"Fond of Beer in Swarthy Nooks, but Happiest Among his Books"
An intermittent recommended reading list...
Father Walter Ciszek
Father Ciszak was a Jesuit priest who grew up in a mining town in Eastern Pennsylvania.
Following his call to the priesthood he was ordained. His initial formation left him with the strong impression that much good could come from suffering and tragedy as long as one lived in abandonment to Divine Providence and never ceases to trust God's will. Father volunteered to study Russian in hopes of being a missionary there but instead found himself in Poland when the Red Army invaded Poland. He was incarcerated in solitary confinement for five years in the notorious Lubyanka Prison in Moscow and also served 15 years in Gulag at hard labor.
Finally in 1963, after 24 years in captivity he was released in a prisoner exchange. He used his remarkable faith journey to author two classic accounts that deserve a space on every Christian's bookshelf, 'With God in Russia” and “He Leadeth Me.” Lent marks a perfect time to deepen our faith by taking up one or both of these timeless treasures.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Timely Tidbits in Times of Turbulence
As an omnivorous reader and an unabashed lover of inspirational snippets, I'm planning on regularly sharing a few items of both book/reading suggestions and brief stories designed to inspire and broaden our minds. I hope you enjoy them!
A visitor to a desert monk once asked why the monk was sharing food with him instead of fasting as was the custom. The monk replied, “ Fasting is always possible but you will not be here forever. Fasting is useful and necessary, but God's law demands perfect love. When I receive you here I receive Christ, so I must do all I can to show love. When we have said goodbye, I can resume fasting. 'The sons of the bridegroom cannot fast while the bridegroom is with them, when he is taken from them then they can fast.'”(Matt 9:15)
A visitor to a desert monk once asked why the monk was sharing food with him instead of fasting as was the custom. The monk replied, “ Fasting is always possible but you will not be here forever. Fasting is useful and necessary, but God's law demands perfect love. When I receive you here I receive Christ, so I must do all I can to show love. When we have said goodbye, I can resume fasting. 'The sons of the bridegroom cannot fast while the bridegroom is with them, when he is taken from them then they can fast.'”(Matt 9:15)
Has God Stopped Giving to You?
Has God Stopped Giving to You?
Recently a very thoughtful gentleman, let's call him Bob, whose love for his parish was almost legendary, was taken aback when one his friends, also a member of that parish, reacted quite bitterly to an invitation to attend a fund raising event. Bob asked his colleague why he was so adamantly against the idea of the church's attempt to raise money.
His friend then launched into a monologue that outlined the many reasons he was upset - the pastor had not chosen the correct projects to focus upon, the priorities for parish were askew, the homilies were uninspiring and the music was awful. He listed several other complaints before taking a deep breath.
Bob, instead of arguing with his friend about this laundry lists of issues and slights simply nodded his head and said, “I understand you are not happy. But let me ask one question, “Has God stopped giving to you?”
This man, expecting a good argument, was rendered speechless by this simple question. After a few moments, he decided after all, to join Bob at the event.
This question - “Has God stopped giving to you?”, is one we would do well to ask ourselves in these turbulent times and this season of Lent.
Has our economic situation -real or perceived – changed our commitment to perform the corporal works of mercy our faith requires? Are we less willing to share whatever we have with the hungry and ill-clothed? Do we try to save some dollars by scrimping when the collection basket passes?
The core of these corporal works is compassion- a reaching out to assist those who are perhaps destitute or vulnerable.
One of the often forgotten elements of our greatest prayer – the Our Father – is the linkage between our own forgiveness and God's forgiving of us. Each day we pray, “and forgive us our trespasses, as WE forgive those who trespass against us.” So we are asking Our Lord to link his generous absolution with our own. Unless we ourselves are forgiving, we cannot ask God to look the other way at our transgressions and failures.
Can you imagine how truly difficult our lives would be if God withheld his bountiful blessings to us on every occasion when we disappointed him? As a loving and perfect father, he does not. He calls us, instead, to repent and to forgive.
