---Meditations
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L E N T – A Season of Fasting & Feasting
Lent should be more than a time of fasting. It should also be a joyful season of feasting. Lent is a time to FAST from certain things and to feast on others. It is a season in which we should:
FAST from judging others; Feast on the Christ indwelling them.
FAST from emphasis on differences; Feast on the unity of all life.
FAST from apparent darkness; Feast on the reality of light.
FAST from thoughts of illness; Feast on the healing power of God.FAST from words that pollute; Feast on phrases that purify.
FAST from discontent; Feast on gratitude.
FAST from anger; Feast on patience.
FAST from pessimism; Feast on optimism.FAST from worry; Feast on divine order.
FAST from complaining; Feast on appreciation.
FAST from negatives; Feast on affirmatives.
FAST from unrelenting pressures; Feast on unceasing prayer.FAST from hostility; Feast on non-resistance
FAST from bitterness; Feast on forgiveness.
FAST from self-concern; Feast on compassion for others.
FAST from personal anxiety; Feast on eternal truth.FAST from discouragement; Feast on hope.
FAST from facts that depress; Feast on verities that uplift.
FAST from lethargy; Feast on enthusiasm.
FAST from suspicion; Feast on truth.FAST from thoughts that weaken; Feast on promises that inspire.
FAST from shadows of sorrow; Feast on the sunlight of serenity.
FAST from idle gossip; Feast on purposeful silence.
FAST from problems that overwhelm; Feast on prayer that under girds.Gracious God,
We give thanks for this food:
gift of your bounty and work of human hands
which we are about to receive through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Prophets of A Future Not Our Own
It helps, now and then,
to step back and take the long view.
The Kingdom is not only beyond our efforts,
it is even beyond our vision.We accomplish in our lifetime
only a tiny fraction
of the magnificent enterprise that is God’s work.Nothing we do is complete,
which is another way of saying that
the Kingdom always lies beyond us.No statement says all that could be said.
No prayer fully expresses our faith.
No confession brings perfection,
no pastoral visit brings wholeness.
No program accomplishes the Church’s mission.
No set of goals and objectives includes everything.This is what we are about.
We plant the seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted,
knowing that they hold future promise.
We lay foundations
that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces effects far beyond our capabilities.We cannot do everything,
and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.
This enables us to do something,
and to do it very well.It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning,
a step along the way,
an opportunity for the Lord’s grace to enter
and do the rest.We may never see the end results,
but that is the difference
between the master builder and the worker.We are workers, not master builders,
ministers, not messiahs.
We are prophets of a future not our own.
+ Archbishop Romero
