Archives by: Gary Hoag

“Do a little channel surfing and you’ll encounter programs like Hoarders, Storage Wars and Auction Hunters. They all show the excess that has become so commonplace in our society. We tend to measure ourselves by how much stuff we accumulate. And the more we have the less generous we tend to be—not only with our stuff, but also in how much of ourselves we invest in relationship with one another.

However, we have a God who is lavish, indeed extravagant, in his love for us… God unsparingly pours out his forgiveness and mercy on us. If our hearts are stingy, we cannot receive this abundance because we are closed off to it. If our hearts are giving, then we are truly blest. Made in the divine image, we are called to imitate our Creator… May our Lenten observances help us to let go of what possesses us so that we can freely give of ourselves in loving service to the one who made us.”

Steven Nyl in Redemptorists of the Denver Province post on 17 March 2014.

OK, so my family chuckles when we watch Storage Wars to see how buyers gamble at getting a unit with valuables in it. Sometimes they win and sometimes, well, they lose their shirts. When we watch Hoarders, however, we come face to face with the destructive power of holding on to possessions. It’s unbelievable to see how the inability to let go of things destroys people.

Conversely, we have the gift of the Lenten season to focus on calling out to God, growing in our faith, learning to let go of things, and loving others more deeply. It’s hard to do this when we live in a culture that celebrates greed and acquisitiveness. So what do we do? Acknowledge these realities and choose to imitate our Lord regardless of what everyone else is doing. Amen?

“The purpose Lent is…above all, a preparation to rejoice in His love. And this preparation consists in receiving the gift of His mercy–a gift which we receive insofar as we open our hearts to it, casting out what cannot remain in the same room with mercy. Now one of the things we must cast out first of all is fear. Fear narrows the little entrance of our heart. It shrinks up our capacity to love. It freezes up our power to give ourselves…”

Thomas Merton in Lent and Easter Wisdom (Liguori, MO: Liguori, 2007) 6.

Abiding in Christ and rejoicing in His love requires us to let go of that which hinders our capacity to dwell in Him. I am not trying to be esoteric here but profoundly sincere. If we live as though we are “fine” (a.k.a. freaked out, insecure, neurotic, and emotional), then the Lenten journey will be nothing more than deeds done in the flesh that will weary us.

If, alternatively, we invite our Lord to pour out His mercy upon us, and if we let go of our fears, then we become people who can give, love, and serve like Christ. I have found the first step to living in this reality is understanding this. Living it out is only possible with God’s grace. God, fill us with your mercy and help us release our fears, empowered by your grace.

In the words of St. Patrick, “Christ be with you, Christ be behind you, Christ be beside you, and Christ be within you,” each step of your journey.

Please don’t pass over this post because of the length.

While the entire Lenten 2014 of Pope Francis is worth reading, here are some great excerpts that I pray enrich you. His message keenly describes the difference between poverty and destitution and reveals how the way of Christ to minister to the destitute relies not on earthly wealth but the sharing of heavenly riches.

May it fill you on this the second feast day of Lent.

“By making himself poor, Jesus did not seek poverty for its own sake but, as Saint Paul says ‘that by his poverty you might become rich’. This is no mere play on words or a catch phrase. Rather, it sums up God’s logic, the logic of love, the logic of the incarnation and the cross…

We might think that this “way” of poverty was Jesus’ way, whereas we who come after him can save the world with the right kind of human resources. This is not the case. In every time and place God continues to save mankind and the world through the poverty of Christ… God’s wealth passes not through our wealth, but invariably and exclusively through our personal and communal poverty, enlivened by the Spirit of Christ.

In imitation of our Master, we Christians are called to confront the poverty of our brothers and sisters, to touch it, to make it our own and to take practical steps to alleviate it. Destitution is not the same as poverty: destitution is poverty without faith, without support, without hope. There are three types of destitution: material, moral and spiritual.

Material destitution is what is normally called poverty, and affects those living in conditions opposed to human dignity: those who lack basic rights and needs such as food, water, hygiene, work and the opportunity to develop and grow culturally. In response to this destitution, the Church offers her help…

No less a concern is moral destitution, which consists in slavery to vice and sin. How much pain is caused in families because one of their members – often a young person – is in thrall to alcohol, drugs, gambling or pornography! How many people no longer see meaning in life or prospects for the future, how many have lost hope…

The Gospel is the real antidote to spiritual destitution: wherever we go, we are called as Christians to proclaim the liberating news that forgiveness for sins committed is possible, that God is greater than our sinfulness, that he freely loves us at all times and that we were made for communion and eternal life. The Lord asks us to be joyous heralds of this message of mercy and hope!

