Spoiler Alert.
The annual Academy awards brought interest in the foreign film Ida. I must admit that the movie had been sitting in our Netflix queue for awhile before we finally felt a push to watch it.
It has been my experience that European movies with Catholic themes have not treated Catholicism with much reverence or respect. Maybe it is the culture, but I have found that a movie such as the one on Saint Hildegard of Bingen, Vision, offended my sensibilities. An example is the common occurrence of men and and women, more specifically, nuns and priests, kissing each other full on the mouth. Therefore, before watching Ida, I checked out Steven D. Greydanus' review. You can watch the quick review here.
Short summary, this movie is about a young sister about to take her vows. She contacts her only living relative, an aunt and soon learns that she was in fact a Jewish girl. She and her very promiscuous aunt, a Communist prosecutor, go on a journey to find out what happened to Ida's family.
They find out the very horrific fact that her family had been murdered. She alone survived the killing. The aunt finds out her son had also been murdered. And, the movie continued.
The movie itself was very interesting from the beginning. Based on what I could find by Catholic reviews, I trusted that the movie would not offend. But offend it did. I could understand why the aunt went to men for comfort or why she drank. It wasn't surprising that she ended up taking her own life. But what I really had trouble with was that this young nun, sheltered practically her whole life in a convent, leaves the convent as she is about to take her vows and starts experiencing life. She dresses in her dead aunt's high heels and tight dress, she goes to a nightclub and she ends up losing her virginity to an admirer. At the end, she leaves the man, puts her habit back on and apparently goes back to the convent.
I am not sure why I chose to read Elie Wiesel's Night during Lent. It is a difficult and dark book to read. What it very troubling is the loss of faith and the loss of hope by the writer. He was a young and self-described devout Jewish teen when his family was forced from their home and taken to the concentrations camps.
It is the lack of courage by the Jews, the trust they have in the tormentors, they way they turn on each other, and Wiesel's anger with God that makes this book a poor read. I was hoping that in the middle of their suffering and persecution, he would have held on to hope. But the anger, the rebellion towards God was just too much. I am not through with the book yet (almost done) so I hope by the end of the book, I would have been wrong about Wiesel.
Finally, there is the almost daily reporting of Christians being killed simply for professing a faith in Jesus Christ. They die with Jesus on their lips. They give me hope.
Showing posts with label Lent. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lent. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 24, 2015
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Cheating this Lent? It May Not be a Sin
I may have mentioned that when we were kids, it was forbidden to do anything on Good Friday, EXCEPT to watch the latest episode of Dark Shadows. My mom still cringes at her ignorance on observing the most solemn day of the liturgical year. All of us have done similar things like this during Lent or Holy Week.
But the good news is, even though we are weak and fall short of our Lenten resolutions, it may not necessarily be a sin.
Read Cheating on Lenten sacrifice no sin
Also, there is a debate on whether or not to take a break of our Lenten fast on Sundays during Lent. These Sundays are referred to as "little Easters". One friend believes that Jesus fasted in the desert for 40 days straight so why shouldn't we? Yet Every Sunday is a celebration of the Day of the Lord's Resurrection. and the Church celebrates on these days.
I do not think there is a right or wrong here as long as one is doing it for the right reasons, to grow closer to Christ during His Passion, and of course, not to judge his or her neighbor if they do the opposite.
And, another popular form of fasting this Lent is fasting from Facebook. See article here.
I am one of those individuals who have chosen to fast from Facebook this Lent. I must tell you, I have never felt so free. This shows me that Facebook was becoming too addictive for me. At first it was tempting to log on to see what was going on in the world of my "friends". Yet, other than to accept friend invites, and to send direct messages that I deemed absolutely necessary, I really do not miss being on Facebook. I have more time to do more spiritual reading, works of mercy, make stuff that takes lots of time like making jam, etc. I know it was the right thing for me to do.
On the other hand, Catholic blogger, Fr. Daren did not give up Facebook for Lent. You can read his reasons by clicking on his name.
Again, there is not a question on what is the right thing or the wrong thing to do. It is what is right for the individual. Fr. Daren makes a good point on why he continued to be on Facebook.
