The First Friday in Lent
The Crown of Thorns, the first Crown of Righteousness.
The First Friday in Lent, 2/24/23
Well, my first Friday fail! Although I had not truly scheduled nor put it on my calendar, nor set an alarm or reminder on my phone (how serious was I, you might ask?), I thought I would like to attend Stations of the Cross on Fridays during Lent. As usual, the day got away from me through a myriad of tasks that I felt needed to get done before the weekend. While they were relatively important and time-sensitive, I’ve been struggling with health issues that have made it difficult to accomplish seemingly simple tasks in a timely manner. And, if I am able to accomplish them, they take sooooo much longer than I anticipate.
If this were another person relating this to me, I would suggest that they be kinder to themselves, own the season of restoration to better health and just accept, maybe even celebrate, what actually was accomplished despite the frustration of less expediency. “Doctor, heal thyself”, comes to mind!
This coming off my first Thursday fail - yes, the second day of Lent - yesterday! I didn’t bring home the book I’d chosen to journey with through Lent - it was at work where I had also planned to write my blog that evening, but the weather turned bad, and was my excuse/reason for leaving things at the office. So, I opted to read my Bible, instead, and write my blog from home on what can loosely be called a laptop. It is soooo old and slow, again, it took me soooo much longer to accomplish this task. I nearly cried with frustration, (and pain), but was determined to finish it before I went to bed, even though it was well into the wee hours of the morning. But, I did accomplish that goal!
So, back to today, and the book I chose: “Lent and Easter: Wisdom from St. Francis and St. Clare of Assisi”. (Compiled by John V. Kruse). Each day, readers are presented with a Theme for Reflection, a Scripture passage to accompany the theme, a Prayer, and, a Lenten Action. I did review what I missed on Thursday, which ironically was on the theme of, “Steadfastness”. St. Paul’s letter to Timothy recounts Paul’s steadfastness:
“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. From now on there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge , will give me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have longed for his appearing.” 2 Timothy 4:1-2, 5-8
Such perseverance! And this is at the end of a very painful and tested life of hardship and trials beyond what many of us could endure! He offers encouragement to the fledgling churches of early Christianity. I benefitted from that encouragement today and am reminded to keep putting one foot in front of the other, no matter how arduous the task at hand. It cannot possibly be as difficult as Paul’s journey, nor that of millions of people around the world today, living in poverty, being persecuted, and living very difficult lives. One thing that can be universally agreed upon, is that Catholics have mastered guilt! We are often not very kind to ourselves and continually find ourselves falling short of expectations from all sides, riddled with guilt.
Moving on to today’s theme: God’s Mercy, Mercy beyond Justice. I really had to sit with that for a while! How beautiful! Mercy beyond Justice! The Scripture passage was that of the Prodigal Son from Luke’s Gospel (15:11-14, 20-24). ‘While the son was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion.’ The father was so certain, or at least hopeful for his son’s return that he was anticipating it . . . looking for him . . . just waiting for him to come back home after squandering his inheritance . . . he was ready, with open arms, running towards him . . . filled with compassion . . . covering him with kisses he was so happy the day had come!
This is a wonderful passage to practice imaginative Ignatian prayer. Read, then, re-read this passage, slowly, and see what jumps out at you. Put yourself into the story. Imagine that you are the father, or the son who left, or the son who stayed behind, or one of the slaves who was asked to get a fatted calf and prepare for a celebration of the son’s return. What might you be feeling as you imagine the scene unfold. Imagine the setting. Use as much detail as you can imagine - sights, sounds, smells. I used this passage once and imagined I was the prodigal son, and when it got to the part of him wishing he could eat what was given to the farmer’s pigs . . . I really did try to imagine how a 1st century farm’s pig pen might smell! How might the son smell as his father was running to greet him?
We hear about the ‘stench of sin’ . . . this made me wonder: Does my sin actually smell bad to God? Ouch! We also hear about sin leaving a stain on our heart/soul. Can we really remove the stain entirely? Or, like when we think we’ve cleaned a spot ‘good enough’, we often find we have to scrub harder to remove it entirely. Is it something I can do, or must God be the one to remove it totally?
Mercy beyond Justice, speaks to God’s unconditional love for us! There is nothing we can do to earn it, it has already been given to us as gift from our loving Creator! He wants only that we seek him. As St. Paul so beautifully shared about the righteous judge, the judge of mercy beyond justice, the crown of righteousness will be given to all who have longed for his appearing.
A couple questions come to mind:
Am I truly longing for God’s appearing, or am I merely expecting that it will happen?
Do I trust that He will truly meet me with as much anticipation and expectation and mercy as the father met the prodigal son? Do I deserve that? Somewhere between, of course not -and- of course you do!
Please share if you have experimented with Imaginative prayer.
May God continue to bless you upon your journey.