A Deo et Rege

Tomorrow Lent officially begins with the fast day of Ash Wednesday. I have always had a great love of Lent ever since I began to keep it somewhat haphazardly as an evangelical. Lent always held a sense of mystery for me because I grew up in an evangelical tradition that never really embraced Lent (but, thankfully didn’t condemn it either; think of it as a "personal option."). I started to become interested in Lent about the same time I took an interest in the Church Fathers.

My first experience with Lent was as an evangelical at university. In a way, I was quite brave because I gave up coffee! It was honestly the hardest Lent I’ve ever been through, but I faithfully didn’t touch a drop until I broke the Lenten fast with Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee. That was the best cup of coffee I ever had in my entire life! When I became an Anglican I entered into Lent on a more formal level and it was a time of important spiritual growth. After my conversion to Catholicism my love of and participation in Lent has only increased.

In short: I love Lent. I can’t really explain why I look forward to Lent, but I receive an incredible sense of joy throughout these 40 days. There’s something about the "spiritual housecleaning" and sense of detachment and renunciation that brings about great spiritual satisfaction and blessing. I now could never truly know the joy of Easter without the season of Lent and the time of Holy Week and the Triduum. We can’t separate the Cross from the resurrection and we can’t liturgically separate Lent from Easter either: at least not with any theological integrity.

With all other Catholics of a certain age, I will be fasting on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday and having meatless Fridays. However, it’s also a venerable custom to "give something up"for Lent or institute positive practices that encourage spiritual growth. This year I’m thinking of giving up adding hot chocolate to my morning coffee. I’m also going to give up going to McDonald’s when I get a craving and getting snacks at the local gas station. I’m also going to read the Church Fathers and the Bible daily. I’m not saying this to brag about my supposed piety, but merely to give suggestions to others.

May God bless you this Lent! (I’m off to McDonalds)

Lent Resources:

All About Lent
Lenten Prayers

Blogs:

Chad has commented here and here.
David muses on Lent
LutherPunk is excited that Lent is coming
Argent writes about going into the wilderness
John Heard reminds us that we are but dust
St. Peters Helpers gives a great post on preparing for Lent
The Anchoress says there’s something about ashes
Carmel posts some various things about Lent

More to come as I find them!

Photo by Jonathan Bennett

Today, for some reason, I was in a very observant state of mind. I was driving home from work (this is the odd Sunday where I had to work for an hour or so) and noticed a beautiful house with a fountain in front (it was covered by a large tarp). I couldn’t wait to see it in the summer! However, I immediately thought: "Wait! I have driven past this house in the summer…and the autumn and the winter…and have never even noticed it before!" D’oh! I was also driving to the YMCA today and noticed that there is a giant beautiful blue house on the route I always take named after a large bird. Wow! It’s amazing the things a person can notice when actually paying attention!

There is a point to my rambling, so bear with me. It’s amazing how quickly life can go by and we can’t even slow down to get a few little pleasures out of it. Sometimes I feel like I’m always trying to be happy by reaching a point rather than finding happiness in getting there. Noticing these little things after months of driving right by them kind of sums up how quickly I live my life. Maybe some things are passing me by.

So, this Lent I think one of my goals will be to simply slow down. To mix two sayings, I’m going to stop and smell the coffee (and drink it too).

Photo by Jonathan Bennett (I’m messing with Picasa 2)

Sadly, Don Knotts has died. As a huge fan of the Andy Griffith Show, this is indeed sad news.

Eternal rest grant unto him O Lord and let light perpetual shine upon him. May he rest in peace.

Living in the snow belt has pretty much completely killed off an already moribund love of snow. Mind you, I still like snow, but now only from Thanksgiving until Christmas. After that, the only things I see now are hazardous roads, high heating bills, and cabin fever. The snowfall totals for this winter in my town are currently at about 95 inches. Last winter we received 157 inches. I don’t think I’ve ever missed Southern Ohio or even Atlanta (and other than friends and my university, I have never missed a thing about Atlanta) more than during this February!!

