As we come to the halfway mark of the Lenten period, perhaps you may have arrived to a point where you question the meaning and intention of it all because they all seem repetitious (done year in, year out) and nothing has ever changed (all has happened before, and all will happen again?...).
Even when we are diligently working out our Lenten practices, the common idea of putting this sprituality into practice tends to be that of cutting back on something or putting on hold our immediate wants and to be a little more generous in giving, especially to our poorer neighbours, etc. and all with regards the matter of almsgiving, prayer and fasting. For some, this can be seen as rather tiresome to our notion of life, especially when we can, once again, revert back to our so-called normality of living once Easter comes along and these Lenten practices will be put back into the cupboard until the next season comes again. This tension is certainly there, not in a very explicit way, but enough to give an uneasy feeling should you begin to question this practice that prepares Catholics for Easter (and beyond).
I suggest that we can recover the grand vision concerning our Lenten practices in order to see deeper and wider beyond our common understanding of just giving up or postponing our wants or in giving just because we are told to do so.
It starts with our own awareness of our first entrance into the faith at our baptism and our understanding of what this baptism has done for us and how it continues to impinge upon our daily lives even if we are not aware of it. It is simply a call to blessedness and to follow in the footsteps of Christ, the Blessed One. It is simply to live out our own blessedness which prayer, almsgiving and fasting becomes a daily affair without having to count or score points with anyone or with God - you could say, we just count our blessings!
Which is why this video clip is so relevant in our times...
Even when we are diligently working out our Lenten practices, the common idea of putting this sprituality into practice tends to be that of cutting back on something or putting on hold our immediate wants and to be a little more generous in giving, especially to our poorer neighbours, etc. and all with regards the matter of almsgiving, prayer and fasting. For some, this can be seen as rather tiresome to our notion of life, especially when we can, once again, revert back to our so-called normality of living once Easter comes along and these Lenten practices will be put back into the cupboard until the next season comes again. This tension is certainly there, not in a very explicit way, but enough to give an uneasy feeling should you begin to question this practice that prepares Catholics for Easter (and beyond).
I suggest that we can recover the grand vision concerning our Lenten practices in order to see deeper and wider beyond our common understanding of just giving up or postponing our wants or in giving just because we are told to do so.
It starts with our own awareness of our first entrance into the faith at our baptism and our understanding of what this baptism has done for us and how it continues to impinge upon our daily lives even if we are not aware of it. It is simply a call to blessedness and to follow in the footsteps of Christ, the Blessed One. It is simply to live out our own blessedness which prayer, almsgiving and fasting becomes a daily affair without having to count or score points with anyone or with God - you could say, we just count our blessings!
Which is why this video clip is so relevant in our times...
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1 comment:
from this i've had a better understanding of what the temptations are about! putting it in simple terms and things i can associate with XD
i like this somewhere along the line of : "i'll take the stairs if i want to" - WOO HOO!!
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