Disciplining our Bodies: Lent Day 14

Lent Day 14 - Disciplining Our Bodies

When it comes to our bodies, Catholics are not dualists or Puritans. We don't think that the flesh is, in itself, sinful or problematic. However, we do know that the desires of the body have become, through the fall, disordered. They are no longer consistently subordinated to reason and, consequently, these desires can appear in exaggerated form or assert themselves disproportionately. Thomas Merton once commented that the needs of the body--food, drink, sleep, and sex--are like insistent children that demand to have their way. Just as children have to be disciplined lest they come to dominate the household, so the desires of the flesh have to be curtailed lest they come to monopolize all of our energies. Merton said that we fast from time to time precisely to allow the deeper spiritual hungers to surface and be satisfied. The use of bodily discipline is thus a vivid reminder to oneself that the pleasure of the body is not one's determining and ultimate good. This is not unique to Catholicism. Stop and consider for a moment the activities that go on every day in the typical gym. People labor away on stationary bikes, elliptical machines, and treadmills; they sweat their way through pull-ups, push-ups, and deadlifts. In all sorts of ways, they discipline their bodies so as to overcome the natural tendency toward laziness and self-indulgence. More to it, these same people most likely deny themselves all sorts of pleasurable foods, resisting cravings. All of this punishment is in service of a healthier body. Why can't we apply similar techniques to produce healthier minds and spirits? Today, discipline your body in some small way. Maybe give up snacking between meals, only drink room-temperature water, or pray an entire rosary while walking. These simple bodily disciplines will undoubtedly strengthen your soul.   Fr. Robert Barron

The Portable Monastery: Lent Day 13

Lent Day 13 - The Portable Monastery

What is prayer? Saint John of Damascus said, "Prayer is the raising of one's mind and heart to God." When someone asked Thomas Merton to reveal the one thing he should do to improve his prayer life, Merton responded: "Take the time." During Lent, we must consciously take the time to raise our hearts and minds to God. We seek communion with God through friendship and conversation. But how do we do this in our busy lives? One thing I often recommend is praying in the car (or in the subway, bus, train, etc.) For those of us distracted by a thousand things, and who are constantly on the move, the car can be a bit like a monastic cell. It encloses you within a quiet, meditative space conducive to prayer. Also, as an added bonus, when you treat your car as a monastery, traffic becomes a welcome opportunity for more prayer and silence, rather than a cause of frustration. Now, I understand this will be easier for some than others. For example, mothers of young children may have a difficult time cultivating a quiet space. But to the extent that you're able, consider turning off the radio today. Put away your phone. Use your travel time to raise your mind and heart to God. Maybe you pray the Rosary, or perhaps you converse with God about your day. But whatever you decide, take the time. Turn your car into a monastery.   Fr. Robert Barron

New Pitch of Existence!

Lent Day 12 - A New Pitch of Existence

In his letter to the Philippians, St. Paul writes, after meeting the Risen Lord in a vision, "I consider everything as a loss because of the supreme good of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord" (Phil. 3:8). Paul encountered the risen Jesus Christ, and in light of that knowledge, everything else in his life seemed like rubbish, like a total loss. Paul became elevated to a new life, a new vision, a new pitch of existence. All his accomplishments and the great things he inherited seemed like nothing compared to this life that was opened to him in the resurrection from the dead. What does the Resurrection mean? It means the elevation of this life to a new pitch, a new perfection, a new beauty that we can't even imagine. Imagine a fish who spent his entire life under the sea, and then is hooked by a fisherman. He's pulled up out of the water and for one moment he glimpses this world of light and color that he had never imagined possible. Then he wriggles off the hook and falls back into the water. "I saw that world up there," he would tell his fish friends, "which I never knew existed! Yet now, compared to that, this ordinary world seems like nothing to me." That's what Paul is communicating to the Philippians in his letter. And that's the new vision, the new pitch of existence, we're moving toward this season of Lent.   Fr. Robert Barron

"Theo-drama"

