Lent Day 31 - The Weapons of Love

In St. Peter's great confession in Matthew 16, he correctly and with great intuitive power shows that he understands who Jesus is. He's not simply Elijah or one of the prophets, not just another great teacher, but the Messiah of God, the one, the deliverer of whom all the prophets spoke. 

But then immediately Jesus reminds him of the kind of Messiah he would be: "The Son of Man must endure many sufferings, be rejected by the elders, the high priests, and the scribes, and be put to death." 

Well, how would this accomplish anything? How could this be anything but a repeat of all of the sad, fallen Jewish heroes of the past who were crushed by more powerful enemies? 

Because this Messiah would defeat the powers of the world, not by fighting them on their own terms, but by absorbing them, taking all the aggression they could muster and then swallowing them up in the ever-greater forgiveness of God. 

In the cross of Jesus, there is judgment, judgment on the false shepherds of the people and on the occupying powers that have overwhelmed the people. These powers are defeated with the weapons of love, compassion, forgiveness, non-violence; they are conquered by the suffering Messiah. 

What becomes clear in the Gospels is that this is God's way of battling evil. The world is transformed through the power of suffering love. That is the whole message of the crucified Messiah.  

"The world is transformed through the power of suffering love."

- Father Robert Barron  

Learn more about the link between pilgrimage and Christianity

Thanks to Fr. James Martin, SJ for copy of his Jesus: A pilgrimage book! We look forward to reading it and understanding more ourselves about the importance of making a pilgrimage for Christians- especially to the Holy Land!

Notre Dame student travels with Tekton Ministries to the Holy Land and starts blog

My Holy Land Pilgrimage

Posted on March 30, 2014 by cserena

I was blessed to have the opportunity to go on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land with parishioners from St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Indianapolis last week, and so I would like to break from my Rome blog to share a bit about this wonderful pilgrimage.

–

After 30 minutes of being questioned by the Israeli security in Rome that involved checking my emails, asking questions about my host family, my past jobs, the writing in my bible, a full search and weigh of the items in my luggage, and a wipe down of my stuff as they looked for explosive residue, I finally got through…only to meet the Italian security…who did not even bother to open my passport. I sat on the plane next to two Jews whose parents were imprisoned during the Holocaust in Germany. They talked about it for awhile with me because it related to an article in the newspaper for that day. I was struck by the obvious pain that the horrendous acts of World War II still causes them and their family today. After a while the wife sighed and said, “I just don’t understand how someone could hate us so much” and all I could say was, “Neither can I. It’s terrible.” Where can a conversation go from there?

–

I was picked up at the airport by an Armenian Christian named Jack. He was very friendly and helpful and had a license plate that said, “Jack is the man”. He refused my tip and instead gave me bottled water and showed me around my hotel (which ironically was run by Italian Franciscans) and the Church of the Nativity.

I ended up spending the evening with a group of Anglicans from England. They invited me to eat dinner with them at our hotel and afterwards I went to their Night Prayer service, which was led by one of their bishops. 

To read more from Christina, visit her Holy Land blog at by clicking here.

Queen Elizabeth II is witness to more than one pope

Today's meeting with Pope Francis won't be the first time Queen Elizabeth II has met a Roman Pontiff.  In her many years as Queen of England, the queen has met with several popes, two of whom will soon be canonized saints.  She met with John XXIII, John Paul II, Benedict XVI and now Francis, pictured below.

Lent Day 30 - How to Defeat Sin

At the heart of St. Ignatius' "Spiritual Exercises" is what he calls the agere contra principle--to "act against" those things that trouble us. Let's say I have a tendency toward overindulging in food, sex, or alcohol. I must find a way to actively battle against that tendency, to actively fast from food, for example. Let's say I'm tempted to badmouth people or be too critical. I need to act against that by, for example, praising people throughout Lent. I might alternatively choose to write a thank-you note, or a note of praise, each day during Lent. In Ignatius' view, sin is like a bent stick that we need to bend back in the other direction--that's the agere contra principle. 

