First Sunday of Lent

Readings: Genesis 9:8-15; Psalm 24; 1 Peter 3:18-22, Mark 1:12-15

In our first reading God makes a covenant with Noah and with all creation. After the destruction brought by God, furious with sinful humanity, God now promises that he will never again destroy creation by flood. The waters sent by God destroyed all that was sinful, and corrupt. What now remains is now at peace with God, it is now in friendship with him. The rainbow is now a symbol of this peace. It is a reminder to God and all creation of the covenant between them. In his epistle St Peter reminds us that Christ, innocent and sinless though he was, died for us, who are sinful. The waters which covered the earth at the time of Noah are see by Peter was a symbol of our baptism, which saves us and gives us new life in Christ. Like the waters of the flood, our baptismal waters destroy in us all that prevent us from being in close relationship with God.

In our Gospel reading we join Jesus just as he is leaving the waters of the Jordan, after his baptism, at which God proclaimed his identity. Jesus then goes to a lonely desert place, where he is tempted by the devil. There in that lonely place - where Mark tells us he was with the wild beasts and the angels ministered to him - we know from the other gospel accounts that Jesus had to resist evil, which offered him the whole world if he would turn away from his Father and instead worship the devil. Jesus was physically weak with hunger, for we are told he ate nothing for forty days, yet his spirit was strong as he resisted the false and empty promises of the devil. It is interesting that all the devil could offer to Jesus were things that belong to this world only. He could not offer Jesus life eternal, or happiness, or joy, or peace, say. The devil could not offer Jesus these things because they are not his to give. Only God can offer such things to us.

Jesus, by spending those forty days in spiritual conflict after his baptism, shows us, the baptised, how we must follow him. As we begin Lent let us follow Jesus, the human face and heart of God, with hearts unfettered by the things of this world. Let us walk these forty blessed days in his footsteps, resisting all that is wicked.

Saturday after Ash Wednesday

Readings: Isaiah 58:9-14; Ps 85; Luke 5:27-32

One of the most appealing images for me in the bible occurs in the Book of Genesis. There, at the very beginning of humanity’s relationship with God, disobedience and sin have been chosen by Adam and Eve. They are filled with shame and are utterly self conscious of their nakedness, of how exposed they are before their Maker. So they hide, thinking that the trees of the garden could shield them from the gaze of the all-knowing God. Yet God walks in the garden seeking out the man and the woman, calling out to them “where are you?”. To my mind this seems to be a major feature of our salvation story. Sin, disobedience, human shame and yet God is always seeking us out, calling to us in so many different ways.

The readings for today’s Mass speak so beautifully of this. In the prophet Isaiah God calls to us and reasons with us telling us to do away with the yoke, the clenched fist, and the wicked word. God yearns for us to be truly free and liberated from hardness of heart and pettiness. How do we achieve this freedom? By loving service of our neighbours before ourselves and of God. Through this service our light will rise in the darkness, we will find strength for our bones, and we will be like a spring that will never run dry. In serving others and respecting the Sabbath as a day of rest, we will find true happiness in the Lord.

The Gospel is another powerful statement of how God constantly seeks us out. Jesus goes in search of the sinners and outcasts, in this case Levi (also called Matthew in the Gospels) a tax collector. These men were known as collaborators with the hated Roman occupiers, traitors and exploiters of their fellow Jews. They were despised. Yet Jesus goes to call even Levi and not only to call him but to eat with him, an important sign of fellowship. God’s longing for all of us sinners is clear for he says “it is not those who are well who need the doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the virtuous, but sinners to repentance.” Jesus’ message is clear. This Lent let us turn toward the Lord therefore with hope and confidence in his loving search for us so that we may raise the voice of our hearts in joyful response to him as he calls out “where are you?”

Friday after Ash Wednesday

Readings: Isaiah 58:1-9a; Psalm 51:3-4, 5-6ab, 18-19; Matthew 9:14-15

As we stand at the beginning of Lent, the Church gives us in today’s readings some directions for our fasting in this time of penance. Just like the people of the Old Covenant, we may also be tempted to regard fasting and all sacrifices which we offer in these days as a merely outward exercise. We fast and expect God to see it; we humble ourselves and demand a reward of God.

But the prophet Isaiah tells us today that this kind of fasting will not make our voice heard on high (cf. Is 58:4). Our fasting must rather merely be the external expression of our invisible repentance. In this sense it is a sign of something we already have: sorrow for our sins. But at the same time it is a help and a means for a bigger purpose. It helps us, as Benedict XVI writes in his message for Lent, “to restore friendship with God”.

It does not matter what we abstain from. This is, of course, something which everybody has to decide individually for himself. It could be food, meat or sweets, smoking or alcohol, television or the internet, and so on. But it is important to see that we do not fast for the sake of fasting. This would be ridiculous, for some of the things we cut down are actually good in themselves. We refrain from things which are important – perhaps too important – for us in order to become free for greater love towards God and our brothers and sisters.

We must therefore see fasting in its proper context: it forms a unity together with prayer and almsgiving. We grow in love towards God in prayer and towards our fellow men, especially the poor, in sharing our goods with them. They deserve more than a superfluous fraction of our abundance, as it were, the crumbs from our table. Isaiah challenges us to share our bread with the hungry.

