Tilt

There was something in the Mass this weekend that woke up something inside of me that hasn't been there since Lent--hope.

Lent for me is akin to wading through quicksand, and I guess that's an almost appropriate-sounding analogy, given that our Lord really did walk through the desert. He hungered for food; I hunger for fulfillment. He was tempted; I am tempted. He went to the cross, and I pick up my own and follow Him. Most poignantly of all, though, He asked for it to be stopped, as I do so often. Truly, in every sense, Lent makes us more like Christ. Sometimes, I'm not sure whether that's a good thing or a bad thing.

On Saturday, though, when my confessor started using phrases like "the promises of Easter" and "the season of rejoicing" in his homily, I perked up. Lent has been going on for over five weeks now, and while I can't speak for others, I know I'm tired.

Luckily, we've hit that point where the ground is suddenly shifting beneath us. The time is coming when we can cast our chains--both of sin and fasting--away to truly embrace what Easter is. A new beginning.

Of course, before we can begin again, we'll have to suffer patiently for a while longer, as Christ did. The sufferings we endure in these last twelve days are the most real, and also the most difficult.

The most we can do is laugh at our fear, and instead run straight into it, embracing it as we make the last sprint home.

For now, we still have a long way to go. But the tilt is here...

Papa Benedetto on Evangelism

The Holy Father has been in Africa over the past few days, and there have been some really brilliant things to come out of his speeches there. I wanted to leave a qupote here that struck me very deeply on a personal level. I need to mull over this, to absorb it, and above all, fight like hell to make it mine.

Someone may object: "Why not leave them in peace? They have their truth, and we have ours. Let us all try to live in peace, leaving everyone as they are, so they can best be themselves." But if we are convinced and have come to experience that without Christ life lacks something, that something real -- indeed, the most real thing of all -- is missing, we must also be convinced that we do no injustice to anyone if we present Christ to them and thus grant them the opportunity of finding their truest and most authentic selves, the joy of finding life. Indeed, we must do this. It is our duty to offer everyone this possibility of attaining eternal life.

"Jesus can fly!"

I love Stephen Colbert. I'll let this video stand for itself. :) Catch him Monday through Thursday at 11:30p.m. Eastern on Comedy Central.

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A little humor to break up the last few posts would be a good thing, I think. :)

The other week, the Holy Father lost his zuchetto in the middle of his Wednesday audience. Seeing the photos struck me funny for some reason, and the next thing I knew, I was making a macro.

If you've not heard of LOLCats, they're just a bunch of silly cat pictures with equally silly tags, usually with net or txt speak. (A variant of this is the new site LOLSaints, which is specifically Catholic.)

"I can has Eucharist?" ;)

"Fear is the little death..."

My entire problem, I realize, is fear. Fear of being wrong, hurt, rejected. Fear of losing the people closest to my heart. Fear of ending up alone.

Sometimes, though, duty comes first. Over my fear, and over my weakness.

This calls to mind an old passage from a series I've come to appreciate:

I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain.
--The Litany Against Fear, from Frank Herbert's Dune series

The thing about grace is that it comes even in our weakest moments, giving us the strength to do things that we thought to be impossible. I need to keep reminding myself that He is stronger than my weakness, and stronger than my fear.

If my Faith is true--and it is--I am called to live it completely. That includes speaking the truth, no matter what the consequences may be...