Lenten Reflection: from ewtn

WHAT TO GIVE UP . . .




(I got this from EWTN. I thought this might make a good prayer or poem for the formands lenten reflection. It is easier to give up meat or a fullmeal. But how about such emotional habits like worrying? or bitterness?)


Give up complaining. . . . . . . .focus on gratitude.
Give up pessimism. . . . . . . . . become an optimist.
Give up harsh judgments . . .think kindly thoughts.
Give up worry. . . . . . . . . . . . . trust Divine Providence.
Give up discouragement. . . . .be full of hope.
Give up bitterness. . . . . . . . . . turn to forgiveness.
Give up hatred. . . . . . . . . . . . . return good for evil.
Give up negativism . . . . . . . . .be positive.
Give up anger. . . . . . . . . . . . . .be more patient.
Give up pettiness. . . . . . . . . . .become mature.
Give up gloom. . . . . . . . . . . . . .enjoy the beauty that is all around you.
Give up jealousy. . . . . . . . . . . .pray for trust.
Give up gossiping. . . . . . . . . . .control your tongue.
Give up sin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . turn to virtue.
Give up giving up. . . . . . . . . . . hang in there!

I especially like the last one. Give up giving up and hang in there. It is a good invitation for all of us too.


God bless us all


Reybarns

Lenten Reflection

(from explorefaith.org)

Someone once said that to recognize the signs of God, pay attention to your stirrings. Look closely when you feel the swell of joy within, or the tightness as your throat closes up in sorrow. Live in that moment, poke around in its corners, and feel the texture of its walls. Sit with it for awhile, long enough to sense the presence of God sitting with you.


For many of us, this attention falls in the realm of discipline. We are so consumed with the goings-on around us that slowing down and looking inward requires a determined act of will. For Christians, Lent is a time to do exactly that.

Beginning 40 days before Easter, Lent has traditionally been a time of looking inward, a time of self-evaluation and self-examination in order to identify one’s sins and go through a process of repentance and renewal. Many Christians have fasted during portions of Lent, others have found ways to mark the days by “giving up” something that is particularly delightful to them, even if not sinful. For some it’s giving up sweets or red meat, for others cigarettes or alcohol, habits which oftentimes are picked up again when Easter rolls around.


In recent years, there has been less emphasis on giving up and more emphasis on taking on. Some will choose to go to church more often, or serve the poor, or be more disciplined in meditation.


Using this Lenten calendar is another way to observe this season with intention and presence. Each week of Lent is devoted to reflections on Lenten themes: stillness, examination, attention, prayer, suffering, hope, and new life. As you use these quotes to work through the days and weeks of the Lenten season also keep in mind three things that may help you develop interior peace:

First, live attentively. The Buddhists call this mindfulness. All it means is to be aware of life. Hear the silence of the snow. Feel the cracks in the earth. Look into one another’s eyes. Pay attention to every single moment and that moment alone. Feel it. Take it into your bones. Let it transform you.

Second, learn to let go. Start to simplify your life. Simplify your possessions, your thoughts, your desires, your expectations. When you can let go, your arms are open and ready to receive all the good things God longs to give you.

Third, develop intimacy with God. Gather in yourself a phrase or thought from the calendar. Let the thought or phrase filter through your heart and mind throughout the day. Say it when you stand in the grocery line, when you eat your lunch, when you scrape ice off your car. Let it settle deeply in your heart so that it can work from within to bring you into closer intimacy with God.
Lent need not be a time to live in guilt and shame. Instead it may be a time when we find ourselves in the place where we pay attention to our stirrings—in that place of deep stillness where the hunger of our souls and the heart of God meet.

So shall we have peace divine: holier gladness ours shall be;Round us, too, shall angels shine,Such as ministered to thee. —Hymn #150The Hymnal 1982

Lenten Reflection

Come Holy Spirit
Bonnie Malone


The film Chocolat tells the story of a gypsy woman and her daughter as they relocate to a very traditional and religious village in the French countryside. A hard, cold wind brings the pair to town (donned in bright red, hooded capes). They arrive in the middle of Lent and open a chocolaterie—shocking for certain, but not as shocking as their refusal to go to church. Unexpectedly, their presence begins to transform the relationships and ideas of the village.in a very God-like way.

Whenever I see this film I think of the Holy Spirit, personified in the love of a mother and a daughter (who wear red, come with the wind and defy expectations). Amazing, isn't it, how relationships can be so transforming? We all have stories of people who show up in our lives, in a haphazard way, even irritating at first, only to stretch us and change us completely.

The early church spent much time arguing about categories (the who, and how, and when and so on) with respect to God. One argument centered upon the question of whether the Holy Spirit proceeded from the Father only, or from the Father and the Son. The Nicene Creed demonstrated that, for at least one group, it was important to understand that the Holy Spirit was poured out from both the Father and the Son. The idea was that the love between the Father and the Son was so great that a third Spirit naturally overflowed from that love. The Holy Spirit actually emanated from the Divine love between the Creator and Redeemer of the world.
I am not much for theological categories, and the concept of the Trinity will always confuse me, but I think the idea that the Spirit flows from the Father and Son is an important one. Our God models for us a love so strong that it creates something new, unwieldy and beautifully creative—the Holy Spirit. If we believe that we are created in the image of God, and that imitating God is a worthwhile endeavor, then we could expect that something new, holy, and Spiritlike would come from each of our loving relationships.

Lenten Reflection

Prayer for Lenten Days

Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties;

And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting. Psalm 139:23, 24

Loving Lord! Thank You for bringing me into these days of introspection.

I take this time to analyse my ways and meditate upon the ultimate sacrifices You have made for me, a grant sinner.

Lord! There were times when I had been so mean to others and when I had lost my patience and integrity.

There were times when I had lost faith in You when I had been unfaithful to You without even acknowledging Your sacrificial love for me.

Please forgive me for all the sins I have committed against You as well as my fellow-men.
Let me regain the spiritual values I have lost and restore in me the original first love for You. I rededicate myself at Your feet, Lord!

Search me and fill me with Your divine presence so that my life can reflect the Gospel.

Let this Lenten season be a time of restoration and the means for renewed direction and perspective. Please guide me and make me a channel of blessing to others.

Thank You for helping me to reflect Your love and sacrifice.

In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen

from: http://www.2heartsnetwork.org/lent.htm