"Do not distress yourself so much at being so frequently at war with your wretched nature; heaven is worth all theses battles." --Jean-Pierre de Caussade S.J.(borrowed from Michele Quigley)
Finally, Lent is starting! I spent a good part of the day chasing dust bunnies and chipping huge slabs of icy snow off our deck and trundling them to the railings under which I slid them and listened to them bounce down to the ground. Very penitential, very satisfying. If only it was so easy to get rid of all the yucky accretions in my life and heart!
I decided to just collect a few links to posts on the web that struck me for some reason or another.
1
Grace and Sin in the Small Things
Because my motto for this Lent is "one step at a time".
2
God is Going to Burn Your House down
Because it's about Russell Kirk and the story reminded me of Dynevor Terrace which I just finished reading.
3
Christianity the reason for Western success, say Chinese intellectuals
Because I am reading a book about "what the US can learn from the East about achievement in education" and this gave me something else to think about --- because if America is doing so badly in all measurable ways, why is it still so successful in so many ways when it's allowed to be?
4
Pope on Vocation (Lectio Divina)
"Magnanimity," "makrothymia" means generosity of heart, not to be minimalists who give what is strictly necessary: Let us give everything we posses, and we will also grow in magnanimity.5
Bearing Blog conversation on Lenten penances and children -- lots of good thoughts and suggestions in the combox (and I commented too).
Finally --
Does anyone choose a patron saint to help them with Lent? I got the idea when I was shoveling ice. So just now I went to the Saint's Name Generator and got St Joseph Moscati. He was a physician born in 1880; he is the patron saint of physicians and his feast day is April 12 which falls during Lent this year.
Dear St Joseph Moscati, true model of Christian doctors, in the exercise of your medical profession, you always took care of both the body and soul of every patient.
Look on us, who have recourse to your heavenly intercession, and obtain for us both physical and spiritual health so we may comply with our Christian duties and glorify God our Father.
Thank you for those links - great reading there!
ReplyDeleteI had never thought of getting a patron for Lent, but I'm so glad you mentioned it. Thank God for Jen's Saint Generator thing, huh? I got St. Damian. At first I was worried (patron saint of blindness, doctors, surgeons, pestilence, etc? Ack! That sounds like I'm going to have a sick and painful Lent. And maybe I will. But I read the link it lead to and St. Damian was said to have miraculously replaced a man's ailing leg with a good one, and now I know it's perfect. My dh has back problems but 95% of his pain is radiated to his leg, and my constant prayer is that he be healed of this. St. Damian, pray for us! :)