As we go through this great season of Lent, we have hopefully taken firm steps to more deeply develop our spiritual selves - more prayer, more study, more devotion and greater focus on our outreach to others in our lives and our parishes. If we have not yet begun to treat Lent as a special time or renewal and sacrifice, it's not too late. Perhaps we've meant to give up those desserts or those special foods we love so much, but have fallen short of our goal. It's then a good time to re-double our efforts to make these sacrifices and achieve the fulfillment that will be ours when we reach the joyful celebration of Easter and can enjoy them again after having given them to God for all these weeks. After all, God hasn't stopped giving to us!
All of our time, talent and treasure comes from God and we're called simply to give some back. Our sacrifices are but a tiny offering back to God for his goodness to us. Collectively, our stewardship and our sacrifice are but means to achieve an even greater good; the great Saint Seraphim of Sarov says it most eloquently -”as for fasts, vigils and prayer, almsgiving and every good deed... are only means of acquiring the Holy Spirit of God. To welcome this Guest into our hearts will lead us to ultimate union with God and toward that unity of the human race wherein all shall acquire the peace and joy God promised through his Son.”
Recently a very thoughtful gentleman, let's call him Bob, whose love for his parish was almost legendary, was taken aback when one his friends, also a member of that parish, reacted quite bitterly to an invitation to attend a fund raising event. Bob asked his colleague why he was so adamantly against the idea of the church's attempt to raise money.
His friend then launched into a monologue that outlined the many reasons he was upset - the pastor had not chosen the correct projects to focus upon, the priorities for parish were askew, the homilies were uninspiring and the music was awful. He listed several other complaints before taking a deep breath.
Bob, instead of arguing with his friend about this laundry lists of issues and slights simply nodded his head and said, “I understand you are not happy. But let me ask one question, “Has God stopped giving to you?”
This man, expecting a good argument, was rendered speechless by this simple question. After a few moments, he decided after all, to join Bob at the event.
This question - “Has God stopped giving to you?”, is one we would do well to ask ourselves in these turbulent times and this season of Lent.
Has our economic situation -real or perceived – changed our commitment to perform the corporal works of mercy our faith requires? Are we less willing to share whatever we have with the hungry and ill-clothed? Do we try to save some dollars by scrimping when the collection basket passes?
The core of these corporal works is compassion- a reaching out to assist those who are perhaps destitute or vulnerable.
One of the often forgotten elements of our greatest prayer – the Our Father – is the linkage between our own forgiveness and God's forgiving of us. Each day we pray, “and forgive us our trespasses, as WE forgive those who trespass against us.” So we are asking Our Lord to link his generous absolution with our own. Unless we ourselves are forgiving, we cannot ask God to look the other way at our transgressions and failures.
Can you imagine how truly difficult our lives would be if God withheld his bountiful blessings to us on every occasion when we disappointed him? As a loving and perfect father, he does not. He calls us, instead, to repent and to forgive.
As we go through this great season of Lent, we have hopefully taken firm steps to more deeply develop our spiritual selves - more prayer, more study, more devotion and greater focus on our outreach to others in our lives and our parishes. If we have not yet begun to treat Lent as a special time or renewal and sacrifice, it's not too late. Perhaps we've meant to give up those desserts or those special foods we love so much, but have fallen short of our goal. It's then a good time to re-double our efforts to make these sacrifices and achieve the fulfillment that will be ours when we reach the joyful celebration of Easter and can enjoy them again after having given them to God for all these weeks. After all, God hasn't stopped giving to us!
All of our time, talent and treasure comes from God and we're called simply to give some back. Our sacrifices are but a tiny offering back to God for his goodness to us. Collectively, our stewardship and our sacrifice are but means to achieve an even greater good; the great Saint Seraphim of Sarov says it most eloquently -”as for fasts, vigils and prayer, almsgiving and every good deed... are only means of acquiring the Holy Spirit of God. To welcome this Guest into our hearts will lead us to ultimate union with God and toward that unity of the human race wherein all shall acquire the peace and joy God promised through his Son.”
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