Lenten Grace E-Book

Daughters of

• Herausgeber: anna ruggieri
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2019

Beschreibung

In this daily Lenten companion, members of the Daughters of St. Paul guide readers in lectio divina on the Scripture readings for the season. Includes the text of the Exultet with reflections for the Octave of Easter.

Leseprobe

Lenten Grace

Daily Gospel Reflections

By the Daughters of Saint Paul

Boston

www.pauline.org

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Lenten grace: daily Gospel reflections / by the Daughters of Saint Paul.

p. cm.

ISBN 0-8198-4525-6 (pbk.)

1. Lent—Prayers and devotions. 2. Catholic Church—Prayers and devotions. 3. Bible N.T. Gospels—Meditations. I. Daughters of St. Paul.

BX2170.L4L47 2008

242’.34—dc22

2008025737

Scripture texts in this work are taken from the New American Bible with Revised New Testament and Revised Psalms © 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C., and are used by permission of the copyright owner. All rights reserved. No part of the New American Bible may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

The English translation of the Easter Proclamation (Exsultet) from Rite of Holy Week © 1972, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved.

Cover design by Rosana Usselmann

Cover photo: Mary Emmanuel Alves, FSP

Interior photos: Armanda L. Santos, FSP, and Mary Emmanuel Alves, FSP, © Daughters of St. Paul

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without permission in writing from the publisher.

“P” and PAULINE are registered trademarks of the Daughters of St. Paul.

Copyright © 2008, Daughters of St. Paul

Published by Pauline Books & Media, 50 Saint Paul’s Avenue, Boston, MA 02130–3491

Printed in the U.S.A.

www.pauline.org

Pauline Books & Media is the publishing house of the Daughters of St. Paul, an international congregation of women religious serving the Church with the communications media.

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Contents

How to Use this Book

Liturgical Calendar

Ash Wednesday

Thursday after Ash Wednesday

Friday after Ash Wednesday

Saturday after Ash Wednesday

First Week of Lent

Sunday of the First Week of Lent — A

Sunday of the First Week of Lent — B

Sunday of the First Week of Lent — C

Monday of the First Week of Lent

Tuesday of the First Week of Lent

Wednesday of the First Week of Lent

Thursday of the First Week of Lent

Friday of the First Week of Lent

Saturday of the First Week of Lent

Second Week of Lent

Sunday of the Second Week of Lent — A

Sunday of the Second Week of Lent — B

Sunday of the Second Week of Lent — C

Monday of the Second Week of Lent

Tuesday of the Second Week of Lent

Wednesday of the Second Week of Lent

Thursday of the Second Week of Lent

Friday of the Second Week of Lent

Saturday of the Second Week of Lent

Third Week of Lent

Sunday of the Third Week of Lent — A

Sunday of the Third Week of Lent — B

Sunday of the Third Week of Lent — C

Monday of the Third Week of Lent

Tuesday of the Third Week of Lent

Wednesday of the Third Week of Lent

Thursday of the Third Week of Lent

Friday of the Third Week of Lent

Saturday of the Third Week of Lent

Fourth Week of Lent

Sunday of the Fourth Week of Lent — A

Sunday of the Fourth Week of Lent — B

Sunday of the Fourth Week of Lent — C

Monday of the Fourth Week of Lent

Tuesday of Fourth Week of Lent

Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Lent

Thursday of the Fourth Week of Lent

Friday of the Fourth Week of Lent

Saturday of the Fourth Week of Lent

Fifth Week of Lent

Sunday of the Fifth Week of Lent — A

Sunday of the Fifth Week of Lent — B

Sunday of the Fifth Week of Lent — C

Monday of the Fifth Week of Lent

Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Lent

Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Lent

Thursday of the Fifth Week of Lent

Friday of the Fifth Week of Lent

Saturday of the Fifth Week of Lent

Passion Sunday

Passion Sunday — A

Passion Sunday — B

Passion Sunday — C

Holy Week

Monday of Holy Week

Tuesday of Holy Week

Wednesday of Holy Week

Holy Thursday

Good Friday

Easter Vigil

Easter Vigil — A

Easter Vigil — B

Easter Vigil — C

Easter Sunday

The Exsultet

Octave of Easter

Monday in the Octave of Easter

Tuesday in the Octave of Easter

Wednesday in the Octave of Easter

Thursday in the Octave of Easter

Friday in the Octave of Easter

Saturday in the Octave of Easter

List of Contributors

How to Use This Book

“Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening” (1 Sam 3:9).

