I am told that a priest whom I know once remarked "Rather than consider what you can do for Lent, consider what Lent can do for you". I am pondering this excellent maxim and feeling rather annoyed with myself for not having made the most out of this great season. I don't know about you, but Lent seems to have whizzed by with incredible speed. Now, I could start mooching around and feeling sorry for myself, but I don't think I will be taking that path. We should always remember that it is never too late to 'make a start' in our spiritual lives, but we should also remember that we don't have much time left. And I am not just referring to Holy Week, we should always be ready to meet Almighty God, since we know not the hour nor the day. This is no reason for despair however. We should constantly pray for the gift of perseverance, and I hope that this prayer by St Alphonsus Liguori will be of help:
Our dear Redeemer,
relying on Your promises,
because you are faithful, all-powerful and merciful,
we hope, through the merits of Your Passion,
for the forgiveness of our sins,
perserverance until death in Your grace;
and at length we hope, by Your mercy,
to see and love You eternally in Heaven.
A Catholic Prayer Book, 2001 (Revised Edition), Catholic Truth Society, London.
It is not too late, but don't delay. I wish you all a prayerful Passion week. And in the meantime, I strongly recommend reading Don Marco's latest posts.
1 comment:
Don't worry. I always find Lent hots up once we get into Passiontide, and then during Holy Week the intensification is exponential. You'll certainly find that if you come to the Holy Week ceremonies at the Oratory, and to Dark Oratory as well.
The real problem with Eastertide is a sort of boom and bust -- or a sort of spiritual crash after so many occasions for grace. It is worth remembering that it is not just Our Lord with His angels and saints who is hard at work at the moment: this is a very busy time for the Devil as well, and he really doesn't want us to have a good Lent or a Happy Easter, and if he can make us feel we haven't done as well as we might have then he's halfway there.
All my best!
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