Catholic Caucus: Daily Mass Readings, 02-11-05, Optional, Our Lady of Lourdes

"The wedding guests": literally, "the sons of the house where the wedding is being celebrated"

I don't know where "the children of the house..." comes from. The Greek is simply "oi yioi tou nymfonos", "sons of the bridegroom", -- filii sponsi.

The Word Among Us

Friday, February 11, 2005

Meditation
Isaiah 58:1-9

The tradition of fasting has long been practiced by the people of God. Moses and Elijah went on forty-day fasts as a way to open themselves to God. In doing so, they were taking up a position of humility and abandonment before God. Jesus also went into the desert to fast for forty days so that he could hear from the Father and be empowered to begin his public ministry. We have these wonderful examples to inspire us in our own goal of fasting during Lent.

The church includes this passage from Isaiah at the beginning of Lent to give us a “heads-up” warning. How easy it can be for fasting to become a formality or a ritual that’s reduced to following a set of rules! But God wants our fasting to become life-giving and to lead us to “share our bread with the hungry” (Isaiah 58:7), or to take up other acts of mercy and kindness. This season, we are being encouraged to take up specific programs of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Let’s be careful to enter into these practices with a heartfelt surrender to God, depending on him to work miracles of transformation in our lives and in the lives of those around us.

If you have children at home, Lent can be a wonderful training time for them to learn to deny themselves for the sake of someone else. Maybe a less traditional but equally effective fast could be giving up an afternoon to go door-to-door in your neighborhood to collect canned goods for the local soup kitchen or food pantry. Another idea might be to give up negative words between family members and to speak words of blessing and goodness instead. You could even have an accounting at the end of each day and put stars on a world map showing how their little denial can light up the world.

Those of us who do not have children at home can do similar things, maybe going further: fasting from negative thinking, fasting from anxiety, or fasting from gossip and a sharp tongue. The possibilities are endless. Let’s give the Lord a little bit of our pleasures and time this Lent and watch the blessings flow. He won’t disappoint us!

“Jesus, purify my heart so that I can become more like you. Increase my concern for others so that they may know your life and love through my actions.”

One Bread, One Body

<< Friday, February 11, 2005 >>

Our Lady of Lourdes

Isaiah 58:1-9

Psalm 51

Matthew 9:14-15

View Readings

FAST IMPRESSIONS

“Your disciples do not” fast. —Matthew 9:14

Jesus said that when we fast, we should freshen up so no one can see we are fasting (Mt 6:17-18). He meant that we should fast so as to please God, not man.

In one sense, however, people should be able to tell we are fasting no matter how nice our complexion is. Fasting causes drastic changes which are visible to those around us.

Fasting, along with prayer, is the most effective weapon to bring down the strongholds of the evil one (Gospel of Life, Pope John Paul II, 100).
Fasting sets free the oppressed, the captive, the depressed, the addicted, and the homeless (Is 58:6-7).
Our fasting from food causes more of our money to be available to feed and clothe the hungry and poor (Is 58:7).
Immovable, mountainous problems are overcome by fasting and prayer (Mt 17:21, NAB).
Fasting is accompanied by humility, selflessness, and a lack of strife with those around us (Is 58:3-4).

In summary, true fasting pierces the clouds and causes our prayers to be heard and answered by God (Is 58:4). True fasting brings undeniable results.

Judge your own fasting by the above Scriptural results of true fasting. Are you fasting in such a way that your world is changing? Could others tell you are fasting simply by observing the life-changing and world-changing power emanating from your life?

Prayer: Father, pour out Your love in our hearts (Rm 5:5) so that we will desire to fast as You wish (Is 58:6) and so change the world.

Promise: “Your vindication shall go before you.” —Is 58:8

Praise: Every week, Jacob lights a candle in front of the Our Lady of Lourdes grotto in his church and offers specific intercession for a loved one. Many of the intercessions have already been granted. Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us.