Let us therefore in these holy forty days “mortify our egoism and open our heart to love of God and neighbour” (Benedict XVI). Let us give through prayer and almsgiving what we set aside through our fasting. We can give the time we save to God and the people around us and money and other material goods to the poor. “Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am” (Is 58:9).

Thursday after Ash Wednesday

Readings: Deuteronomy 30:15-20; Ps 1:1-2,3,4,6; Luke 9:22-25.

Throughout the ages, Christians have often been accused of being masochists. After all, at the centre of our faith is an instrument of cruel torture - the cross. Some people find our attitude to difficulty and suffering very bizarre indeed, and it seems that our faith requires that we wallow, even enjoy, the suffering that comes our way in life. Even as Christians, the business of taking up our cross does not sit easily with us. In my room when I was a novice, there was a slightly moth eaten piece of cross stitch mounted on the wall. The piece had flowers arranged around a few words which read 'no cross, no crown'. I must admit that in the more challenging times, it was tempting to take it down and put it in a drawer, or at the very least turn it around so that its truth could not remind me that I needed to be more patient and more accepting of the more difficult aspects of life.

In our lives many trials come our way. We do not have to go looking for them, because they seem to be able to find us all on their own! By accepting our trials, from the little daily irritations to the bigger, more challenging moments of crisis and loss in our lives, we seem to have so much to lose. And today's Gospel confirms our suspicion. The way of the cross means we lose our lives. But the dramatic events that Jesus foretells - his own death and resurrection - should always remind us that if we unite our trials and sufferings with him, we will find meaning in them, a meaning which will bring with it new life.

It is perhaps helpful to reflect on our daily struggles at this special time of Lent. What are the greatest difficulties that I face in my daily life? How do I respond to them? Do I seek the grace to bear my trials with patience and humility, uniting them with the suffering of Christ? Do I allow God to change in me that which needs to change? In a special way, Lent provides us with an ideal opportunity to expose our weaknesses, because we enter the desert with Christ. The stories of the Desert Fathers give us examples of those who followed Christ into the desert, and came out transformed. For us, just as was the case for them, by identifying what holds us back in our imitation of Christ, we can die a little more each day to ourselves, so that we might open the door and welcome the risen Christ this Easter. Let us not be afraid to enter the desert of Lent, so that we may drink deeply from the life giving streams that Christ's death and resurrection pour out for us.

Ash Wednesday

Readings: Joel 2:12-18; Ps 50; 2 Corinthians 5:20-6:2; Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18

Let your hearts be broken not your garments torn (Joel 2:13)

The sign of the Cross is traced on our foreheads with ash, and we begin our annual journey in preparation for the great celebration of the Cross. We are preparing once again to proclaim the Cross as our hope, and to encounter its mystery in all its aspects. We will sing ‘Hosanna!’ with the crowds, we will shout ‘Crucify him!’ We will trumpet forth the great ‘Alleluia’ to greet his Resurrection. But before that, we must be quiet.

When that Cross is traced on our heads, we are reminded that this Cross is the great representation of everything the gift of faith has given us. It is the mark of our freedom. So as we begin this journey, we are reminded: Repent, and believe in the Gospel. We are returning with broken hearts, with broken lives, as people in need of redemption. And our repentance is manifested in our special works of prayer, fasting and almsgiving.

Jesus reminds us that these acts have a real significance. They are an opportunity to turn our broken lives to the Love of God. We must be careful to resist the temptation of trumpeting our actions before the world so that others might see our good works. This only builds up our pride. When these actions are done in secret, they direct our beings to the love that is experienced in repentance.

We come with broken hearts; and when the journey is complete we experience the great joy of the Love that is ours in Christ. There will be plenty of reason for trumpeting at Easter.

Carnevale!

The Oxford community celebrated Carnevale on Sunday 22 February. A festive supper based on the theme of the Venetian carnival was held in the priory refectory as part of our on-going fund-raising efforts for the Priory Renewal Fund. We were joined by members of our Mass congregations for a convivial evening which was punctuated by music.

fr Robert Verrill OP played a fanfare on his trumpet and a trio of friars sang a Tudor madrigal. A recording was made of this song and it is accompanied in the video below with photos from the evening.

The words of the madrigal, which is by Henry VIII, runs as follows:

"Pastime with good company
I love, and shall until I die.
Gruch who lust but none deny,
So God be pleas'd thus live will I.
For my pastance, hunt, sing, and dance, my heart is set
All goodly sport, for my comfort, who shall me let?

Youth must have some dalliance,
of good or ill some pastance.
Company methinks then best,
all thoughts and fancies to digest.
For idleness, is chief mistress of vices all
Then who can say but mirth and play is best of all.

Company with honesty,
Is virtue, vices to flee.
Company is good and ill,
but every man hath his free will.
The best ensue, the worst eschew, my mind shall be
Virtue to use, vice to refuse, thus shall I use me."

GODZDOGZ LENTEN RETREAT 2009

Please join us for our Lenten Retreat, beginning on Ash Wednesday (25 February) and continuing each day until Easter Sunday (12 April). The Godzdogz team will offer a short reflection on the Mass readings for each day and slightly longer reflections for the Sundays and Feasts of Lent.

The poet Robert Herrick (1591-1674) reminds us how to observe the season well: "'tis a fast to dole thy sheaf of wheat and meat unto the hungry soul. It is to fast from strife and old debate, and hate; to circumcise thy life. To show a heart grief-rent; to starve thy sin, not bin; and that's to keep thy Lent".