We see this same idea in Dante's writings, especially in his Purgatorio, which I mentioned yesterday. As the seven deadly sins are being purged, the people on the mountain of Purgatory are forced to oppose the sins they previously indulged in. For instance, the envious are turned outward toward others but their eyelids are sewn shut, forcing them to look inward. The slothful, those who indulge in laziness, are made to run around Purgatory without end. These examples illustrate agere contra. Once we reflect on our attachments, we can begin working in the other direction against them. 

Habit worn by St. Francis of Assisi

A second powerful strategy against sin is to perform the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. Venerable Fulton Sheen noted the expulsive power of the good. When wickedness bubbles up within us, we can brood about it and try to manage it directly, or we can expel it by performing good works, by flooding out the bad with the good. Dorothy Day had it right: "Everything a baptized person does each day should be directly or indirectly related to the corporal and spiritual works of mercy." Make sure your life is filled up with those works and it will generate an expulsive power that helps defeat your sin.  

"Once we reflect on our attachments, we can begin working in the other direction against them."

- Father Robert Barron  

Lent Day 29 - Reconsider the Course

In Dante's Purgatorio, the theme of waiting is on prominent display. Dante and Virgil encounter a number of souls who slouch at the foot of the mountain of Purgatory, destined to make the climb to heaven but compelled for the time being to wait. How long? As long as God determines. 

This, I submit, is very hard for most of us. I suppose we human beings have always been in a hurry, but modern people especially seem to want what they want, when they want it. We are driven, determined, goal-oriented, fast-moving. I, for one, can't stand waiting. 

But is it possible that we are made to wait because the track we are on is not the one God wants for us? G. K. Chesterton said that if you are on the wrong road, the very worst thing you can do is to move quickly. And there is the old joke about the pilot who comes on the intercom and says, "I have good news and bad news, folks: The bad news is that we're totally lost; the good news is that we're making excellent time!" 

Maybe we're forced to wait because God wants us to seriously reconsider the course we've charted, to stop hurtling down a dangerous road. 

In this second half of Lent, ask yourself: are you on the right course? Do you need to adjust your direction?  

"Maybe we're forced to wait because God wants us to seriously reconsider the course we've charted, to stop hurtling down a dangerous road."

- Father Robert Barron  

Lent Day 28 - Not on Bread Alone

As I've mentioned before, Lent is a desert time, which is to say a time of simplicity, purification, and asceticism. In so many of the great figures of salvation history--Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, David--a period of testing or trial is required before they can commence their work. And where does this testing often take place? In the desert. 

Jesus himself went into the desert, and although he didn't have any sin to deal with, he still, in his humanity, knew temptation. We hear that he fasted for forty days and afterwards was hungry, causing the devil to say, "If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread." 

Now, there is nothing wrong with bread or food or drink in general. But the problem is making sensual pleasure the most basic good of your life. Talk to anyone who has become truly addicted to food or drink or drugs or sex--their number is legion in our society--and you will discover what happens when sensual pleasure is made central. 

To fully flourish, we must place God at the forefront. This is why Jesus counters the tempter by affirming, "One does not live on bread alone." Once that relationship with God is clear and central, you will know how to handle food and drink and sex. 

 So as Lent continues on, ask yourself this question: Have I made sensual pleasure too central? Have I tried to live on something other than God?  

"To fully flourish, we must place God at the forefront."

- Father Robert Barron  

Lent Day 27 - Why Your Body Matters for Prayer

Christian prayer is embodied prayer. In C.S. Lewis' Screwtape Letters we discovered an experienced devil giving lessons to a young tempter. At one point, the veteran orders his young charge to encourage his 'client,' a budding Christian, to envision prayer as something very 'interior' and 'mystical,' having little to do with posture or the position of the body. He wants the poor Christian to think that whether he stands, slouches, sits, or kneels is irrelevant to the quality of his communication with God. This, of course, is the Cartesian voice, the belief that our bodies and souls are independent and have little to do with each other. 

