I Will Go To The Altar of God - Our Lenten Retreat

Hi SJCC folks -  

Last night at the end of the second night of our Parish Retreat, Fr. Neville challenged us to continue our conversation about the two questions that Mr. Jim Brown asked.  His two questions were very good ones that we thought about for a few moments and then shared our responses for a few minutes with the people who were sitting around us. 

The questions he posed were:

(1) During the preparation of the gifts when we bring our "whole selves" to God at the altar, what is it that we are praying for?  What is it that we are thankful for?  What is our prayer at that moment?

(2) When you hear the priest say the words that Jesus spoke at the Last Supper as he raises the bread ("Take this all of you, and eat of it, for this is my body, which will be given up for you.") and the wine ("Take this all of you, and drink from it, for this is the chalice of my blood, the blood of the new and eternal covenant, which will be poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins.  Do this in memory of me.")  what are you thinking about at that moment?

There were some great comments that people shared at the retreat!  Let's continue the conversation here on-line on this blog.  Post your thoughts as comments.  Thanks for participating!!

Lenten Peace!!

Danny G.

Make It a Weekly EVENT!

You have a dentist appointment, a meeting with the high school band boosters, an Oriole game to go to, and a sports practice pickup for one of the kids.  All of these are normal events in each of our lives.  On Sunday Fr. Neville asked that we consider adding another event to our normal weekly flow -- read and think about the Scripture readings for the upcoming Sunday Mass.  He added that we don’t even need to read the all of the readings, or even one reading in total!!  I think he’s trying to move our parish toward being more prepared to pray through the readings while we’re together gathered as a community for Mass on Sunday.  I think reading like this really helps me feel more prepared for Mass!

In my last post in April (sorry for being gone for so long!) I wrote about how we made talking about the upcoming Sunday Gospel reading fun for the kids (make sure you read I Want To Be Jesus on this blog page) and how it’s a bit harder now that the kids are older.  But we keep doing it because the benefits are obvious for me and for all of my family.  We are more prepared to hear the Word, integrate it into our lives, and consider the impact of that Word on our lives when we’ve spent a little time with it.

So, I’ll ask you to consider these questions again…do you spend time with the Sunday Scripture readings before Mass on Sunday?  Do you do it with your family?  How do you do it?  What benefits have you seen?  Write a comment on this page!!

Hope you are having a blessed and quiet summer!!  Happy reading!!

Danny G.

"I Want To Be Jesus!"

When our children were small, we’d gather together once a week and pull out this book to play-act the Gospel reading for the coming Sunday.  We’d have fun deciding who would do which parts, coming up with quick costumes for the various characters who had parts in the Gospel reading.  The younger kids who couldn’t read would become dogs or cats, and those animals would get inserted into the storyline as we’d go along.  Think “and then the dog and cat ran up to Jesus and licked his hands.”  The funniest thing about doing the readings this way is that the kids really would shout, “I wanna be Jesus tonight!”

 

The greatest thing about spending the time doing this is that our kids actually learned something about the Gospel reading. Then, when they’d hear the words proclaimed on Sunday at Mass, they’d remember a little something about the story and would smile and nod to us that they were remembering it.

 

Years have passed, and now our only children still at home are ages 18, 15, and 13.  Instead of I Want to be Jesus!, we use the book, At Home with the Word.  This book includes all of the Sunday Mass readings for a given year, as well as commentary and questions. As a family, we try to read the readings every week after an evening meal to prepare for the upcoming Sunday Mass.  We don’t just read the Bible readings together, but instead we talk about what is happening in the reading and what the themes are in all the readings together.  Since this discussion usually takes a little time, the three kids - being typical teenagers - suddenly remember how much homework they have or that they need to practice music or do some other pressing project to try to get out of sharing the Word this way.  And so, week after week, we remind them about how important it is to prepare for the weekly Liturgy by listening to and talking about the three readings and psalm before we hear them at Mass.  They grimace and shake their heads and put their heads down on the kitchen table, but we do it anyway.

 

They come around slowly, often because something in the story peaks their interest and they ask a question about the culture at the time or why God seems to be angry or why Jesus is acting in a certain way.  But, the important thing is that they do come around.  It sometimes seems that it would be easier to just not do it “this” week so we don’t have to hear them complain.  But, we keep on working at it.  It’s a great thing when they turn and look at us during Mass and smile and nod because they understand what they are hearing and remember the story that we read together earlier in the week.  That makes it all worthwhile! It’s great for us as adults to prepare for Mass in this way, too.

 

Do you read the Lectionary readings with your family to prepare for Mass?  Could you share how you do it?

 

If you’d like to start reading the readings during the week before Mass with your family, I suggest you start by reading just the Gospel together and talking about what the story means.  You can find the weekly readings here at the USCCB website.  Enjoy the time together and make it as fun as you can!

 

Lenten Peace!

 

Danny G.

Forty is Here! - Part 2

In the first installment of this post I provided some history of how the Lenten practices of the Church started.  At the end of that post I wrote about the importance of the practice of new Christians spending time in prayer and fasting for the last weeks before joining the Church at Easter and how the community joined with them in that time of special prayer.