Lent Day 11 - St. Thomas More and the Theo-drama

The late Swiss theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar often spoke of the "theo-drama." This is the drama written and directed by God and involving every creature in the cosmos. On the grand stage that is the created universe, we are invited to "act," to find and play our role in God's theater. The problem is that the vast majority of us live in the "ego-drama." We think we are the directors, writers, and above all, stars of our own dramas. We're convinced the cosmos provides a pleasing backdrop to our own performance. Other people function as either our supporting players or our villains, against whom we shine all the brighter. The ego-drama is on display in a wonderful scene in Robert Bolt's A Man For All Seasons. Richard Rich, a promising and ambitious young man, petitions the saintly Thomas More for a position among the glitterati at the court of Henry VIII. But disappointingly for Rich, More offers him a position, not as a courtier, but as a simple teacher. The young man is crestfallen, and More tries to cheer him up: "You'd be a good teacher." But Rich fires back: "And if I were, who would know it?" The patient More explains: "Yourself, your friends, your pupils, God--pretty good public, that!" What More assumes is the profoundly spiritual truth that the only audience worth playing for is the divine audience, and the only drama worth acting in--even in the smallest role--is God's. Rich wants a starring role, but More reminds him that it profits him nothing to play even the biggest part in the ego-drama if he misses his role in the theo-drama. The key is finding the role that God has designed for you, even if it looks like a bit part. And when you find that pearl of great price, you must sell everything else and buy it.   Fr. Robert Barron

Why was the Cross Necessary?: Lent Day 10

Lent Day 10 - Why was the Cross Necessary?

In the wake of Mel Gibson's movie, "The Passion of the Christ", and now more recently Mark Burnett's film, "Son of God", a lot of people have wondered, why was it necessary for Jesus to die on a cross? Although viewers of both films admired Jesus' courage in suffering through his brutal execution, they still wondered, did God want that? Did God demand that awful, bloody sacrifice? Han Urs von Balthasar said that what you see on the Cross is the greatest act of love, because the Father, out of love, sent the Son all the way into our human condition-but then, even more, he sent him into God-forsakenness. Jesus went to sinners, the sick, the marginalized, but then even further than that. In the most dramatic way possible, Jesus ventured into what frightens us the most: death. As St. Paul says, "He accepted death, even death on a cross," which for someone of that time, and maybe of any time, was the most brutal way to be killed. So the Father sent the Son all the way out into the furthest limits of God-forsakenness, but why? To usher into those places the divine light. Is death a place that God is not? No, because God is present there in Jesus. Is suffering a place that God is not? No, because the Son entered into suffering. Is sin a place where God is not? No, because God became sin on the Cross, says Paul. Through Jesus, the divine light journeys into our worst darkness. His aim is to divinize us, to allow us to "share his divine nature" in St. Peter's words, even in those dark places and conditions. Sin is a turning away from the divine life, and death is a fearful place that seems alien to God. But Jesus invades all those places, and thereby illumines them. He offers us new life even when we've wandered as far as we possibly can from God. In that sense, the Cross was necessary for our salvation since it allowed the Hound of Heaven to hunt us down, even in the darkest places. Fr. Robert Barron

Pope Francis: 10 things most people don't know about

Last year 2013 on March 13 Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio became Pope Francis.
Here is Top 10 things most people don't know about Pope Francis

Pope Francis tries on an alpine hat given by someone in the crowd as he arrives to lead his general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican March 5. (CNS/Paul Haring)

By Carol Glatz
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- When Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran walked onto the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica, telling the crowds in Latin: "I announce to you a great joy. We have a pope!" not many people recognized the name of then-Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Now, just one year since his March 13, 2013, election, there are still many things most people do not know about the 265th successor of Peter.

Here is a list of 10 things people should know about Pope Francis. He:

1. Has a way with birds: Pope Francis expertly handled a white dove and a green parrot during different general audiences in St. Peter's Square. According to the pope's sister, Maria Elena Bergoglio, the future pope had a parrot when he was in the seminary. And because he loved to play jokes, she said, "I wouldn't put it past him that he taught the little beast a swear word or two instead of how to pray."

2. Has colorful work experience on his resume: In addition to having worked sweeping floors in a factory and running tests in a chemical laboratory as a teenager, the pope also used to work as a bouncer. Later, when he was no longer kicking troublemakers out of clubs, he taught high school literature and psychology, which, he said, helped him discover the secret to bringing people back ... to church.

3. Was a Jesuit Oskar Schindler: When then-Father Bergoglio was head of the Jesuit province in Argentina, he ran a clandestine network that sheltered or shuttled to safety people whose lives were in danger during the nation's murderous military-backed dictatorship.

