In what has become, for me, an annual post, I present….
The Marks of Ash Wednesday
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Sage Advice
The first reading is from the Book of Sirach (also known as the Wisdom of Ben Sira or as Ecclesiasticus – not to be confused with Ecclesiastes). The book is part of the Bible the Catholic Church refers to as Deutero-Canonical, meaning “second canon,” while some parts of Reformed or Protestant Christianity refer to it as part of the apocrypha (from the Late Latin apocryphus “secret, of doubtful authenticity, uncanonical”). In other words, not accepted as part of Sacred Scripture. Why? That is a topic for another time. What is clear is that the book was widely used in early Christian communities and churches in presenting moral teaching to catechumens and to the faithful. This is likely the reason for the name “Liber Ecclesiasticus” meaning “church book.” Continue reading
All in the name
In Italian, Lent is quaresima or forty (days). In German, it is Fastenzeit or time for bodily restraint. Our English word comes from an older Anglo-Saxon word for spring—len(c)ten—whence our Lent. Italian tells us how long it will last (with its symbolic overtones). German tells us what to do in that time. But English tells us what is supposed to happen, that is, we are supposed to experience a springtime of faith, a time of growth and new life.
Test or temptation?
This coming Sunday is the First Sunday in Lent. In today’s post we consider the question posed in the title of the post: is this episode a test or a temptation – and does the answer make a difference when considered from the Biblical perspective? Continue reading
Ash Wednesday and Sundays in Lent 2023
Ash Wednesday, the first day of the penitential season of Lent in the Catholic Church, is always 46 days before Easter Sunday. It is a “movable” feast that is assigned a date in the calendar only after the date of Easter Sunday is calculated. How is it calculated? I’m glad you asked.
According to the norms established by the Council of Nicaea (325 AD) and later adopted for Western Christianity at the Synod of Whitby, Easter Sunday falls each year on the first Sunday following the first full moon after the vernal equinox. This year the vernal equinox falls on March 20, 2023 and the first full moon after that occurs on Thursday, April 6th. Therefore, Easter Sunday is celebrated this year on April 9th. If you want to know the date of Ash Wednesday, just count backwards 46 days and you get February 22nd. Continue reading
Context
This coming Sunday is the First Sunday in Lent for Lectionary Cycle A. From the 4th Sunday to the 9th Sunday in Ordinary Time, the Sunday gospels include most of the “Sermon on the Mount” (Mt 5:1-7:29) On the first Sunday in Lent, the traditional reading reverts to several chapter earlier – Mt 4 – to consider “the tempting of Christ in the dessert.” This was preceded by the account of the baptism of Jesus which revealed him as the Son of God: “And a voice came from the heavens, saying, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased’ ” (Mt 3:17). Following the temptation, Jesus begins his public ministry in Galilee staring at Mt 4:12 Continue reading
Perfect Moments
There is a picture in my office that I have had since last century. It is a picture of Jeff Pierce. You probably have never heard of Jeff. He was a professional bicycle racer. He rode for the 7-Eleven team back in the late 1980s when they were the first American team to race in Europe. In the 1987 Tour de France, Jeff was a domestique, a rider whose principle task was to be a support for the team leaders: carry water bottles, protect the top riders from the ravages of wind, and at the end of the day to struggle across the finish line well after the leaders. Against all odds Jeff won the grand finale, the last stage in Paris on the Champs Elysees. A gendarme in the background of the photograph stares in disbelief. Jeff is alone. Crossing the finish line, arms raised in unbelieving triumph. He won against the greatest riders of his day. An American in Paris. I look at that picture and know that perfect moments are possible. Continue reading
Good News – Bad News
We people of a certain age grew up watching “The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau”, a documentary television series about the world beneath the waves. At some point we were introduced to the voice and calls of the humpback and other whales. You can listen to a sample here. To me the calls always sounded melancholy – and in a way, they were. By-in-large, the calls are done almost exclusively by males and are part of a mating ritual. Continue reading
Final Thoughts: being perfect
This coming Sunday is the 7th Sunday in Ordinary Time. We have been considering Jesus’ lessons that continue to make clear the personal responsibility of freely entering into the covenant relationship with God and to answer the question, what does it mean to truly be God’s people? At the end Jesus commands: “So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Continue reading
Listening and Being Present
Earlier this week I presided at a burial interment at Quantico National Cemetery. An 86-old woman was being buried alongside her husband, an Army veteran, who has passed away in the mid-1990s. The woman was born in 1947 in Berlin amidst the destruction and occupation following the war. She met her GI husband and they fell in love. He wanted to remain in Germany, but she wanted to start their new life together in the United States. It is not an uncommon story. Continue reading
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