{"id":1186,"date":"2021-02-19T13:26:59","date_gmt":"2021-02-19T13:26:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shcj.org\/european\/?p=1186"},"modified":"2022-07-15T16:34:26","modified_gmt":"2022-07-15T16:34:26","slug":"lenten-reflections-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shcj.org\/european\/lenten-reflections-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Lenten Reflections"},"content":{"rendered":"

Easter Sunday<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Darkness has been put to flight! Alleluia!<\/em><\/p>\n

By the living Lord of light! Alleluia!<\/em><\/p>\n

James Quinn SJ<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Holy Saturday<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.<\/em><\/p>\n

Where you there when they laid him in the tomb?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/em>African-American Spiritual<\/p>\n

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Good Friday<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

All you who pass this way, look and see.<\/em><\/p>\n

Lamentations 3<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Holy Thursday<\/strong><\/p>\n

May we who eat be bread for others;<\/em><\/p>\n

may we who drink pour out our love.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Palm Sunday<\/strong><\/p>\n

Maybe we can imagine what the donkey saw, heard and felt on that journey through Jerusalem: noisy crowds waving leafy branches and spreading their cloaks on his path \u2013 and imagine, too, what Jesus saw, heard, felt and anticipated … Sometimes we need to look at familiar scenes from a different angle in order to re-enter them.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What the Donkey Saw by U.A. Fanthorpe<\/p>\n

No room in the inn, of course,
\nand not that much in the stable,
\nwhat with the shepherds, Magi, Mary,
\nJoseph, the heavenly host \u2014
\nnot to mention the baby
\nusing our manger as a cot.
\nYou couldn\u2019t have squeezed another cherub in
\nfor love nor money.
\nStill, in spite of the overcrowding,
\nI did my best to make them feel wanted.
\nI could see the baby and I
\nwould be going places together.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Fifth Sunday of Lent<\/strong><\/p>\n

Pictures of large cemeteries have filled our TV screens over the last year and the loss of a family member, friend, colleague or neighbour has been accentuated by socially-distanced burial rites.<\/p>\n

Artist and poet, Jan Richardson, reflects on the truth that \u201cwhen we suffer an agonizing loss, something of us goes into the grave. As we wrestle with our grief, we will be visited by questions about what new life waits for us. We will find ourselves faced with a choice: will we gather the graveclothes more tightly around ourselves, or will we respond to the voice of Christ, who stands at the threshold and calls us to come out? The choosing is not to be rushed.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Fourth Sunday of Lent<\/strong><\/p>\n

In today\u2019s first reading we hear of the walls of Jerusalem being torn down, its palaces set on fire and all its precious objects destroyed. As we know from watching the News, it is very distressing to see things aflame or damaged, seemingly beyond repair.\u00a0 We are invited to reflect on our relationship with \u2018things\u2019, great and small.<\/p>\n

THINGS\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Lisel Mueller<\/p>\n

What happened is, we grew lonely
\nliving among the things,
\nso we gave the clock a face,
\nthe chair a back,
\nthe table four stout legs
\nwhich will never suffer fatigue.<\/p>\n

We fitted our shoes with tongues
\nas smooth as our own
\nand hung tongues inside bells
\nso we could listen
\nto their emotional language,<\/p>\n

and because we loved graceful profiles
\nthe pitcher received a lip,
\nthe bottle a long, slender neck.<\/p>\n

Even what was beyond us
\nwas recast in our image;
\nwe gave the country a heart,
\nthe storm an eye,
\nthe cave a mouth
\nso we could pass into safety.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Third Sunday of Lent<\/strong><\/p>\n

This week the images used in the readings remind us of place: the land and the temple. So many are still \u2018sheltering in place\u2019 because of the pandemic and all of us wonder what our world and our church will be like whenever it ends. The readings invite us to recognise that everything – our countries, our parishes, ourselves – are broken and fallen, weak and poor, while still being the dwelling place of God. This creates the freedom to love imperfect places and people!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Second Sunday of Lent<\/strong><\/p>\n

Last Sunday we were offered the image of the rainbow as a sign of God\u2019s faithfulness. In today\u2019s readings we are invited to climb mountains and see stars and sand and clouds: images of wonder, abundance and mystery and, again, of immeasurable love.<\/p>\n

The sculptor, Rodin, challenges artists and all of us to let \u201cour eyes plunge beneath the surface to the meaning of things [and explore] all the truth of nature, not only the exterior truth, but also, and above all, the inner truth\u201d.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

First Sunday of Lent<\/strong><\/p>\n

At the start of Lent we are offered the familiar reading from the Book of Genesis which reminds us of God\u2019s promise:<\/p>\n

\u201cI set my rainbow in the clouds to serve as a sign
\nof the covenant between me and the earth.\u201d<\/p>\n

This lovely symbol urges us to trust that God\u2019s over-arching and stubborn love refuses to give up on us, as individuals and as a world community. It invites us to respond to opportunities to reconnect with love and justice, \u201ca return to respecting limits, curbing the reckless pursuit of wealth and power, looking out for the poor and those living on the edges\u201d – Pope Francis.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

ASH WEDNESDAY<\/strong><\/p>\n

Recently, Damian Howard SJ described FRATELLI TUTTI as an encyclical<\/p>\n

\u201cfor tumultuous times,
\nfor a pandemic wrapped inside a financial crisis
\nencased in impending ecological catastrophe\u201d.<\/p>\n

The encyclical would make a good Lent book this year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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