Month: March 2011

Mason Street Musings

Originally published in the April/May 2011 issue of The Catholic Radical.

Ding Dong! “Good Grief!” I grumbled as I dragged myself out of bed. “Who the heck could be at our door at 2 a.m.?” I went into our chilly hall to see a young couple on our front porch.

I asked them in and quickly learned that they are musicians from Illinois who were sleeping in their van in a Walmart parking lot until it got too cold.

“Our van died in front of your house,” the husband said gesturing toward a vehicle jutting out at an angle from Mason Court into Mason Street. “We know the Saint Louis Catholic Worker,” he concluded, as if that pretty much told all we needed to know. Continue reading “Mason Street Musings”

Ash Wednesday 2011

Yet even now, says the LORD, return to me with your whole heart, with fasting, and weeping, and mourning; Rend your hearts, not your garments, and return to the LORD, your God. For gracious and merciful is he, slow to anger, rich in kindness, and relenting in punishment.
—Joel 2:12-13

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Today is Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. Many Catholics attend mass today and receive a blessing of ashes on their foreheads.

Wikipedia:

The liturgical imposition of ashes on Ash Wednesday is a sacramental, not a sacrament, and in the Roman Catholic understanding of the term the ashes themselves are also a sacramental.

This morning at St. Peter’s, Msgr. Scollen suggested that we avoid taking on too many Lenten projects, and just focus on one:

We know that if we try to do 10 things, or 5 things, or 3 things, that we’re going to do nothing.

I’m finally at the point in my life where I see the wisdom of this advice, and this Lent I’m trying to be constant rather than ambitious in my practice. For more on sustaining changes in behavior, Leo Babauta has solid advice that’s helped me.

“When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites. They neglect their appearance, so that they may appear to others to be fasting. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you may not appear to be fasting, except to your Father who is hidden. And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you.”
—Matthew 6:16-18

Also:

Lent 2011

Tomorrow (March 9, 2011) is Ash Wednesday, the first day of 40 days of fasting, prayer, and almsgiving that we call Lent. This season ends on Easter Sunday.

My special project this year will be reading the gospel of Mark with a map in hand, as suggested by my bishop. Most Catholics give up eating mammals and birds on Fridays in Lent—for a long-time vegan like me, this isn’t a change, so I’m always experimenting with different fasts. This year, I’ll cut back my eating on Fridays to just a snack for breakfast. (The giving up soy idea is interesting, but hasn’t been fruitful for me.)

As usual, I also have an ambitious plan for reading and watching movies that connect with my search for Christ. If I get around to doing any of that, I’ll post my thoughts here.

One online prayer resource I’m going to try, for the first time, is Praying Lent. I’ll let you know how this goes.