Lent is a “favorable time” (cf. Is 49:8), a time of abundant grace that draws us toward God and away from the darkness of sin.

In these pages, various members of the Daughters of St. Paul share moments of joy and insight through prayer with Scripture. Our Founder, Blessed James Alberione, encouraged such prayer, saying, “The person who nourishes himself or herself on the Word of the Bible … will be penetrated by the Holy Spirit.” The Word of God presented to us in the liturgy during Lent is especially rich and favorable to deeper prayer and contemplation.

Following the Gospel reading for each day of Lent, these reflections are based on Lectio Divina (“holy reading”), which is a way of praying with Scripture. Many methods of doing this have developed since the time of early monasticism. Here, the sisters use a simple framework that allows the Word of God to make room in our minds and hearts.

The first step, Lectio (“reading”), is to read the day’s Gospel passage from a missal or Bible. Read it a few times slowly, perhaps especially noticing the phrase or verse that is listed under the Meditatio section.

Next, the Meditatio (“meditation”) expands the meaning of this phrase and explores what it is saying to us today—what God is asking of us, or challenging us to, or offering to us. After reading the meditation, take as much time as you like to reflect on it.

The Oratio (“prayer”) can help you talk to God about what has arisen in your heart, so that the time of prayer becomes a conversation, not just a time to think. God has spoken in the Scripture. We hear the invitation in our meditation, but now a response is called for. Our response is not just to say, “Yes, I want to do as you are asking me,” but also to say, “Help me do it, Lord!”

The short line under Contemplatio (“contemplation”) is a way of extending this time of prayer into life. You can silently repeat it throughout the day to help deepen the intimacy with the Lord that you experienced in prayer.

May your Lent be grace-filled and abundantly blessed!

Liturgical Calendar

Note to the reader: The weekday readings during Lent are the same from year to year, but the Sunday readings follow a three-year cycle (A, B, or C) as indicated in the following chart:

Ash Wednesday

Lectio

Matthew 6:1–6, 16–18

Meditatio

“… [Do not] perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them … your Father who sees in secret will repay you.”

“What are you going to do for Lent?” As children each year we had to answer this question. We gave up cookies, candy, TV, video games…; the list was made up of our most precious pleasures. We struggled through the forty days of Lent, flexing our spiritual muscles as we raced toward the Easter Day finish line. As adults we’ve settled into a more sophisticated Lenten spirituality, but often we end up giving up the same things we did as kids, perhaps hoping to lose a little weight or gain a little time.

Today’s Gospel reading prods us to go deeper. It centers around theatrics. We all are mini-celebrities of our own lives, imagining a trail of adoring fans following us. We can even make Lent into a minor Hollywood production. We conceive the idea for our Lenten penance. We write the script. We are producer, director, actor, and audience all wrapped in one. And we end up at the Easter Day finish line as self-absorbed as we were on Ash Wednesday.

Perhaps these words of Jesus spoken to us today are asking us to go backstage, take the last seat, sit down, and wait for God to reveal to us the script he has written for us this Lent. Perhaps as adults we should be asking at the beginning of Lent: What is God going to do for me in these next forty days? What is it that I desire God to do for me in this long Lenten retreat?

Instead of theatrics, Jesus is inviting us to simple honesty. To smallness. To just being there and sensing his grace, quiet enough, still enough to feel the gentle tugs of the Spirit to newness, to giving up obstacles to the growth of a treasured relationship, to finding a few moments daily to read the Word of God, to surrender fear.… What God is going to do in your life will surprise you. Expect it.

Oratio

Jesus, I am not accustomed to telling you to do whatever you want in my life. In fact, it’s kind of scary to see what you would do if I let you write my life’s script. I think I am doing a pretty good job at my life on my own. But it seems you want something more of me now. Instead of Lent being my focus, you are placing me front and center in your focus. I am expecting you to show me what you want to give me at this stage of my life. I trust you.