According to witnesses, the future pope never let on to anyone what he was doing, and those who were helping him find rides or temporary housing for "guests" never realized they had been part of his secret strategy until years later.

4. Is a homebody with missionary zeal: Even though he has traveled extensively, the future pope considers himself "a homebody" who easily gets homesick. However, he wanted to join the Society of Jesus because of its image as being "on the frontlines" for the church and its work in mission lands.

He wanted to serve as a missionary in Japan, but he said his superiors wouldn't let him because they were concerned about his past health problems.

5. Has an achy back: When the pope was 21, the upper half of his right lung was removed after cysts caused a severe lung infection. While that episode never caused him further health problems, he said his current complaint is sciatica.

The worst thing to happen in his first month as pope was "an attack of sciatica," he said. "I was sitting in an armchair to do interviews and it hurt. Sciatica is very painful, very painful! I don't wish it on anyone!"

6. Was the strongest contender behind then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger in the 2005 conclave. If the Argentine had been elected pontiff then, he would have chosen the name John after Blessed John XXIII and taken his inspiration from "the Good Pope," according to Italian Cardinal Francesco Marchisano.

However, during the 2013 conclave, Brazilian Cardinal Claudio Hummes told the newly elected pope, "Don't forget the poor," and that, the pope said, is when it struck him to take the name of St. Francis of Assisi, "the man of poverty, the man of peace, the man who loves and protects creation."

7. Starts his day at 4:30 a.m. "I pray the breviary every morning. I like to pray with the psalms. Then, later, I celebrate Mass. I pray the rosary," he has said. His workday includes reading letters, cards, documents and reports as well as meeting cardinals, bishops, priests and laypeople. He eats lunch between noon and 1 p.m., then rests for about 30 minutes before returning to work.

But his favorite part of the day is eucharistic adoration in the evening, when he often falls asleep in prayer. "Between 7 and 8 o'clock, I stay in front of the Blessed Sacrament for an hour in adoration. But I pray mentally even when I am waiting at the dentist or at other times of the day," he said.

8. Can juggle a lot of plates: Jesuit Father Juan Carlos Scannone, the pope's friend and former professor of Greek and literature, said the pope is "a one-man band" who can juggle many different tasks at the same time.

"Once I saw him writing an article on the typewriter, then go do his laundry, then received someone who needed spiritual guidance. Spiritual work, a technician and a manual laborer all at the same time and with the same high quality," the priest said.

9. Travels light: When he boarded the papal plane for Brazil last July, people were stunned the pope was carting around his own carry-on bag. What's inside? "It wasn't the key for the atom bomb," he told journalists. "There was a razor, a breviary, an appointment book, a book to read, I brought one about St. Therese, to whom I have a devotion. I have always taken a bag with me when traveling -- it's normal."

10. Had his "Hog" help the homeless: Pope Francis briefly owned what became the most expensive 21st-century Harley-Davidson motorbike in the world. Though he prefers walking and cheaper car models, Harley-Davidson gave him a brand new Dyna Super Glide in June that the pope autographed and put up for auction, raising a hefty $326,000 for a Rome soup kitchen and homeless shelter.

END

Change the Way you See: Lent Day 9

Lent Day 9 - Change the Way You See

The first words Jesus speaks in the Gospel of Mark set the tone for the entire Gospel and, one could say, for the whole of Christianity: "This is the time of fulfillment. The Kingdom of God is at hand. Reform your lives and believe in the Good News." By noting "the time of fulfillment," Jesus is referring to something humans have been longing for, hoping to see arrive. It's as if he's saying, "The privileged time is here." These words provide a sort of wake-up call, a warning bell in the night. They're similar to what worshipers hear repeatedly in the Byzantine liturgy: "Be attentive! Let us be attentive!" But how should we be attentive? Jesus is eminently clear: "Reform your lives and believe in the Good News." The Greek word for "reform" is metanoiete, a term derived from two words,meta (beyond) and nous (mind). Thus in its most basic form it means something like "go beyond the mind that you have." Jesus is commanding a change that takes place at a an elemental and all-embracing level of one's being. He's telling his listeners to change the way they see, the way they think, the way they imagine. Change your attitude. Change your perspective. Change your angle, your mode of vision. The new state of affairs has arrived, but you are not going to see it unless you change. Today, go beyond your mind and see through the eyes of Christ.