|
|
|
|
Archives |
|
| Lent: Season of
compunction
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, "There never was an age when Lent, with its lessons of self- The first Bishop of Sioux City minced no words in the first Lenten letter he wrote to all the faithful in his new diocese some eight months after he arrived here to inaugurate his ministry. The local church was only a year old and he spent the greater portion of that Lenten letter emphasizing the sacredness of marriage and the importance of family life. As I read sections of his letter I was struck by the urgency of his message and the similarity between the problems he saw confronting his people then and the problems we confront now, despite the distance in time and the cultural shifts in the nation. Since Bishop Garrigan was known by all as a most affable and courteous Churchman, the very severe tone of his first Lenten letter must be seen as significant. What I think he was trying to proclaim was a summons to "compunction," a word that has fallen out of use in our vocabulary. It is a word analogous to contrition and conversion, but it emphasizes a particular side of conversion. The word literally comes from a verb that means "to puncture." When you puncture a tire, it deflates. Compunction deflates a false sense of ego and pierces a soul that is over inflated with pride and self-satisfaction. If a person is to receive the Lord Jesus and to turn anew in love to other brothers and sisters there is a need for "emptying out," for clearing and cleaning the heavy air of too much self importance. Lent is the season of compunction. The self-restraint of prayer, fasting and alms giving is a puncture wound to the assurance that comes merely from self-autonomy. It allows one to move in another direction, to the assurance that comes from knowing that all is a gift. "You received without paying, give without pay." "Yes! We have received without pay. Is not our entire life marked by God's kindness? .... Since we have received this life freely, we must in turn offer it freely to our brothers and sisters. (...) Does not God permit human need so that by responding to the needs of others we may learn to free ourselves from our egoism and to practice authentic Gospel love?" (Message of the Holy Father, Lent, 2002) We are celebrating Lent and Easter this year during our centennial. We are justly proud as a diocese for the accomplishments the Lord has worked in and through us and through our ancestors in the faith. But the point of a centennial in our Catholic tradition is precisely what the LORD has done. It is not self-boasting. Lent is the yearly reminder, a now gentle, now stern nudge at our conscience, of the graciousness and gratuity of God's grace at work in us who believe. The response on our part is generosity, more free time in the presence of our Lord at home or at church for prayer, a more deliberate attention to fasting whereby we empty ourselves so that we can be filled by the Lord, and a renewed sense of stewardship for all the goods and treasures we have received, these "treasures" are to be given out to those in need and to be used for the building up of the church 's resources for its work of outreach and formation. I am thinking particularly here of our Centennial Campaign and its goals for the good of the entire diocese. Events in our nation since last Sept. 11 have opened for us a possibility for genuine spiritual renewal. The puncture wound that was inflicted upon us is able to open us to a far greater understanding of our dependence upon the crucified Lord Jesus and of our call to be much more sensitive to the worth and dignity of our brothers and sisters everywhere throughout the world. May we respond generously to such an invitation. I promise my own prayers for all the members of this local church during the Lenten journey. I hope you in turn will pray for one another, for our priests, deacons, religious and seminarians, for our elderly and our young people. Please also pray for our catechumens and candidates who will be entering the church at Easter. Make your prayer even more generous and "wounded"; pray from the heart for our enemies. Let prayer be our one and basic extravagance this Lent while the rest of our time is filled with genuine compunction that leads to generosity and receptivity to others. Thus we will be surprised by joy at Easter. Sincerely yours in Christ, |