Contemplatio

I expect you, God, to do something with me this Lent.

Thursday after Ash Wednesday

Lectio

Luke 9:22–25

Meditatio

“If anyone wishes to come after me, he must … take up his cross daily and follow me.”

Today’s Gospel challenges us to true discipleship, to follow a Messiah who defies all our human expectations. In the verses immediately preceding today’s Gospel, Jesus asks his disciples, “… who do you say that I am?” Peter replies, “The Messiah of God” (v. 20). In this context of Peter’s confession of faith, Jesus defines the kind of Messiah he is, challenging Peter (and each of us) to a deeper faith. Jesus reminds us that he did not choose to come into our world in glory and triumph. Instead, he chose to come into the world as a suffering Messiah who would be rejected, killed, and raised on the third day.

Jesus calls his disciples to follow in his footsteps and to take up our cross daily.… That word “daily” stands out for me. Jesus is asking us for commitment—a resolute decision to carry our cross—not just through this season of Lent, or when big sufferings come our way, but every day. Yet how are we to do this?

For those of us seeking to live the Christian life, we won’t have to look far to find the cross. We are called to daily lay down our lives by letting go of our own preferences, desires, strong opinions. We make choices for the sake of Christ and his Gospel and not on the basis of our own immediate feelings or reactions. On any given day, this may mean many things. Perhaps it will mean setting aside my own need for recognition while seeking to encourage others in their gifts, or choosing not to act out of feelings of anger when a family member says something that hurts. In each circumstance, we are called to choose Christ and to place the good of others before our own. Yet the cross never has the last word! With every death to self, the cross leads to resurrection and new life in Christ.

Oratio

Jesus, I do not always understand your ways. Sometimes, your cross feels like folly to me. Why would you choose suffering and death over triumph and glory? Teach me the mystery of your ways, and how to choose the good of others before my own. This Lent, I renew my commitment to carry my cross daily. May this laying down of my life unite me with you and bring life to others, allowing me to share more deeply in your Easter joy. For if I die with you, I will also live with you.

Contemplatio

“For to me, ‘life’ is Christ … ” (Phil 1:21).

Friday after Ash Wednesday

Lectio

Matthew 9:14–15

Meditatio

“Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?”

Today’s reference to the bridegroom is one of many uses of marriage imagery in the Gospels. Jesus refers to himself as the “bridegroom” and tells a parable about a king who threw a wedding banquet for his son. In another passage, the familiar story of the wise and foolish virgins also centers on the arrival of the bridegroom. Those who were ready went in with him to celebrate the wedding feast. In John’s Gospel the Baptist declares: “The one who has the bride is the bridegroom; the best man, who stands and listens for him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. So this joy of mine has been made complete” (Jn 3:29). A major wedding connection is also made in the Gospel of John with the marriage feast at Cana, when Jesus turned water into wine. In the Old Testament we find the Song of Songs and, in the prophets, the heart-rending love God has for his people who turned away from him adulterously to follow false idols.

Augustine also used this nuptial imagery, speaking of Jesus’ coming into the world in terms of marriage. For Augustine this imagery of bride and bridegroom is a symbol of Jesus’ spousal desire for us, his love that blindly gives itself over to union whatever the cost, the beginning of a love affair born in eternity, to be consummated on the marriage bed of the cross, and finally raised in glory to the right hand of the Father.

When disciples fast today, it is a fasting of faith because Jesus has ascended into heaven. More than the lack of food, it is the absence of the sight of the bridegroom. It is a continual search for him and a longing for his return. Fasting from food, from TV, from complaining, or whatever else we decide to fast from, is a discipline that helps us keep focused on why we are here: we are invited to a forever wedding feast, not simply as a guest, but as the bride.

Oratio

Jesus, when we could not come to you, you came to us to forge an unbreakable bond between us and God, a bond of love that will last for eternity. At the beginning of these days of penitence, I feel this bond strengthening. I feel that you care about me and my life. I feel that you want me to realize how close you are to me. Help me to let go of whatever habits have become obstacles to living in your presence.

Contemplatio

You have come into the world as to a marriage.