Works of Mercy for Mommy and Daddy
Are you a parent who feels a bit guilty because you do not perform works of mercy like working in a soup kitchen or doing prison ministry? Or do you know a mom or dad who might feel this way? I came across an excellent article about how parents carry out all of the works of mercy at home. So this week, instead of offering my reflections on this site, I give you the gift of someone else’s article. Just click on the link below. Enjoy!
Don’t Procrastinate. Act! Take Charge of Your Life.
A lesson plan called for the teacher to cut out cardboard circles and print “TUIT” on them. Then she was to pass them out to her students and state that they now had no excuse for saying “I didn’t get around to it.” Part of the human condition is that we sometimes put off what should be done. We share the trait of all physical entities: inertia, a thing at rest tends to stay at rest. The tasks we do not undertake can be mundane, such as sewing on a button or washing the windows. Or they can be more serious: making an appointment for a mammogram, apologizing to someone we’ve hurt, or going to confession. Procrastination is akin to sloth, which is one of the ten deadly sins! It has negative consequences. The chore we haven’t accomplished weighs on our mind and heart until we tackle it. It induces stress and anxiety. When we do “get around to it,” we may do the job poorly. Here are some ideas for combating procrastination and taking action. (more…)
Fasting in Lent in Order to Feast
One of the three spiritual disciplines Christians practice during Lent is fasting. (The other two are prayer and almsgiving. The three practices have their origin in Christ’s Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 6.) We must eat in order to live, and fortunately God has made eating pleasurable for us . . . except when the meal is overcooked or undercooked and when we have an aversion to certain foods! Refraining from eating is associated with spirituality from time immemorial. People of the Old Testament fasted, and so did Jesus and the early Christians. There are good reasons for fasting and not only during Lent. Today many people fast as a means to lose weight. True, dieting is good for their health, but this is arguably the least noble motive for fasting. The primary purpose of religious fasting is spiritual: to increase our hunger for God. Here are nine other reasons to fast with examples from Scripture. (more…)
Valentines for God
Remember how we celebrated St. Valentine’s Day in grade school by passing out valentines to our classmates? In the fourth grade I was crushed when the boy I liked best did not give me a valentine. But then after school, he appeared at our house and handed me a valentine. It wasn’t one of those penny ones that come in a collection, but a special large 25¢ one! My nine-year-old heart was healed. He loved me after all! Every February we focus on telling people “I love you.” Interestingly, the first and greatest commandment is to love God with every atom of our being and every ounce of strength. In prayer, we tell God we love him. But words are not enough. Recently I came across the story of a boy whose father told him “I love you” every day. But the father never showed the boy love. The father’s words were empty. How sad. So, how can we show God love? The same ways that we show people in our lives that we love them. Here are six “valentines” we can give to God. (more…)
Why Penance? Why Friday? Why Fish?
I grew up near Lake Erie. Every so often our neighbor Joe brought my mother some fish he caught. She was grateful, except for the fact that she would have to clean and debone them.
You might wonder why we Catholics eat fish on Lenten Fridays. It began when Christians gave up meat as a penance, a way to atone for sin. In those early days, meat was expensive, the food of the wealthy, and a treat enjoyed mostly on feast days. Therefore it would hurt to give it up. On the other hand, fish, which was cheap and abundant, made a good substitute for meat. (Meat comes from mammals, not fish.) (more…)
