Lent Archives - Page 6 of 10 - Shepherd of Faith

St. Peter Chrysologus

I was praying the Liturgy of the Hours this morning when I came across this sermon I have to share. I hope you enjoy it and gather some valuable insight into the importance of prayer, fasting and almsgiving – not just during Lent but everyday.

This comes from the second reading of the Office of Readings. It is from a sermon by Saint Peter Chrysologus, bishop.

There are three things, my brethren, by which faith stands firm, devotion remains constant, and virtue endures. They are prayer, fasting and mercy. Prayer knocks at the door, fasting obtains, mercy receives. Prayer, mercy and fasting: these three are one, and they give life to each other.

Fasting is the soul of prayer, mercy is the lifeblood of fasting. Let no one try to separate them; they cannot be separated. If you have only one of them or not all together, you have nothing. So if you pray, fast; if you fast, show mercy; if you want your petition to be heard, hear the petition of others. If you do not close your ear to others you open God’s ear to yourself.

When you fast, see the fasting of others. If you want God to know that you are hungry, know that another is hungry. If you hope for mercy, show mercy. If you look for kindness, show kindness. If you want to receive, give. If you ask for yourself what you deny to others, your asking is a mockery.

Let this be the pattern for all men when they practice mercy: show mercy to others in the same way, with the same generosity, with the same promptness, as you want others to show mercy to you.

Therefore, let prayer, mercy and fasting be one single plea to God on our behalf, one speech in our defense, a threefold noted prayer in our favor.

Let us use fasting to make up for what we have lost by despising others. Let us offer our souls in sacrifice by means of fasting. There is nothing more pleasing that we can offer to God, as the psalmist said in prophecy: A sacrifice to God is a broken spirit; God does not despise a bruised and humbled heart.

Offer your soul to God, make him an oblation of your fasting, so that your soul may be a pure offering, a holy sacrifice, a living victim, remaining your own and at the same time made over to God. Whoever fails to give this to God will not be excused, for if you are to give him yourself you are never without the means of giving.

To make these acceptable, mercy must be added. Fasting bears no fruit unless it is watered by mercy. Fasting dries up when mercy dries up. Mercy is to fasting as rain is to the earth. However much you may cultivate your heart, clear the soil of your nature, root out vices, sow virtues, if you do not release the springs of mercy, your fasting will bear no fruit.

When you fast, if your mercy is thin your harvest will be thin; when you fast, what you pour out in mercy overflows into your barn. Therefore, do not lose by saving, but gather in by scattering. Give to the poor, and you give to yourself. You will not be allowed to keep what you have refused to give to others.

Powerful words for Lent, that hopefully flow into our every day! Certainly not easy to live by but worth a try – for no other reason but to draw CLOSER to God. God bless you!

Spiritual retreat

The liturgical season of Lent has begun! We’re already three months into the year and I feel like I just wished everyone a happy new year. I must admit that I had not made a plan for my Lenten journey until yesterday – Ash Wednesday. Boy have I been distracted, overwhelmed and uninspired! Hopefully these next forty days will lead me to a better place spiritually.

I am blessed to be participating in an online course for certification as a catechist. Through my studies I came across many online resources that I believe are going to get me back on track. I’d like to share one of the websites with you. I hope you can make a commitment, for Lent, to participate in the retreat that’s available on the website. I’m on day 2 and am finding it to be enlightening, inspiring and very informative.

I know that many people, including myself, often feel like they don’t have the time to sit, pray, study and/or delve deeper, but it’s the only way to grow.

Please make the time, I promise you won’t regret it!

The website is ignatianspirtuality.com. Once there you can tap on the tab entitled Ignatian Prayer and click on The Spiritual Exercises link. On that page there are many different links that may be of interest to you. However, the retreat that I am participating in and would recommend is the one entitled An Ignatian Prayer Adventure. It’s an 8-week retreat with something to do and read everyday. You can spend as much or as little time as you want in prayer. Might I suggest you just go with the flow. If you feel like you have no time, how about you sacrifice some television. Maybe you can focus on this retreat before bed or get up earlier and start your day with it. It just might change the course of your day for the better. God bless you!