 

As the practice of sacramental reconciliation (penance) developed, penitents followed some of the same practices as candidates for initiation. In fact, penance was called a “second baptism,” so the period before Easter became a time for these people to repeat the kind of intense prayer and fasting that they had carried out when they first joined the Church.

 

As the years went along, this time before Easter came to be identified with Jesus’ own forty days spent praying and fasting in the desert before he began his ministry, and every able-bodied member of the community shared in the preparation time that had once been reserved for candidates for initiation and penitents. As in the ancient practical form of late winter-early spring fasting, fasting and abstinence (not eating meat) was reserved to adults; children younger than fourteen and older people were freed from the obligation to fast and abstain.

 

Not too much of these ancient practices remains today, but there is enough to remind us of ancient practices and to invite us into a time of focused prayer and personal and communal renewal. Lent today is about forty days long, beginning on Ash Wednesday and ending with the Evening Mass on Holy Thursday. (There is a special fast day on Good Friday, because it commemorates the day on which Jesus died, and people are encouraged to keep Holy Saturday as a quiet and prayerful time as well.)

Fasting and abstinence are no longer quite as necessary to get the community through the winter and to the next harvest, but they are an important reminder of the hunger that still exists in the world and of the hunger in our own hearts for what is important.

 

Here’s what we’re asked to do: Catholics between the ages of 18 and 59 are obliged to fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday if they are healthy enough to do it. In addition, all Catholics 14 years old and older must abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, and all the Fridays of Lent.

 

Fasting, as explained by the U.S. bishops, means only one full meal on the fast day. Some food (not equaling another full meal) is permitted at breakfast and around midday or in the evening—depending on when a person chooses to eat the main or full meal.

 

Abstinence forbids eating meat but not eggs, milk products, or condiments made of animal fat. So foods like chicken broth, consommé, soups cooked or flavored with meat, meat gravies or sauces, as well as seasonings or condiments made from animal fat are not forbidden. So it is permissible to use margarine and lard. Even bacon drippings which contain little bits of meat may be poured over lettuce as seasoning.

 

Now, for most people, these demands aren’t especially hard, but they’re reminders that we’re in this time of preparation and renewal. They’re also reminders of what we should always be aware of—that there are people around us suffering, hungry, homeless, in pain who are always in need of our help and our prayers.

Lenten Peace!!

Gordon Truitt

Lenten Prayer and PRETZELS!

The story of the transfiguration has forever intrigued me.  I have always wondered what in the world kept Peter, James, and John from running down the mountain path yelling in fear at the top of their lungs.  That’s definitely what I would have done if it had been Danny, James, and John hanging out with Jesus!!

Fr. Neville challenged me tonight in his homily to sit down and schedule out times to connect with God especially during the Retreat Week (3/24 - 3/28) at SJCC.  I’m sure we’ll attend most of the talks that will be held each night in the evening at church, but here’s something you can do with your family during SJCC Retreat Week…make some Lenten Pretzels!!  We made these with our Confirmation Disciple Group this past week.  Here is some interesting information about Lent and pretzels:

A traditional means of reminding the family that it is the holy season of Lent is the Lenten foods which are served only this time of the year. Thus parents and children realize, even at their meals, that prayer and penance should be practiced during these days.

The pretzel has a deep spiritual meaning for Lent. In fact, it was the ancient Christian Lenten bread as far back as the fourth century. In the old Roman Empire, the faithful kept a very strict fast all through Lent: no milk, no butter, no cheese, no eggs, no cream and no meat. They made small breads of water, flour and salt, to remind themselves that Lent was a time of prayer. They shaped these breads in the form of crossed arms for in those days they crossed their arms over the breast while praying. Therefore they called the breads "little arms" (bracellae). From this Latin word, the Germanic people later coined the term "pretzel."

 

Thus the pretzel is the most appropriate food symbol in Lent. It still shows the form of arms crossed in prayer, reminding us that Lent is a time of prayer. It consists only of water and flour, thus proclaiming Lent as a time of fasting. The earliest picture and description of a pretzel (from the fifth century) may be found in a document in the Vatican Library.

That many people eat pretzels today all through the year, and eat them together with beer in taverns and restaurants, is only an accidental habit. In many places of Europe, pretzels are served only from Ash Wednesday to Easter, thus keeping the ancient symbolism alive.

There seems to be no reason why our Christian families should not return to this beautiful custom of our ancient Roman fellow-Christians, especially since we still have these breads everywhere. The children will be delighted and greatly impressed when they hear the true story of the pretzel!

 

From The Year of the Lord in the Christian Home by Rev. Francis X. Weiser, S.J. (Collegeville, Minnesota, The Liturgical Press, ©1964) p. 89, pp. 93-94.

Here’s a prayer to say before eating the pretzels:

We beg you, O Lord, to bless these breads which are to remind us that Lent is a sacred season of penance and prayer. For this very reason, the early Christians started the custom of making these breads in the form of arms crossed in prayer. Thus they kept the holy purpose of Lent alive in their hearts from day to day, and increased in their souls the love of Christ, even unto death, if necessary.

Grant us, we pray, that we too, may be reminded by the daily sight of these pretzels to observe the holy season of Lent with true devotion and great spiritual fruit. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

You can find the pretzel recipe that we used here.  (Recipe works great in a breadmaker, too!)

It’s fun, prayerful, and tastes great!!!  Enjoy!!!

Danny G