BTW, a big mahalo to Deacon Greg for both links.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Friday, February 19, 2010
Don't Lent Lent Pass You By
Thanks to the Sinner's Guide for sharing the following tips:
Here are some tips to make this a great Lent:
1. Do things that bring you closer to Christ. I know this is obvious but seriously why give up sweets when you know what is keeping you from a passionate relationship with the Lord is an addiction to television.
2. Write down commitments and their reasons. For example if you are giving up coffee because of an addiction to caffeine write Coffee: Because addictions affect my ability to surrender myself to God.
3. Pick the obvious commitments first. If you clearly have an issue that’s keeping you from giving yourself totally to Christ then work on that this lent. For example if laziness is an issue then wake up early and have a prayer time. If you can easily get to mass everyday but you haven’t been going then make a commitment to go.
4. Remember the focus of Lent should be to rid yourself of the world and sin in order to make more room for God.
5. Most importantly ask God to reveal to you those things that are hard to spot but are hindering your full surrender.
The Fatima Seers Help You Have the Best Lent Ever
Modeling our Lenten practices in the spirit of the Fatima message:
1. During Lent, Fatima’s constant theme of prayer, penance and amendment of life becomes ever more relevant in our daily lives.Read the rest HERE
Nowadays, many are accustomed to the conveniences that technological progress provides. Fast food, TV dinners, cell phones, ATM’s, express delivery, Internet, email, on-line shopping, etc – modern inventions that fuel that frenetic desire to get things done quickly and easily. Everything comes at one’s fingertips at one’s beckoning. And voila! The recurring mantra jumps out, “I want it and I want it NOW.” In short, no fuss, no delay; period!
• The appeal of the Seven Capital Sins
In a fast paced world as such, instant gratification is the rule. Sadly, it also opens the door wide to sin and vice. The myriad of ads that one watches or reads these days appeal in more ways than one to the seven capital sins. A new facial anti-wrinkle cream flatters a 50-year-old’s vanity; a luscious and tantalizing food product feeds one’s gluttonous tendencies; the Jones’ new car spur’s one envy; an exotic perfume wakes up ones passion and lust; a sales pitch for faster delivery service mitigates one’s anger over a previously botched job; and so it goes down the line.
• Our Ruling Passions
From another vantage view, each individual suffers from a ruling passion or vice that dominates all others and, frequently causes one to fall from grace. Be it pride or sensuality, intemperance, a loose tongue or what not, we know, more or less, our own weaknesses. Thankfully by the grace of God, Lent offers the opportunity for one to tackle this or that defect through serious reflection, prayer and the practice of mortification.
Would it burden us much if we cease to be creatures of comfort starting this Lenten season and mortify our senses for the good of our souls? Let us turn to the children of Fatima for inspiration and courage...
Thursday, February 18, 2010
YEAR FOR PRIESTS - Curé of Ars Lenten Reading Plan
Cure of Ars Lenten Reading Plan from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday
...The texts provided...are taken from the catecheses, exhortations, and sermon excerpts of the Holy Curé of Ars, Saint John Vianney. During this Year for Priests, our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, has held up this important saint as a model for all parish priests. His writings contain a great depth of spirituality and wisdom...
The following is an excerpt from yesterday's Ash Wednesday reflection:
...Oh, how bitterly shall we regret at the hour of death the time we have given to pleasures, to useless conversations, to repose, instead of having employed it in mortification, in prayer, in good works, in thinking of our poor misery, in weeping over our poor sins; then we shall see that we have done nothing for Heaven. Oh, my children, how sad it is! Three-quarters of those who are Christians labor for nothing but to satisfy this body, which will soon be buried and corrupted, while they do not give a thought to their poor soul, which must be happy or miserable for all eternity. They have neither sense nor reason: it makes one tremble....
A big mahalo to my friend Maryellen for sharing this one. The link will be placed on the sidebar under Year for Priests links until after Easter.
Fast From-Feast On
Thanks to Father Vince Inghilterra for sharing the following:
Keeping a Holy Lent-William Arthur Ward (American author, teacher and pastor, 1921-1994.)
Fast From-Feast On
• Fast from judging others; Feast on the Christ dwelling in them.
• Fast from emphasis on differences; Feast on the unity of life.
• Fast from apparent darkness; Feast on the reality of light.
• Fast from thoughts of illness; Feast on the healing power of God.
