Hermitage Notes - Ash Wednesday And Lent

Collop Monday. Shrove Tuesday. Ash Wednesday. Then comes the major Lent.

I love being Catholic.

The Catholic Church has such a rich history with its historical apostolic roots anchored in Matthew 16:18, its Sacred Traditions, and its traditions which lend support to living out the tenets of the Catholic faith. 

I was deprived of these roots in my upbringing outside the Roman Rite, an upbringing that also deprived me of knowing the Saints as examples of the faith that we are called to practice in our daily lives. It was, as well, an upbringing that deprived me of my Blessed Mother.

It was a long and difficult road to get here; one of both personal cost and gracious reward.

The personal cost to get here?

It was very costly in the personal relationship department.

The vast majority of Protestants will always look with contempt on those who leave their ranks and convert to Roman Catholicism. It is as if we have committed something worse than the unpardonable sin by embracing and returning to the Mother Church. Ordained clergy experience the contempt and rejection not only from family and friends but also from colleagues. How could he even think about doing something like that? An element of the sad truth that must also be told is that some [family members, past friends, and past colleagues] will never come to a point of acceptance with the change. Their contempt and rejection, silent and passive though it may be, will be personally felt to the end. 

I remind myself of Christ's words on the mountain where he spoke what we refer to as The Beatitudes and simply keep pressing toward the goal of heaven. Those that invest the effort to understand will understand. Those that refuse to invest the effort will never understand. It takes a major investment of time to truly understand.

The cost was extremely low in comparison to the spiritual graces that were abundantly precipitated and which continue to rain onto the dry desert of my undeserving soul. Why me, Lord? Why do you bless me so with the gift of yourself? Verbiage cannot express the senses of deep peace that frequent my soul and draw tears from my eyes. How can I possibly explain these numerous and ongoing mini-ecstasies that are visited upon me during the Sacrifice of the Mass - ecstasies that are pure spiritual experiences in the Holy Spirit. Words are inadequate.

Reading and the Rosary.

Shirli and I are benefitting greatly from these nightly “devotions” that we began during the Season of Advent with reading the Gospel of Luke. I am also truly enjoying doing the chapter summaries as we read through the books of the New Testament. It has been a long time since I did something along these lines. It is turning out to be a great refresher course for me.

It is going to be a great Lent.

Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday ... a day of fasting and abstinence in the Catholic Church. A few of the older Protestant denominations do ashes on Wednesday. Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the Liturgical Calendar Season of Lent - this wonderful season of self-examination, penance/repentance, and personal preparation in anticipation of the Easter Triduum. 

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