I have always loved spring (although autumn is my favorite season), probably because of the warm yet not hot weather and the many colors. It’s a bit like summer without the extreme heat and humidity and the bugs. I am so ready to get a tan, run and bike outdoors and wear T-shirts. I’m also ready to not use heating oil or air conditioning (and so save a few dollars). So, I say to spring: please come…quickly!

Photo by Jonathan Bennett (taken a couple springs ago)

Today is the feast of the Chair of St. Peter. Rather than spill digital ink writing my own commentary, I will point you to Carmel’s excellent thoughts on the matter.

See article

He violated the cardinal rule of the academy: under no circumstances shalt thou question feminist assumptions.

It’s sad because universities could use more people like Larry Summers.

Lent is almost upon us. Ash Weds. is nearly a week away. Many people often wonder what they should "give up" for Lent and time is running out. Many people also wish they had the time to read writings from the history of the Church, especially the early Fathers. At Ancient and Future Catholics and ChurchYear.Net we’ve come up with a great solution for both of these dilemmas: the Church Fathers Lenten Reading Plan  (.pdf) (go here for html version).

If you follow our plan, when Easter comes, you will have read 10 early Church Fathers and over 15 individual works from the early Church. You will also have deepened your faith and knowledge in numerous ways during Lent. It will only take 15 minutes or so a day too. These writings have been an inspiration down through the ages and helped lead countless numbers throughout history to the Catholic Church (including many readers and contributors to our websites). What are you waiting for?

Update: Chad has put together one file containing all the writings of the Fathers in order! Thanks Chad!

P.S.- if you’re doing this, please let us know and provide feedback on choices, length of readings, etc.

Photo of St. Catherine of Siena (whose writings are not included) from Shrine of the Holy Relics taken by Jonathan Bennett

Alice C. Linsley, an Episcopal minister in the Episcopal Diocese of Lexington is renouncing her orders, with the possibility of joining the Catholic Church. I admire her for making such a hard decision wherever she ends up. Like Owen, she is giving up both a career and a source of income to pursue what she knows to be right. Such a decision requires great faith in our Lord and his Providence. Let us keep Alice Linsley in our prayers.

Read her own words in the essay: On the Brink (via Pontifications)

First, I want to thank all of you for your prayers. I don’t like to draw attention to my ailments, but I want to thank  Carmel for asking for prayers. I am recovering well, but need to go back for more surgery in a few weeks. I will keep you posted.

Second, I want to recommend a great early Christian writing: The Epistle to Diognetus. It is a beautiful letter written by an unknown early Christian somewhere between the late first century and the mid second century. I always recommend this letter to people starting to read the Fathers for the first time because it’s beautifully written, is fairly short, and the writer knew the apostles. I encourage everyone to read this beautiful letter, an excerpt of which I’ve included here:

They [Christians] dwell in their own countries, but only as
sojourners; they bear their share in all things as
citizens, and they endure all hardships as strangers.
Every foreign country is a fatherland to them, and
every fatherland is foreign.

They marry like all other men and they beget
children; but they do not cast away their offspring.

They have their meals in common, but not their
wives.

They find themselves in the flesh, and yet they
live not after the flesh.

Their existence is on earth, but their
citizenship is in heaven.

They obey the established laws, and they
surpass the laws in their own lives.

They love all men, and they are persecuted by
all.

They are ignored, and yet they are condemned.

They are put to death, and yet they are endued with
life.

They are in beggary, and yet they make many
rich. They are in want of all things, and yet they
abound in all things.

They are dishonoured, and yet they are
glorified in their dishonour. They are evil spoken of,
and yet they are vindicated.

They are reviled, and they bless; they are
insulted, and they respect.

Source: Early Christian Writings (tr. J.B. Lightfoot)

I have nothing of substance to really write about, so I’ll just include a few of my newest interests, projects, habits, toys, etc.