• Fast from words that pollute; Feast on phrases that purify.
• Fast from discontent; Feast on gratitude.
• Fast from anger; Feast on patience.
• Fast from pessimism; Feast on optimism.
• Fast from worry; Feast on divine order.
• Fast from complaining; Feast on appreciation.
• Fast from negatives; Feast on affirmatives.
• Fast from unrelenting pressures; Feast on unceasing prayer.
• Fast from hostility; Feast on non-resistance.
• Fast from bitterness; Feast on forgiveness.
• Fast from self-concern; Feast on compassion for others.
• Fast from personal anxiety; Feast on eternal truth.
• Fast from discouragement; Feast on hope.
• Fast from facts that depress; Feast on verities that uplift.
• Fast from lethargy; Feast on enthusiasm.
• Fast from thoughts that weaken; Feast on promises that inspire.
• Fast from shadows of sorrow; Feast on the sunlight of serenity.
• Fast from idle gossip; Feast on purposeful silence.
• Fast from problems that overwhelm; Feast on prayer that strengthens.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Lent: Why the Christian Must Deny Himself |
We still ask ourselves as Ash Wednesday approaches, "What am I doing for Lent? What am I giving up for Lent?" We can be grateful that the customs of giving up something for Lent and abstaining from meat on Fridays during Lent have survived in our secular society. But, unfortunately, it is doubtful that many practice them with understanding. Many perform them in good faith and with a vague sense of their value, and this is commendable. But if these acts of self-denial were better understood, they could be practiced with greater profit. Otherwise, they run the risk of falling out of use.Read the rest here
Don't Waste Lent
Fr. Euteneuer has some excellent tips for keeping a holy Lent.
... go for high spiritual impact. That is, identify and practice faithfully just one really magnificent goal for your personal conversion this Lent. I say conversion and not "personal improvement" lest anyone interpret the call to spiritual discipline as a chance to lose weight or quit smoking! What Lent demands of us is to look into our vicious, slotYou can read the rest here.
hful and petty nature and challenge it with the full prophetic force of the Gospel...
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Preparing for a Holy Lent
The following are suggestions for keeping a holy Lent during this 40 day journey. There are many, many more things you can do to grow spiritually this Lenten season, such as journeying with Jesus as He carries His cross, with the Stations of the Cross. Most parishes do this during Lent. These are just some ideas that I wanted to share with you.
1. Read only spiritual books, books that will feed your soul. Refrain from reading secular books and magazines.
2. In the same vein, try to avoid watching television programs or movies that are secular in nature. There is excellent Lenten programming on EWTN. Be sure to check out their schedule. You can even sign up for their weekly programming schedule at their website. This is also a good opportunity to watch good movies with your family. There are many excellent movies with Catholic themes available at local public libraries too. Vatican's Best Films List
3. Make a holy hour of Eucharistic adoration. If you are already doing so, make an additional hour or more of adoration.
4. Attend daily Mass during Lent.
5. Considering praying the Divine Mercy Chaplet at other times during the day, in addition to the 3:00 PM traditional time, for a soul in need of mercy.
6. Consider the 40 Trash-Bag Challenge as a way of de-cluttering and simplifying one's life during Lent. A H/T to Ellen for this suggestion.
7. Pray the Holy Rosary with your family every evening during Lent, if you do not do this regularly. If you do, pray an extra Rosary for someone else's intentions.
8. Pray the Litany of Humility daily during Lent. The Litany can be found on this blog's sidebar.
9. Consider volunteering at a soup kitchen, parish food pantry, or homeless shelter during Lent.
10. Go through your closets and dresser drawers, pull out clothes that you do not wear and donate them to a homeless shelter or a family in need.
11. If you are an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion, consider volunteering to bring Holy Communion to the hospital bound patients.
12. Consider writing someone in prison a letter like falsely imprisoned priest Fr. Gordon MacRae. You can find his story and contact information here
13. Have Masses offered for someone who died. Have the Mass card sent to the family.
14. Try to patiently bear the crosses that will inevitably come your way.
15. If someone you know is doing something morally wrong, offer your Holy Communion for that person.
16. During these 40 Days, consider depriving yourself of the company of too many people. Try to limit your get-togethers, lunches, etc. until after Easter.
