We have a Pope, ever new and ever
fresh! The rejoicing is a kin to the birth of a baby into a large family. A new
and unique image of God for the world to see, know and reflect on.
LENT
2013
Our Beloved Benedict XVI announces
his retirement. The end of life witness that JP II modeled for us… I foolishly thought that was how all Popes should handle
the end of his life. "Be our Papa till you die Holy Father." Every life has a different message
and Pope Benedict XVI is no more valuable than JPII.
For our Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI
will be living the life that can be freely chosen, or imposed. Fr. Marciel LC,
for instance was sent away at the order of Pope Benedict, to live a life of
prayer and penance for the sexual affairs he had while the founder and head of
the Legionaries of Christ. But Pope Benedict chooses it freely for love of the
Church. He chooses to impose on himself a life of silence, prayer and penance,
for the implementation of Vatican II
And then Pope Francis is elected! Oh
HAPPY DAY!!!! For the puzzle comes together.
Pope
Francis is the witness to POVERTY!!!
Benedict XVI witnessed to the Church Obedience to the Will of God through his beautiful Encyclicals: Charity in Truth, Saved by Hope, and God is Love, as well as through his
life of self imposed prayer and silence. These are the evangelical counsels of the Catholic Church. Of course all of
them are witnessed to uniquely in each of our beloved Popes. Yet I hope the
world will remember them by their unique witness to these Evangelical Counsels;
not just for Religious, but for the lay as well. In 2008, I graduated from Epiphany Association's Epiphany CertificateProgram in the Science of Formative Spirituality. The first course was a thorough examine of these Evangelical Counsels. Humanness, distinctively human behavior, is dependent on these counsel/virtues. The alternative life style of grasping at Godlikeness, Freedom FROM Love and Responsibility summed up in the “I did IT MY Way” attitude, only leaves a trail of tears.
My Personal Lenten Resolutions in light of this reflection:
I have a Facebook account. I spend a lot of time with it. As a member of the human race, I have a bottomless pit desire for knowledge; information. I want to know it all. I also desire to be ‘In the know’ about the popular topics and discussions of the day. But as Adrian van Kaam has made clear, that is impossible in this life. The surest way to know It ALL, is to know the Holy Trinity! But on Face book I grasp at the news, and feel sick most of the time. I think with my 2 cents I can make a difference in someone's errant view. So silly.... It does not ever bring me closer to that Holy Trinity;The ALL and the only person to satisfy my greatest longings. Come to think of it, Facebook has been an attempt to fill ALL those longings. I have heard people tell me that Facebook attempts to satisfy the need to be approved of, (to be "LIKED") to know, and to satisfy our need for being the top dog. Getting the last word, competing with others in work and leisure in the way we share our every day events.
Poverty:My Lenten fast was to let go of my Attachments to FB. To acknowledge my poverty of time, I only have a limited amount and I don't desire to throw any of it away. How else do I express that I am not God in my time, talents, and material assets. How do I express that God alone should be my source through the virtue of Poverty? Can I be silent in the world of too much noise, too much information?
Chastity Can I love those in my formation field without objectifying them in any way? Loving them for who they are and not for what they can do for me?
Obedience; am I listening to the movements of my heart, do I listen when God is trying to tell me how infinitely he loves me? Do I rest in it in order that HE is able to Order my heart to his Love Will?
Is my every day filled with the gift and receptive dispositions that are
required to live a life in with and through Christ? What does that look like
that my children can see and be at peace with the rhythms of the every day in
consonance with time and matter? So far it has been the best lent of my life!
