Ash Wednesday

Meménto, homo, quia pulvis es, et in púlverem revertéris

Remember, man, that thou art dust, and unto dust thou shalt return.

Very soon the end of your life will be at hand: consider, therefore, the state of your soul. Today a man is here; tomorrow he is gone.(I Machabees 2:63) And when he is out of sight, he is soon out of mind. Oh, how dull and hard is the heart of man, which thinks only of the present, and does not provide against the future! You should order your every deed and thought, as though today were the day of your death. Had you a good conscience, death would hold no terrors for you; (Luke 12:37) even so, it were better to avoid sin than to escape death. (Wisdom 4:16) If you are not ready to die today, will tomorrow find you better prepared? (Matthew 24:44) Tomorrow is uncertain; and how can you be sure of tomorrow? Of what use is a long life, if we amend so little? Alas, a long life often adds to our sins rather than to our virtue! 

Thomas a Kempis - The Imitation of Christ

Quinquagesima Sunday

And Jesus said to him: Receive thy sight: thy faith hath made thee whole.   And immediately he saw and followed him, glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God. 

Lent is pretty well right upon us.  Ash Wednesday starts this Wednesday so I hope everyone's plan of action is ready and in place.  Lent is just such a great time to curb our selfish selves.  Somehow towering the word Lent over my head helps me to keep on-track.   Since we are preparing for Confirmation, that is our main order of family spiritual reading and extra study, until March 19th (Confirmation Day!) when we will switch over to studying and preparing for Holy Week and all the lovely extra Masses that week.  We'll also have a sacrifice jar, so each day there will be some extra sacrifice to do.  We don't eat sweets during Lent.  And there are a few other things, that each one of us needs to work on.  I try to start simple and then add on each week, rather than starting huge and flopping royally... and quitting.  I've decided to read about the Passion from The City of God for my lenten reflection with a secondary reading from Dom Gueranger's Liturgical Year on Lent.  Since I got in all of one walk for Advent I'm going to try to get to that again.  I marvel that getting out for a walk is such a tedious thing to get to... when it is something I love to do.... and definitely need the fresh air and sunshine (when there is some).  Of course it is much easier for me to do when it is light in the evening!  But I probably need the breather at the noon hour more than anything! :)

This is the Dumb Ox Lenten Calendar at a glance which I mentioned in a previous post.

This little crown of thorns doubled with Mrs. Grossman's flower sticker minis is a great little sacrifice chart for younger children. (or older ones! :)  For my littlest 3 they will get a little flower for eating all their food (rather than sneaking into the pantry - which now has a lock bolt on it), behaving during Mass and Rosary.... Marigold will get an extra for pottying on the potty chair (haha).  By Easter hopefully they will have a crown of flowers for Jesus rather than the crown of thorns.

Lenten Calendar for Children

Dumb Ox has put their Lenten Calendar for Children on ebay HERE.  And for less than $4 each, it makes a great little progress chart for children during Lent.  They have had one in the past for adults as well.

Sexagesima Sunday

As we draw near Lent, we listen today at the TLM about what the life of a saint is:
 Of the Jews five times did I receive forty stripes save one. 
Thrice was I beaten with rods: once I was stoned: thrice I suffered shipwreck: a night and a day I was in the depth of the sea.
In journeying often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils from my own nation, in perils from the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils from false brethren:
In labour and painfulness, in much watchings, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness

St. Paul 

Suffering is a part of life.  It is a blessing because through suffering God gives us the circumstances to draw ourselves to Him.   It is only through suffering that we will find true Joy.  I would suspect God sends us the challenges of every-day life as well as larger crosses because without them we would far to easily find our desires and joys in the things and people of this world.  We would find ourselves content with the good things and forget that we aren't here for this world but for the next... which is Heaven.  Christ gives us the example of how to get there... by carrying our crosses.  

Today we also listened to the parable of the sower and the seed.  We recall that along the way there are those who do not accept the Word at all but just travel a well-trodden road, their souls are hardened so no seed of Truth can penetrate it.  Then there are those who are unable to endure temptation due to human weakness, so, although they hear the Word, it can take no root for the soil of their souls is too rocky.  Next we have the souls of those who hear the Word of God but choke it out due to all the riches and cares of this world. Their souls are thorny.  Then we have the saintly souls who hear the word of God and keep it, their souls are filled with good soil which is formed through suffering and sacrifice.

As we approach Lent, we should consider how to penetrate our hardened hearts, how to get rid of the rocks and thorns so that we can enrich the soil of our soul to bear good fruit.

Septuagesima

Due to a very large project I am involved in, I'm a little late in mentioning that we are now in the Penitential Season of Septuagesima.  Previous posts are found here.  The Church used to begin to fast during this season but now there are the 2-1/2 weeks of preparing oneself for the Great Lenten Fast.  So what are we doing to prepare ourselves for Lent? This is the time to think about what sin or fault to work on, what book we will read, what pleasures we will do without.  In this planning it will also include a particular plan:

How will I work on my weakness? Being average human beings, most of us aren't conquered by being thrown off our high horse like St. Paul.  Instead, most of us have to walk the slower route with small steps.  Pick a particular part of your sinfulness to work on. It may seem small to work on a little piece of our sinfulness but if we want to make progress, slow and steady wins the race.  You can always add on.

Do I have my spiritual reading or will I wait and order it on Ash Wednesday? No, this is the time to get that book (or two).  Be ready... be prepared. Know yourself and what you can handle in your spiritual reading.  Perhaps you are over-stressed right now, picking up some tedious bit of reading just might be too much and make you want to quit. It's ok to read simple things.  The point is to spend time in reflection and getting in the habit of making spiritual reading a part of our daily lives.  Although I greatly enjoy the richness of the great saints, sometimes it's more profitable to read some simple children's books.  For that matter, pick up the Baltimore Catechism and see if you know everything in it.  :)  As I teach my children I am amazed at how much I have forgotten, or never knew, or was awakened to in some way!

What pleasures to I find myself seeking that I could do without?  Computer time, TV, movies, video games, sweets, too much food, spending money, buying unneeded items....

Or perhaps I should take the opposite route?  Eat more vegetables, eat what I'm served, take a walk

That's just a start, but do... be prepared by making a plan for lent.... I should do that too! :)