But then consider the view of William James. In his Principles of Psychology, James writes that it is not so much sadness that makes us cry as crying that makes us feel sad. The body in a significant sense precedes the mind. 

The same dynamic occurs when we pray. It is not so much keen feelings of devotion that force us to our knees as kneeling that gives rise to keen feelings of devotion. 

If you're having difficulty in prayer today, try kneeling, or bowing, or making some sort of reverent gesture. The body often leads the mind into a deeper spiritual space.  

"It is not so much keen feelings of devotion that force us to our knees as kneeling that gives rise to keen feelings of devotion."

- Father Robert Barron  

Pope Francis' prayer intentions for April

Pope Francis' prayer intentions for April are: 

1) Universal: “That governments may foster the protection of creation and the just distribution of natural resources”.

2) Evangelization: “That the Risen Lord may fill with hope the hearts of those who are being tested by pain and sickness”.

Lent Day 26 - How Should the Resurrection Shape Our Everyday Lives?

The Resurrection is the very heart and soul of Christianity. Without the Resurrection, Christianity collapses. It's the standing and falling point of the faith. Therefore, to deny the Resurrection is to cease to be Christian. You might pick up bits and pieces of Christianity here and there, and you might follow Jesus as a wise spiritual teacher, but without the Resurrection the whole thing falls apart. 

Speaking more practically, the Resurrection is key to spiritual detachment. If God has a life for us beyond this life, one not so much opposed to this earthly life but inclusive of and beyond it, then I'm able to wear this world much more lightly. I'm not as obsessed with finding my joy here. 

Those who are not convinced of the Resurrection, who believe they'll just die and that's it, naturally chase after wealth, pleasure, power, and honor. But once you're convinced of the Resurrection, you know this world isn't ultimate. You can let go of those earthly pursuits, stop chasing them, and aspire toward a life on high with God, which is a life of love. Becoming a person of love thus becomes your central goal. 

That's how the Resurrection affects every aspect of your life.  

"The Resurrection is the very heart and soul of Christianity. Without the Resurrection, the whole thing falls apart."

- Father Robert Barron  

Lent Day 25 - What Can the Saints Teach Us About Lent?

When considering saintly masters for Lent, I would direct attention to St. Ignatius of Loyola. He went through an extraordinary religious conversion as a young man and then spent a year living in a cave in Manresa. He lived in extreme deprivation, fasting, in utter simplicity. He even let his hair and nails grow out. 

We might say he went a little too mad. But that wasn't the case. He was experimenting with a sort of radical asceticism, trying to rid himself of the attachments that were keeping him from doing God's will. Now was his an extreme form? Sure. Many of the saints go through extreme periods of asceticism, in imitation of Jesus who spent forty days and forty nights in the desert. Does Ignatius live that way for the rest of his life? No, and he wouldn't counsel his followers to do so. But it was an important moment in his own spiritual development. 

None of us are meant to live Lent all year round, but it's good for us to deny ourselves for a period, fasting, almsgiving, ridding ourselves of detachments and diversions. It's important for us to do this for a time, just like Ignatius at Manresa. 

Another saint to consider during Lent is St. Robert Bellarmine, one of Ignatius's great sons in the Jesuit order. Bellarmine was a gifted theologian and respected cardinal, and very active in the world. Yet despite his activity, every Lent, every year, he completed the thirty-day Ignatian retreat. Some people complete the retreat once in the lifetime, but Bellarmine did it every single year. 

There's something wise in adopting a rigorous, but healthy period of asceticism during Lent, as these two particular saints demonstrate.  

"None of us are meant to live Lent all year round, but it's good for us to deny ourselves for a period."

- Father Robert Barron