have their origin in the action of one and the same Holy Spirit (cf. 1 Cor 13), the Spirit within us that cries out “Abba, Father” (Gal 4:6), and makes us say: “Jesus is Lord!” (1 Cor 12:3) and “Maranatha!” (1 Cor 16:22; Rev 22:20).
Faith, as gift and response, causes us to know the truth of Christ as Love incarnate and crucified, as full and perfect obedience to the Father’s will and infinite divine mercy towards neighbour; faith implants in hearts and minds the firm conviction that only this Love is able to conquer evil and death. Faith invites us to look towards the future with the virtue of hope, in the confident expectation that the victory of Christ’s love will come to its fullness. For its part, charity ushers us into the love of God manifested in Christ and joins us in a personal and existential way to the total and unconditional self-giving of Jesus to the Father and to his brothers and sisters. By filling our hearts with his love, the Holy Spirit makes us sharers in Jesus’ filial devotion to God and fraternal devotion to every man (cf. Rom 5:5).
The relationship between these two virtues resembles that between the two fundamental sacraments of the Church: Baptism and Eucharist. Baptism (sacramentum fidei) precedes the Eucharist (sacramentum caritatis), but is ordered to it, the Eucharist being the fullness of the Christian journey. In a similar way, faith precedes charity, but faith is genuine only if crowned by charity. Everything begins from the humble acceptance of faith (“knowing that one is loved by God”), but has to arrive at the truth of charity (“knowing how to love God and neighbour”), which remains for ever, as the fulfilment of all the virtues (cf. 1 Cor 13:13).
Dear brothers and sisters, in this season of Lent, as we prepare to celebrate the event of the Cross and Resurrection – in which the love of God redeemed the world and shone its light upon history – I express my wish that all of you may spend this precious time rekindling your faith in Jesus Christ, so as to enter with him into the dynamic of love for the Father and for every brother and sister that we encounter in our lives. For this intention, I raise my prayer to God, and I invoke the Lord’s blessing upon each individual and upon every community!
From the Vatican, 15 October 2012
BENEDICTUS PP. XVI
© Copyright 2012 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana
On Sunday the 3rd of February, 2013 a Mass of Thanksgiving was celebrated for the four hundred years of existence of the community of Carmelite nuns in the Monastery of Nuestra Senora de las Maravillas in Madrid. The solemn liturgy was led by the Prior General, Fr. Fernando Millan Romeral, O.Carm., assisted by the priors provincial of Castile and Aragon and Valencia, Frs. Miguel Angel Perez, O.Carm., and Luis Gallardo Ganuza, O.Carm., along with a number of other Carmelite friars. The Superiors General of the two Spanish congregations of Carmelite women, the Hermanas de la Virgen Maria del Monte Carmelo (HVMMC) and the Carmelitas del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús (HCSCJ) were also present with a number of their sisters and various groups of lay Carmelites. In his homily, the Prior General, on behalf of the Order, expressed his gratitude to this community for its fidelity to Carmel and to the Church, throughout these four hundred years, at times in very difficult circumstances, and for its very generous contribution to the founding of communities of Carmelite contemplatives in the Philippines and in the Dominican Republic.
On the occasion of this 4th Centenary the community published a book that contains the history of the Monastery, written by Sr. Maria Magdalena Carretero, O.Carm., and put together a programme of events that will take place throughout the year.
Sr. Vilma Seelaus
GOSPEL
JESUS SAID TO HIS DISCIPLES:
“The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised.”
Then he said to all, “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. What profit is there for one to gain the whole world yet lose or forfeit himself?”
LUKE 9: 22-25
BLESSED ELIZABETH OF THE TRINITY
At the age of twenty Blessed Elizabeth wrote:
“My God, in union with Jesus crucified, I offer myself as a victim. I desire the cross as my strength and support, and wish to live with it, that it may be my treasure since Jesus chose it for my sake. . . . My Savior, I desire to return Thee love for love, blood for blood. Thou didst die for me, therefore I will daily endure fresh sufferings for Thee; every day shall bring me some fresh martyrdom because of my deep love for Thee.”
The Praise of Glory, 47
REFLECTION
Blessed Elizabeth’s passion for suffering was for her a fitting expression of her love. It reflected the attitude toward suffering common to her times. Trials were seen as an opportunity to expiate one’s sins and those of the world, but above all as an opportunity to grow in love. Trials were also considered a proof of God’s love. They were sent to special persons so God could reward them afterwards. Jesus was seen as the great example. By embracing the cross, He reconciled the world to His Father. In a less medically advanced era suffering was a fate to be endured. Elizabeth’s desire for suffering was not motivated by hidden masochism but rather was animated by love, along the desire to overcome egoism through self-sacrificing love.
