SubscribeHe is Coming
It is easy to lose sight of the reason for this season. We are in the middle of Advent right now, but it sure seems to be forgotten. Since Thanksgiving, and even since Halloween in some cases, many of us have been hustling and bustling – busily running to and fro – buying gifts, baking cookies, and adorning our homes with shiny lights and glittery ornaments. Some wait in line for hours, to be one of the first to rush through the doors on Black Friday, hoping to get that prized possession for their loved one.
Much time during the Christmas season should certainly be spent focusing on charity. With God giving us such a precious gift – His only son – we would all do well to imitate His generosity by giving to those around us. But shouldn’t we save all of that for the Christmas season? While charity is the greatest of the theological virtues, and should be practiced abundantly regardless of season, I think many of us confuse charity with frivolous shopping.
Besides, this is Advent, a season for joyful preparation. Advent is all about the coming of Our Lord. While it is a penitential season – we can do much to prepare ourselves for this great gift – it is also a season for joy.
Liturgically, the four-week season of Advent is divided into two halves. The first two weeks are focused on the Parousia – the second coming of Christ. The readings during Mass guide us to meditate on the last things (eschatology) – death, judgment, heaven, and hell – occurring during the end times.
The final two weeks of Advent are centered around the first coming of Christ – the Incarnation. The readings at Mass help us to direct our attention toward the mystery of God becoming man. We would do well to seize this opportunity to reflect on the fact that the Incarnation was done for us, to repair the damage done to humanity by original sin. We can also take the time during Advent to engage in penance that is intended to help us repair the damage that we have done because of our own sin.
Christmas is a wonderful season, but we must not be so eager for the Nativity of Our Lord that we completely overlook the mystery of the Incarnation – the Word becoming Flesh. Let us spend this season in joyful preparation for His coming. There is plenty of time later for cookies and carols.
Discipline
I’m not much of a linguist, but when I typed the word discipline above, I immediately noticed that it looks a lot like the word disciple. Since I want to be a follower of Christ, a disciple, then I guess it follows that I could use some discipline.
I have selective discipline. I will follow a strict regimen and a very structured life — if it brings me some sort of desired result — within a time frame that I find suitable. Think about how ridiculous that sounds. I am disciplined when it suits me? Why, that’s not discipline at all!
Regularly, I will adopt some sort of prayer schedule. Sometimes I’ll get up early in the morning and begin with the Divine Office. After a few days I will decide to sleep in, and I’ll just pray the Rosary on the way to work. The following week, I’ll totally abandon prayer. It’s a viscious cycle. I keep repeating it.
Prayer and a disciplined spiritual life are critical for me to stay close to God. When I stay close to God, I make good, selfless decisions. When I turn my back on Him, I end up doing things that will eventually have me crawling back into the confessional.
For some reason, the simple things are always the most difficult for me. The answer to my spiritual troubles is very simple — I need to pray, fast, and serve God before all others. If only it was that easy.
Does anyone have any guidance that they wish to share?
Action
I’ve heard it said that you can’t think your way into feeling good. Instead, you have to act your way into right thinking. I’ve had a miserable couple of weeks at work, doing some tasks that I absolutely abhor — tasks that really hurt my pride (and build humility). Yet I’ve managed, for the most part, to maintain a positive attitude — to try and live the gospel for the sake of others. Today though, I was pretty close to just letting go with my emotions. What stopped me? The same thing that has kept me going for the past couple of weeks. Action.
Today after work, I wanted to come home and go into seclusion. I wanted to lay on the couch, turn on the television, and pout. Rather than go for my scheduled jog and make the dinner that I had committed to, I wanted to go out and grab some Subway sandwiches so that I didn’t have to do anything. These feelings lasted for about 15 minutes, when I realized that the path that I was heading down was one where I was going to try to think myself happy. And experience has shown me that thinking myself happy is something that never happens. I have to get up and do something — preferably for someone else!
I’ve been working hard to lose the vices in my life and grow in virtue. I’m finally starting to see that the simple acts of penance that I do on a daily basis — the simple things that I can offer up to God — along with a more consistent prayer life, have really begun to help me grow. Life isn’t perfect, but it sure feels pretty close most of the time. The times that I’m feeling down don’t last nearly as long as they once did.
So the next time that you’re feeling down, go do something for someone else. You have to act your way into right thinking.
Discipline
Why is it that I am so affected by other people’s lack of discipline?
I always notice when children misbehave, but I often forget to notice when they’re behaving kindly. I never fail to recognize when people are talking disruptively (no matter how quiet) in a situation that is best suited for quiet. Yet the people who sit attentively go completely unnoticed.
Did I get old all of a sudden? Have my standards changed, or are people changing?
When I was a child if I was making noise in church (on the rare occasion that I was actually in a church of some kind), I’m very confident that some sort of corrective action would have taken place to silence me. (Note: That’s not a good thing.) When my children were younger, we treated them similarly. We never would have accepted unruly behavior in a quiet environment. It’s just disrespectful.
Am I just overly sensitive to the feelings of others? From my perspective, it seems like most people are concerned with only themselves. They give no thought to how their behavior (or the behavior of their children) might affect others.
While I may be hypersensitive, I think we Americans could use a good dose of discipline! So many people seem to be completely incapable of sacrifice. We eat too much. We spend too much. We talk too much. We sit on the couch too much. In today’s society, can you imagine if you were to ask a Catholic to abstain from meat on a Friday (outside of Lent)? We have this sense of entitlement that comes from — well, I don’t know where — but it seems to come from the devil!
Paragraph 1438 of the Catechism tells us that we should include penitential practices on Fridays. What a wonderful way for us to embrace the discipline that we are called to. So why don’t we? Instead of practicing discipline with an eye on Christ, we practice excess with an eye on the world.
There are numerous scriptural references to fasting and prayer, and I suggest that we could all benefit by taking them seriously. Why not start some sort of Friday tradition in your family?
Holy Week 2008
I’ve got a creative spiritual director. Before this past Holy Week, he told me that I would be wearing a cross around my neck. No problem, I thought. I wear a small crucifix most of the time anyhow. Well, he had a little something more elaborate in mind. The cross he selected for me was eight inches tall, four inches wide, and weighed in at about eight ounces!
My immediate reaction was one of shock and fear. I mean, did he seriously want me to wear this huge Catholic bling in public?
Rationalizing Penance
Penance is a word that is not used much outside of the Catholic Church these days. Unfortunately, it’s probably not used enough within the Church either.
What is Penance?
Often times, penance is thought of as some sort of remedial punishment for sins that we’ve committed. Sinner goes into confessional and confesses sins. Priest gives absolution and assigns penance. Sinner does simple act of penance such as a set number of Our Father or Hail Mary prayers. Penance is complete. If this is all that there is to penance, then it’s easy to understand why so few are interested in its practice.