17. Make a thorough examination of conscience and go to Confession during the Lenten season.
18. Try very hard not to speak about yourself. Listen quietly while others talk about themselves.
19. Bring up a spiritual topic at dinner time and let everyone in the family contribute to the discussion.
20. Before speaking, picture Christ crucified before you so that you may temper your words with kindness and humility.
21. Forgive someone who has hurt you deeply, from the bottom of your heart.
22. Sign up for the Spring 40 Days for Life closest to you and make a commitment to pray in front of an abortion clinic. You may be saving someone's live that day.
23. Pray the act of contrition wholeheartedly, every evening during Lent.
24. Pray for a person who you find difficult to love.
25. Consider offering lunch or money to a street person, especially one who is really down and out. Do not worry what he or she will do with the money. Just see Jesus in that person.
26. If you are unable to offer lunch or money to a street person, at least smile kindly and greet them. Confirm in them that you see them as a child of God.
*27. Think of the relationship in your life where pride is the most destructive and take concrete steps to deal with that person more positively and humbly.
*28. Be the first to offer an apology when the need arises, for the sake of peace and unity.
29. Read True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin by St. Louis de Montfort and prepare yourself to consecrate yourself to her. The online version can be found on this blog's sidebar.
*30. Take a hard look at your life to identify the areas where duplicity manifests itself and take a concrete step toward living with more integrity.
*31. Think of the people you dislike or are indifferent to, and consider at least one of their good qualities. If the opportunity arises, speak well of them, and if possible, do a good deed for them.
32. Fast from social networking such as Facebook or Twitter during Lent.
33. Make a sacrifice and only eat three moderate meals during Lent, try abstaining from unnecessary snacking.
34. Drink only water with your meals during Lent, as an act of mortification.
35. Let others help themselves first, even if it means you will end up with lesser portions of food or the least appetizing pieces.
36. Refrain from adding salt if salt is needed or sugar if something is not sweet enough.
38. Put other people's interest first, especially if you do not like a particular person.
39. Consider spiritually adopting a priest during Lent, even if only God and you know about it. Pray daily and offer sacrifices for your spiritual son.
40. If you fail in your Lenten resolutions, ask God for strength and resolve with your whole heart and mind to do even better the next day.
*A few of the above suggestions came from past Lenten Resolutions shared by Regnum Christi.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Q & A: How Can I Prepare for a Better Lent
Q: Father John, How can I better prepare for Lent this year?
A: You have no idea what God has in store for you this Lent (but God does, and he is looking forward to it!). On the other hand, you do know that God has chosen to work in our souls through the Liturgy, and that includes the liturgical seasons. So preparing for Lent means getting ready to hear and heed what God wants to say to you during those days. The Church gives us three general directives in this regard.
First, intensify our prayer life...
Read the rest of Father John's excellent response here
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
LENT A PARADIGM OF CHRISTIAN LIVING
By Brother John M. Samaha, S.M. Posted with permission.
To see Lent only as a period of spiritual practices, penances, and self-imposed deprivations would be distorted and limited. Some understand Lent solely as a time of painful spiritual exercises accepted more or less willingly. But with reflection and by following attentively the Lenten celebrations brought to us by the Church and its liturgy, we come to recognize that Lent is a paradigm of Christian life. We come to recognize the wisdom of St. Benedict’s admonition that the lives of Christians and of the Church “ought to be a continuous Lent.” Lent is a reminder of our baptismal consecration to lives as other Christs in our circumstances.
Lent is an important time of the liturgical year aimed at redressing Christian life. The works of Lent – prayer, almsgiving, fasting – do not have their value in themselves, as the Scriptures proclaim on Ash Wednesday and the following Thursday and Friday. All actions have a God-centered motive and aim.
In encouraging us to a greater emphasis on private and liturgical prayer, the Church does so to help us to recapture during Lent their rightful place in Christian life at all times.
Almsgiving and sharing practiced during Lent are part of a movement of conversion regarding the use of goods. Far from jealously and selfishly keeping material goods for themselves, Christians learn to possess them not as possessing them. They manage their possessions as good stewards, with constant concern for those less fortunate. This is not an occasional practice either. The ideal continues to be relevant at any time there is a need.
