Many good people ask me: What can I do personally to come closer to
God, to Christ? Then almost despondently
they ask: What can be done to restore morality, faith, human dignity, family
values, respect for life, and Christian hope and charity to our de-Christianized
world? Even though religion and faith
still occupy an important place in our society, they are obviously losing
ground. Devout members of the Church
wonder what can be done to restore Christian education, renew the clergy and
religious life, and inspire the laity.
A serious reading of Church history
--- a story of growth and decline and growth again, of fervor followed by
apathy and, surprisingly, by reform and renewal --- gives us a resounding
answer to all these questions. The
solution lies in personal prayer, a
real, substantial commitment of individuals to prayer.
---
The King Crucified and Risen, by Fr. Benedict Groeschel, C.F.R.
As Lent 2015 begins, I think the above words from the
Introduction to Fr. Groeschel’s book of daily Lenten meditations can serve as
an adequate reminder of the shape of this world, OUR WORLD, and what we can
begin to do about it.
“Dust thou art, and into dust thou shalt return” (Gn
3:19). Those words, heard on Ash
Wednesday, were first spoken by God to Adam, after he had sinned in the Garden
of Eden. They were God’s reminder of a
coming death, the wages of sin. I
wonder: Looking the world situation, what
words do you think God would be speaking today --- to us?
Every day the headlines shout of another slaughter of
Christians, around the world --- around THE WORLD! Do we think that somehow we are not part of
that world? Do we think the slaughter cannot
come here to our cities, to our churches, to our family? I had dreams of such an event last
night. Fr. Groeschel calls for a real,
substantial commitment to individual prayer --- your prayer --- as a solution
to the horrors of the world. Is that
horror coming home, here in America, what it would take to get you on your
knees? Will you be looking on your
I-phone at pictures of yet another
slaughter and notice those souls lying in their own blood, who will never kneel
in prayer again. And will you, in your
horror, realize you know them?
These Lenten meditations and prayers of Fr. Groeschel’s book
are an excellent place to begin praying. It’s never too late. It does and will make a difference --- in the
world. Lent is a time for repentance of
our sins, and of change. The world needs
to change; it starts with us.
- - - - - -
- - - -
As I walked into the adoration chapel late last night, its
starkness shouted out to me. Gone were
the flowers and plants and many special gifts, placed there as witness to
prayers of petition, or thanksgiving.
Gone were the bright colors and the beautiful smells. What remained were four stately candlesticks,
two on each side of the large gold monstrance in the middle, with its large
host at the center.
This is Jesus’ Lenten home, stark and bare. In a way, He too has begun a Lenten
penance. As I looked at the bareness and
at the lone other adorer in the chapel, the clock struck the midnight
hour: Ash Wednesday and Lent had
begun. With all that seemed missing in
the chapel so starkly obvious, I didn’t quite know how to begin to pray, and so
I blurted out, aloud: “Well Lord, at
least I’m here.”
I don’t know if He smiled, but I did get the feeling that He
welcomed the company. And in the bareness
of the room, He could focus on me, and I on Him. And I think He would like to focus on you
also, were you to drop by for a visit, in a room with no distractions --- just
He and you.
He waits. What will
it take for you to finally get on your knees?
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