First, my continuing interest in 80s sitcoms has led me to a cool site called Sitcoms Online. I especially enjoyed reading the "where are they now" sections for some of the shows. For example, did you know that Sherrie Austin (formerly Krenn) who played Pippa on the Facts of Life now has a country music career?

Speaking of blasts from the past (and my love of things Irish), I’ve been getting into U2 again. I was a U2 fanatic as a preteen and was nearly obsessed with them. I stopped buying their albums after Zooropa so I decided yesterday to check out their newest stuff. I really like it! My favorite songs are Peace on Earth, When I Look at the World, Miracle Drug, Original of the Species, One Step Closer, and Yahweh.

I am so looking forward to spring!! We got pounded with snow again this weekend. I’d guess it was about 10 inches and the flakes were huge! See photo. The snow is beautiful, but with high heating oil prices and the perilous driving conditions, I’m more than ready for the thaw.

I got a chance to go to Speedway twice this weekend and buy their coffee. Oh, and I bought some Irish Cream coffee to make at home (you know, gotta get ready for St. Patrick’s Day!).

Sorry for such a boring post, but I need to write something!

Photo by Jonathan Bennett

The website I run with my brother, Ancient and Future Catholics, now has podcasts. Have a listen. If you want to participate in a podcast in the future, check out our Paltalk discussion room.

*I’m rooting for Pittsburgh in the Super Bowl, while hoping next year the Cleveland Browns go all the way.

*Today is (normally) the feast day of the Virgin and martyr St. Agatha.

*On Friday, the feast of St. Blaise, I got my throat blessed.

*Charles is back to blogging, I’m happy to report.

*John Heard’s Blog is very much worth reading.

*I’m currently listening to the Irish punk band Flogging Molly. Imagine the Chieftains meet…well I don’t know of any punk bands.

*I’ve been spending my spare time today browsing various topics in Wikipedia.

*My area could see anywhere from 5-18 inches of snow tonight.

*My coffee consumption has increased to about 4 cups a day.

That’s all for now…

I took the photo of the sky by my house (before the snow came)

Yes, we got quite a bit today. And I photographed it. And that is a "filter." The ambiance wasn’t that interesting!

Many Catholics and other Christians (and people from other religions) create a "worship space" (I don’t like this word in the parish context, but here I think it fits) within their homes. In the Catholic and Orthodox traditions, it’s often called a home altar. Basically, this is a way to create a Catholic atmosphere for prayer and devotions within the home. It’s always been important for me to have this part of my house where I can go to enter into a spirit of prayer. We don’t keep our churches bare (or shouldn’t!), so why should worshiping in the "domestic church" be any different? The home altar is for many the primary place of worshiping God in the home.

I don’t think there’s any set form for creating a home altar, although I could be wrong. I do think that Catholic home altars tend to have similar components: candles, icons, statues, and items related to particular devotions (e.g. rosaries, prayer books, etc.). Catholic altars and the surrounding areas tend also to be very "sensual." And I don’t mean that in the secular sense, but rather as containing things that stimulate and engage the senses. The engagement of the senses is a big part of the beauty of the Catholic Church and home altars frequently reflect that. So, what devotions are often done at home altars or elsewhere?

One great thing about the Catholic Church is her diversity. I don’t mean heretical dissent, but legitimate diversity of practices, customs, and devotions. Thus, there are a plethora of approved devotions and customs that one can do in the home. I am a big fan of the Liturgy of the Hours, which is a beautiful liturgy that sanctifies the rhythm of the day and follows the Church year. I also enjoy the rosary and novenas. However, there are numerous Catholic devotions and practices and everyone should find something that is spiritually enriching and edifying in his or her life.

Image of my home altar

"…when you’re taken in by France and you’re not French, you do
something other than setting fire to your neighbours’ cars."

French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy upon deporting a rioter from Mali

Classic.

Source: The BBC