It is thrilling to experience the joy of spreading this good news, sharing the treasure entrusted to us, consoling broken hearts and offering hope to our brothers and sisters experiencing darkness. It means following and imitating Jesus, who sought out the poor and sinners as a shepherd lovingly seeks his lost sheep…

Dear brothers and sisters, may this Lenten season find the whole Church ready to bear witness to all those who live in material, moral and spiritual destitution the Gospel message of the merciful love of God our Father, who is ready to embrace everyone in Christ. We can do this to the extent that we imitate Christ who became poor and enriched us by his poverty.”

To read the entire message, visit: http://www.news.va/en/news/popes-lenten-message-2014-by-his-poverty-you-might

“We must give until it hurts. For love to be true it has to hurt. It hurt Jesus to love us. It hurt God to love us because He had to give. He gave His Son. This the meaning of true love, to give until it hurts.”

Mother Teresa as recounted in Bringing Lent Home with Mother Teresa ed. Donna-Marie Cooper O’Boyle (Notre Dame: Ave Maria Press, 2012), excerpt from reading for Tuesday, First Week of Lent.

Donna-Marie also notes that “Mother Teresa often taught that real giving happens when it hurts. She said too many times people only give of their surplus and don’t sacrifice at all when giving.” How often is that true of me? What about you?

Consider this story Mother Teresa tells of meeting a beggar one day. “She said the beggar told her that he knew others had donated to her for the poor and he also wanted to give. He stretched out his hand and offered twenty-nine paise, which is not enough to buy much of anything. For a moment, Mother Teresa felt torn since she didn’t want to take his food money and cause the beggar to go hungry. It was everything he received from begging that day. She decided to accept it and observed an immediate radiance of joy come across the man’s face. His tiny contribution became like thousands to Mother Teresa because it was given with love and sacrifice.”

As we approach the cross of Christ this Lent together, we will reflect on the unfathomable pain that Christ endured and the sacrifice He made for each of us. In so doing, may the Holy Spirit help each of us learn to take up our cross and suffer, that is, offer ourselves as living sacrifices imitating his humility and generosity.

“Forgiveness is not some churchy technique or formula. Forgiveness is a constant from God’s side, which should become a calm, joyous certainty on our side. Mercy received will be mercy passed on and will not return to me empty until it has succeeded in what it was sent to do.”

Forgive us our debts as we forgive others…If you forgive the faults of others, your heavenly Father will forgive yours. If you do not forgive others, neither can your heavenly Father forgive yours. Matthew 6:12, 14-15.

Prayer: “Good God, keep me forever inside of your abundant and generous flow of mercy, toward me, through me, in me, and from me.”

Richard Rohr, Wondrous Encounters: Scriptures for Lent (Cincinnati: SAMP, 2010) 30.

I don’t know about you, but when I feel I am wrongly wounded by someone, my proclivity is to defend myself and prove that I am right. God forgive me. I am learning from Jesus this Lent as I meditate in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) along with modern day saints, that the measure of mercy and forgiveness I extend to others is the measure that will be extended to me. Gulp! Often I pray, “Lord have mercy.” And today I feel led to pray a new centering prayer, “Lord help me show your mercy.” That’s the part Jesus asks of me. What is He asking of you?

“We pray for the big things and forget to give thanks for the ordinary, small (and yet really not small) gifts.”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, God is on the Cross: Reflections on Lent and Easter (Louisville: WJKP, 2012) 5.

Prayer is a privilege. Consider carving out more time than normal for prayer this Lent. Who knows? It might become a routine that continues. As Bonhoeffer urges us regarding prayer, let us thank God not just for the big stuff but for the little things.

“True prayer is always humble. By definition. True prayer means recognizing that God is God and we…aren’t…So learning to pray means learning to abandon pride…and…to recognize, both in how we pray and what we pray, that everything we have, everything we are, is a gift from God, and that neither we nor anybody else deserve it. Prayer like that will be humble. It will also be a sigh of relief. We don’t have anything to prove, anything to earn. Thank you, Father, for your generous love. Help me, today and every day, to trust in you and not myself.”