**condiments or foods made using animal fat are permitted **

This surprised me -- didn't know it at all.

And yes, I agree we are sissies. I think many practice the fast and abstinence more rigidly that the rules outline!

"I think many practice the fast and abstinence more rigidly that the rules outline!"

The ascetical practice of fasting has been given to us by the Church to prepare us for the greatest joy we as Christians have, that of the Risen Pascha, Christ! But even if we fail to fast, nevertheless, as St. John Chrysostomos says, we should all join in the rejoicing of the great and shining feast of Pascha, for by His resurrection, He has destroyed death, trampled down the gates of Hades and restored life to those in the tomb.

Kolo, I've been meaning to ask you, do the Orthodox abstain from all animal products during Lent?

I was surfing the net, and discovered (but didn't bookmark) an Orthodox Melkite site that went into some detail on the symbolism behind such abstinence. It was interesting, and made quite a bit of sense to me.

Bascially, the website stated that the reason for such abstinence is that it's a vehicle for recalling, and paying tribute to, that time in Paradise, before the fall of Adam and Eve, when the possibility of humans walking righteously with the Lord existed, in the bounty and blessing of his perfect creation. A time and place in which no enmity at all existed, and no such thing as predation. I found it moving.

"Kolo, I've been meaning to ask you, do the Orthodox abstain from all animal products during Lent?"

In a strict monastic fast, we abstain from all meat and meat products, dairy products, eggs, fish with a backbone, oil and wine for the entire period of Great Lent, not just Fridays. I suspect that most people will eat fish with a backbone and use oil, but many do the whole thing.

I have heard more stories about fasting than I can count, but I suspect that it has a monastic origin and recalls Christ's fast in the desert and the wandering of the Israelites in their travels to the Promised Land. For me, the denial of the desires of the flesh allows me to concentrate more on the cycle of services and Liturgies in Great Lent more intently and to enjoy the great Feast of Pascha more fully.

FEAST OF THE DAY

On February 11, 1858, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to St.
Bernadette Soubirous beginning a series of apparitions that have
served to rejuvenate the faith of many and bring about the
conversion and healing of thousands.

In her apparitions to Bernadette, Mary appeared as a humble girl
with a rosary over her arm and roses at her feet. She spoke with
Bernadette as an equal and treated Bernadette with dignity. In one of
the apparitions to St. Bernadette, Mary revealed that "I am the
Immaculate Conception." This came only a few years after the
dogma of the Immaculate Conception had been proclaimed by Pope
Pius IX in the Constitution Ineffabilis Deus and served to bring more
awareness to the dogma throughout the world.

Soon after Bernadette began receiving the visions of Mary, word of
them spread throughout the surrounding area and eventually to the
whole world. After interviews with Bernadette, the proving of many
miracles at the site of the apparition and interviews with various other
witnesses, the Church confirmed the authenticity of the visions.
Many miracles have been confirmed at the shrine that was built to
Mary on the spot where she appeared to Bernadette. The feast of
Our Lady of Lourdes was declared to be a world wide feast day in
1907.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

I am the Immaculate Conception -Revelation of the Virgin Mary to St.
Bernadette at Lourdes.

TODAY IN HISTORY

731 Pope St Gregory II dies
824 Pope St Paschal I dies
1858 In Lourdes, France, 14-year-old Bernadette Soubirous
experienced her first vision of the Virgin Mary. By July 16th of this
year, she had experienced 18 such visions.
1929 Vatican City made an enclave of Rome

TODAY'S TIDBIT

In 1992, Pope John Paul II designated February 11 as World Day of
the Sick. This is a time for "prayer and sharing, of offering one's
suffering for the good of the Church and of reminding us to see in our
sick brother and sister the face of Christ who, by suffering, dying and
rising, achieved the salvation of humankind." (Quote from Letter
Instituting the World Day of the Sick, 13 May 1992, 3)

INTENTION FOR THE DAY

On this World Day of the sick, please pray for all the sick and for all care
providers.