In the cycle of the church calendar we are traveling toward the wilderness of Lent. It is not a season that comes easily - like Advent or Easter. Instead of celebrations and feasts, we fast. Instead of candles and greenary we have the hard wood of the cross. Instead of lessons on love and peace, we have the desert temptation and the suffering of the cross.
I am trying to spend some time preparing for Lent. Having come from a tradition that didn't pay much attention to Lent, I have only recently come to see Easter in light of Lent. During Advent we wait with anticipation for the joy of Christmas, but during Lent we are drawn with increased tension into the Passion. Only after the suffering of Maunday Thurday and the darkenss of Good Friday are we finally able to celebrate the Resurrection Mass.
In preparation for Lent I am reading G. K. Chesterton's St. Francis. I'm looking for a saintly example to emulate during Lent. On a larger scale I want to live a sustainable lifestyle that reflects the tenents of self-renunction and spiritual ecomomy as taught by the Franciscans and other monastic orders. This presents a conflict considering my present location - NYC and my natural preoccupation with having things. In the words of Jennifer M. Phillips:
God, My wisdom,
When I begin to see how my choices
are part of a pattern of wanting and using
by which others are hurt,
I am overwhelmed and I look away.
Cast out my fear.
Give me a large imagination
to see the hidden connections of your world,
wider compassion
to know my kinship with all people,
and to live as you desire,
one choice at a time.
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