N.T. Wright in Lent for Everyone: Luke, Year C – Daily Devotional (London: SPCK, 2009) 62-63.

Wright takes readers on a spiritual journey through Luke in this Lent devotional. I was moved by this reading on the topic of learning to pray. This season, as we focus on prayer, may each of us see ourselves for who we really are and may we also see God for who He is. In turn, may we exhibit humility and generosity, because we have come to realize all the gifts He has richly lavished upon us.

“There are three things, my brethren, by which faith stands firm, devotion remains constant, and virtue endures. They are prayer, fasting and mercy. Prayer knocks at the door, fasting obtains, mercy receives. Prayer, mercy and fasting: these three are one, and they give life to each other.

Fasting is the soul of prayer, mercy is the lifeblood of fasting. Let no one try to separate them; they cannot be separated. If you have only one of them or not all together, you have nothing. So if you pray, fast; if you fast, show mercy; if you want your petition to be heard, hear the petition of others. If you do not close your ear to others you open God’s ear to yourself.

When you fast, see the fasting of others. If you want God to know that you are hungry, know that another is hungry. If you hope for mercy, show mercy. If you look for kindness, show kindness. If you want to receive, give. If you ask for yourself what you deny to others, your asking is a mockery.

Let this be the pattern for all men when they practice mercy: show mercy to others in the same way, with the same generosity, with the same promptness, as you want others to show mercy to you…

Let us offer our souls in sacrifice by means of fasting. There is nothing more pleasing that we can offer to God, as the psalmist said in prophecy: A sacrifice to God is a broken spirit; God does not despise a bruised and humbled heart…

Fasting bears no fruit unless it is watered by mercy. Fasting dries up when mercy dries up. Mercy is to fasting as rain is to earth. However much you may cultivate your heart, clear the soil of your nature, root out vices, sow virtues, if you do not release the springs of mercy, your fasting will bear no fruit.

When you fast, if your mercy is thin your harvest will be thin; when you fast, what you pour out in mercy overflows into your barn. Therefore, do not lose by saving, but gather in by scattering. Give to the poor, and you give to yourself. You will not be allowed to keep what you have refused to give to others.”

Peter Chrysologus (c. 380-450) Bishop of Ravenna in “Sermon 43” in Patrologia Latina 52.

If you felt like you read an excerpt of a good sermon this morning, it’s because you did! His name literally means: Peter “golden-worded.” He was known for his insightful sermons.

Even as Jesus reminds in Matthew 6 that the Father sees and knows our hearts when we pray, fast and give, Peter Chyrsologus helps us see how the function of such activities transforms us and helps us experience life in the Kingdom as our Lord intended. May this understanding help give meaning to our practice of prayer, fasting, and giving this Lent.

“Prayer, fasting, and sharing must include reflection on the social dimensions of sin in our world where many people do not have an adequate share of the world’s resources. Our commitment to prayer and fasting must include a commitment to issues of justice and equality for all people. It is hypocrisy to pray and fast and then assert that the poor of the world are not our problem…”

Mary Birmingham, Word & Worship Workbook (Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1990) 135.

There’s more than enough for everyone in this world but not everyone has enough, so those with more than enough get to share. Our prayer, fasting, and sharing must lead to action. How is God stirring within you?

“The gift of Christ’s body and blood is the gift that keeps on giving: Christians give because of what they have first received. Instructing Corinthian Christians on how to celebrate the Lord’s Supper, the Apostle Paul prefaces his remarks with the paradigm for giving: “For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you… (1 Cor 11:23). The implication was clear: Give what you have so abundantly received…Christ’s gift patterns the giving of every gift.”

Martha Stortz in “Finding the Face of Stewardship” in Rethinking Stewardship: Our Culture, Our Theology, Our Practices (St. Paul, MN: Word & World, 2010) 59.

Today’s the first feast day of Lent. Let us feast on Jesus, the gift that keeps on giving. As we do this, may the Holy Spirit guide each of us as to whom we are to give that which we have so abundantly received, so that our generosity follows Christ’s pattern.