Primarily, fasting concerns restricting our bodily intake of food and drink. Whatever value is assigned to seasonal or even habitual fasting, fasting is essentially an attack on uncontrolled appetite for earthly goods of all kinds. We are called to learn to restrain our greed for earthly goods, and to have concern for the needs of others (Is 58: 6-9). People yield easily to such an appetite, especially in countries where over-consumption is a matter of course. Not to curb the search for bodily and material satisfactions is pagan. Christians seek to rectify their behavior in order to balance their everyday lifestyle in harmony with their faith and hope. The pagans think we should eat and drink, for tomorrow we die. But the dead are raised, and now we know that Christ has been raised from the dead, the first-fruits of all who have fallen asleep (1Cor 15).
The lessons from Scripture proclaimed during Lent help us raise our eyes to God and His plan of salvation, to Christ and His mystery that brings this plan to realization, to its fulfillment here and now in the Church and in the world. Of course, this can be said of all seasons of the liturgical year. What characterize Lenten liturgies are the density, the wealth, and the strength of the texts. Especially challenging are the Gospel readings for Christian initiation, the selected apostolic catecheses, and the remembrance of the most significant steps of salvation history. In this way Lent proves to be catechumenal for all baptized persons and not only for those preparing for baptism. With special insistence Lent repeats the never-ceasing call: “Become what you are.”
Lent is a paschal journey because it leads us to the Easter celebrations. It has a fixed place in the liturgical calendar, beginning with Ash Wednesday and ending on Holy Thursday before the evening Mass. But Christian life is wholly paschal because it is an exodus toward our eternal Father. From this point of view, Lent is a parable of the lives of Christians and a paradigm of the Church. What is experienced intensely for forty days must give new and enduring dynamism to our lives in all the days of the Lord.
Saturday, March 07, 2009
Photos from Stations of the Cross
Since my family and I are participating in 40 Days for Life Honolulu, we attend the Stations of the Cross led by Episcopal priest Fr. Bill in front of Planned Parenthood. However, since yesterday was First Friday, we needed to attend Mass and Nocturnal Adoration. We therefore attended the Stations of the Cross at Our Lady of Peace Cathedral.
It is beautifully done there with with the words of what could have been said by people present at the time Jesus carried His cross, scriptural passages and music.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
On Fasting - Pope Benedict XVI's 2009 Lenten Message
...We might wonder what value and meaning there is for us Christians in depriving ourselves of something that in itself is good and useful for our bodily sustenance. The Sacred Scriptures and the entire Christian tradition teach that fasting is a great help to avoid sin and all that leads to it. For this reason, the history of salvation is replete with occasions that invite fasting...MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI FOR LENT 2009
Sunday, March 09, 2008
Thursday, March 06, 2008
Lenten Resolutions and Meditations by Blessed Mother Teresa
Found in today's Magnificat readings.
During Lent we shall in a special way and with deep feeling meditate on the Passion of Our Lord and examine our conscience on what sin of ours caused that special pain to Jesus.
I will make reparation and share that pain by doubling my penance.
I shall keep strict custody of my eyes;
I shall keep clean thoughts in my mind;
I shall touch the sick with greater gentleness and compassion;
I shall keep the silence of the heart with greater care, so that in the silence of my heart I hear his words of comforts, and from the fullness of my yeart I comfort Jesus in the distressing disguise of the poor.
I shall confess especially my neglect of penance.
We often pray, "Let me share with you your pain; I want to be the companion of Jesus crucified," and yet when a little spittle of an uncharitable remark or a thorn of thoughtfulness is given to us, how we forget that this is the time to share with him his shame and pain.
During this Lent let us improve our spirit of prayer and recollection. Let us free our minds from all that is not Jesus...
Sunday, March 02, 2008
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
A Daily Prayer for Lent
Shared by Sue
A Daily Prayer for Lent
Today Lord I choose life,
I choose your love and the challenge to live it and share it,
I choose hope, even in moments of darkness,
I choose faith, accepting you as Lord and God,
I choose to let go of some part of my burdens, day by day handing them over to you,
I choose to take hold of Your strength and power ever more deeply in my life.
May this truly be for me a time of new life, of change, challenge and growth.
May I come to Easter with a heart open to dying with You and rising to Your new life, day by day.
Amen.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)