Out of love, Jesus surrendered to the condition of our human, finite fragility and to the disorder of sin that eventually led to His suffering and death on a cross. God’s love for humankind, for each one of us, is at the heart of this mystery of our redemption. Pray for the grace that when the sufferings of life come your way that you may see them as windows of opportunity to mature in love and compassion for others in their sufferings and come to a deeper appreciation of Christ’s love and care for you.
As you reflect on the words of Jesus in today’s Gospel in the light of Blessed Elizabeth’s ardent desire to suffer with Jesus, ask myself: What is my attitude toward the sufferings each day inevitable brings? Does even the slightest pain plunge me into feelings of self-pity as I reach for a bottle of pain relievers? Does preoccupation with myself in my difficult moments leave me uncaring and indifferent toward the needs of others?
PRAYER
Jesus, in spite of recoiling in the face of suffering and inevitable death, impelled by the force of love, you said in prayer, “Not my will but Thine be done.” When life’s sufferings overwhelm me help me to find peace in uniting myself with You. Give me the courage to take up the cross in the many forms it comes to me and to those I love. I hold before you the world’s sufferings: physical pain, difficulty in relationships and between nations, struggles in family life, economic loss, world hunger, separation from loved ones through war, and the any other forms of human pain. United with you may your love draw me, with all who suffer, into quiet mindfulness of Your abiding presence, the source of strength and inner peace. In your name I pray. Amen.
More...
Những kinh nghiệm sống đức tin của nhiều giáo dân sẽ giúp các linh mục tu sĩ hiểu thêm về linh đạo của họ vì chỉ có giáo dân mới có thể chỉ ra được linh đạo của chính mình. Xin quí vị để ra vài phút để trả lời những câu hỏi dưới đây, về kinh nghiệm đời sống đức tin của mình. Phúc đáp của quí vị sẽ giúp chúng tôi hiểu rõ hơn quí vị qua đó chúng tôi có thể giúp quí vị tốt hơn trong đời sống đức tin.
Nếu cảm thấy ngại, Quí vị không cần để tên và địa chỉ email...
The Elective Chapter of the Carmelite Monastery of Vetralla, Italy, was held 11 February 2013. The following were elected:
- Prioress: Sr. Marianna Caprio, O.Carm.
- 1st Councilor: Sr. M. Benedetta Succu, O.Carm.
- 2nd Councilor: Sr. M. Teresa Nguyen, O.Carm.
- 3rd Councilor: Sr. M. Rita Gugliara, O.Carm.
- 4th Couniclor: Sr. M. Pia Sammut, O.Carm.
- Director of Novices: Sr. M. Sabina Berneschi, O.Carm.
- Treasurer: Sr. M. Františka Bártoková, O.Carm.
- Sacristan: Sr. M. Teresa Nguyen, O.Carm.
The Elective Chapter of the Carmelite Monastery of Sutri, Italy, was held 11 February 2013. The following were elected:
- Prioress: Sr. M. Daniela Solustri, O.Carm.
- 1st Councilor: Sr. M. Martina Simeone, O.Carm.
- 2nd Councilor: Sr. M. Francesca Romana Gargano, O.Carm.
- Director of Novices: Sr. M. Daniela Solustri, O.Carm.
- Treasurer: Sr. Teresa Lupo, O.Carm.
- Sacristan: Sr. M. Francesca Romana Gargano, O.Carm.
from USCCB
Our observance of Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, which falls on February 13 this year, and is a a day of fast and abstinence for Catholics. At Mass on Ash Wednesday, the imposition of ashes replicates an ancient penitential practice and symbolizes our dependence upon God's mercy and forgiveness.
During this Lent, The Church is encouraging Catholics to make going to confession a significant part of their spiritual lives. During Lent, the baptized are called to renew their baptismal commitment as others prepare to be baptized through the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, a period of learning and discernment for individuals who have declared their desire to become Catholics.
The three traditional pillars of Lenten observance are prayer, fasting and almsgiving. The Church asks us to surrender ourselves to prayer and to the reading of Scripture, to fasting and to giving alms. The fasting that all do together on Fridays is but a sign of the daily Lenten discipline of individuals and households: fasting for certain periods of time, fasting from certain foods, but also fasting from other things and activities. Likewise, the giving of alms is some effort to share this world equally—not only through the distribution of money, but through the sharing of our time and talents.
The key to fruitful observance of these practices is to recognize their link to baptismal renewal. We are called not just to abstain from sin during Lent, but to true conversion of our hearts and minds as followers of Christ. We recall those waters in which we were baptized into Christ's death, died to sin and evil, and began new life in Christ.
From USCCB
