Spiritual Development Communique #4

Submitted by: Marianna Caldwell

Greetings everyone,

I know you are all busy thinking up ideas on how to develop the National Theme “Love One Another” and I am encouraged by the response I have received from one Diocese. Hopefully, many councils will be inspired to create a piece of art, or craft – whatever they do best – to express their thoughts on this theme.

I would like to share some thoughts on Lent that I have received from Cecile M., National Chairperson of Spiritual Development.

Lent
Lent is a time for us to be open to grace, to be renewed and to be converted. The major themes presented in the readings during Lent are baptism, charity, conversion, faith, penance and prayer. We are given these 40 days each year to prepare ourselves for Easter. How have we grown in our love of God and one another since Lent last year?

In his Ash Wednesday 2006 message, Pope Benedict XVI has this to say in part, “lent encourages us to let the Word of God penetrate our life and thus to know the fundamental truth: who we are, where we come from, where we must go, what road to take in life. And thus, the Season of Lent offers us an ascetic and liturgical route which, while helping us to open our hearts to the merciful love of Christ….. Lent, therefore, as a time of listening to the truth, is a favourable moment to convert to love, because the deep truth, the truth of God, is at the same time love…. In this spirit, let us enter the austere and prayerful atmosphere of Lent, which is truly an atmosphere of love for our brothers and sisters.”

Suggested themes to develop during Lent:

• Love One Another
• The Eucharist
• Reconciliation

Suggestions for your Lenten journey

Retreat or Day of reflection/prayer
Aids for reflection on the Scripture of the day:

• www.redemptorists.ca
• www.sacredspace.ie
• www.pray-as-you-go.org (daily prayer for your MP3 player)
• The Word Among Us (www.wordamongus.org), 9639 Doctor Perry Road #126, Ijamsville, MD 21754-990
• Living Faith, 1564 Fencorp Drive, Fenton, MO 63026-2942
• Sacred Journey: Daily Readings for Lent 2007 (NOVALIS) to order by telephone: (800) 313-3020 ext. 233

Lent is a good time to begin praying the Liturgy of the Hours. Shorter Christian Prayer is a shorter edition of Christian Prayer which is the one-volume edition of the Liturgy of the Hours. It contains a selection of material for Morning and Evening Prayer. Each member of the National and Provincial executive has a copy of Shorter Christian Prayer which is used for Morning and Evening Prayer when we meet. It is small, so it is easy to carry with you, and can be used daily to enhance your prayer life. Check your local Catholic bookstore, it is probably available there. (I called St. Andrew’s Bookstore in Vancouver and they have it in stock.) If that fails, it can be purchased from Broughton’s 2105 Danforth Ave., Toronto, ON M4C 1K1 or www.bbroughton.com; www.amazon.com.

Important Dates
February 11 Memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes (World Day of the Sick)
February 21 Ash Wednesday
February 22 Chair of St. Peter
March 2 World Day of Prayer – the theme this year is United Under God’s Tent;
The prayer service was prepared by the World Day of Prayer Committee of Paraguay.
Resources for the service are available from Women’s Inter-Church Council of Canada www.wicc.org or telephone (416) 929-5184
March 17 St. Patrick’s Day
March 19 Feast of St. Joseph, husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary, patron of the universal church, and principal patron of Canada
March 26 Annunciation of the Lord
April 1-8 Holy Week
April 5-7 Easter Triduum

In the words of Pope Benedict XVI (Ash Wednesday 2006), “May Lent also be a time of fasting, penance and watchfulness of ourselves, and may we be convinced that the fight against sin is never-ending, because temptation is a daily reality and we all experience fragility and delusion.”

I love this quote by George Sand on kindness; “Guard well within yourself that treasure, kindness. Know how to give without hesitation, how to lose without regret, how to acquire without meanness.”

May everyone you meet see a reflection of Jesus in you.

God Bless.
Marianna C.