First Sunday of Lent_B - Tough Nuts to Crack_022121

Deacon Tom Writes,

“Tough Nuts To Crack”

 First Sunday of Lent, Year B

What a mess! The story of Noah that we read on this First Sunday of Lent begs the question of what evils could those people been up to that would have caused God to destroy the world... lock, stock and barrel and start all over again? One wonders. We might question next, are we pushing the upper limit to God’s tolerance with all the injustice, violence and indifference to the suffering of others we see around us? Something to think about on our Lenten journey perhaps.

A good place for us to begin this new season of Lent is with the word “Contrition” which comes from the Latin word contritio, a breaking of something hardened. Contrition is the action we take to break away from our patterns of behavior that cause us pain, our self-inflected wounds if you will. In spiritual language we call this behavior, “sin,” and the desire to break our attraction to what harms, no longer to be “crushed by guilt.” is called, “contrition.”

The many evils we witness daily can take their toll on us and drive us into isolation but that is not a wise choice. Rather, the injustice that we see or experience can encourage us to look at the sin in our lives and our need for contrition, “for what we have done and for what we have failed to do” as our Catholic faith reminds us of our active and passive participation with sin.

It is interesting that the word “contritio” connotes a breaking something hardened. Scriptures warns us about “hardness of heart” in Psalm 95... If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts. Pharaoh’s heart was hardened as were the hearts of the people of Israel as they crossed the desert to the Promised Land. Scripture reveals that nothing good results from a spiritual hardness of heart. All we have to do is look at recent history to see how this disease, like Covid-19, is also a pandemic of huge magnitude.

This Season of Lent is all about undoing that hardness of heart that has enslaved us. It’s time to make some changes in our attitudes and, as Philippians 2:5 says, “Have among yourselves the same attitude that is also yours in Christ Jesus.” And our attitudes can only change when we take steps to change the focus of our life from ourselves to put Christ as the epicenter.

I don’t think many of us enter Lent looking to do a complete makeover of our lives. Most of us know that even small changes in our behavior are very difficult to make. Just try to stop smoking or go on a low cholesterol diet! We find out then how making small changes really impacts many other facets of our lives

Maybe that’s why we approach Lent so cautiously. We are afraid to go messing around with some of those attitudes that need to be adjusted Let’s face it; it is easier to give up a meal here and there than to try reaching out to a co-worker who is always making our lives miserable. It is much easier to say a Rosary than to say, “I forgive you” to someone who has hurt us in the past. It is much easier to do nothing because the problems we face are too big than to look at our own complicity with sin with a contrite heart and make the changes we need to make on the inside.

During this Lenten season, let’s ask God for His grace that calls us to a spirit of “Contrition” so He may help us in our efforts to breakdown any and all of those attitudes that keep us separated from His love, mercy, and compassion.

Enjoy the day and remember to say “I Love You” to those special people in your life.
Deacon Tom


Image Credit: doodlescribble/1306@deviant.com

Tough Nuts to Crack

Deacon Tom Writes,

“Tough Nuts To Crack”

First Sunday of Lent, Year B

The image was striking: a woman with the sign of the cross in ashes on her forehead tightly hugging a child (daughter?) both sobbing bitterly. Their photo captured by the reporter at the scene of the Ash Wednesday shooting at a Southern Florida High School where 17 people died tragically and many others wounded, and reasonable people left asking, “How much more of this can we take?”

Immediately the debate began over gun control, over mental illness, over the violence in this country, and so on. All are appropriate and, if past experience holds true, nothing will come of it. What is missing from the conversation is the mention of the word “sin.” We are missing a critical element contributing to this tragedy if we are not able to see “sin,” that is evil at work in our world as a source of the problem. Unfortunately, the word “sin” doesn’t enter the conversation. How then can we have “contrition” if we aren’t able to recognize the “sin?” How then can we ever have a solution to the many similar problems that plague us if we can’t acknowledge their source?

The word “Contrition” comes from the Latin word contritio, a breaking of something hardened. Contrition is the action we take to break away from our patterns of behavior that cause us pain, our self-inflected wounds if you will. In spiritual language we call this behavior, “sin,” and the desire to break our attraction to what harms, no longer to be “crushed by guilt.” is called, “contrition.”

To experience such a horrific act on Ash Wednesday encourages us to look at the sin in our lives and our need for contrition, “for what we have done and for what we have failed to do” as our Catholic faith reminds us of our active and passive participation with sin.

It is interesting that the word “contritio” connotes a breaking something hardened. Scriptures warns us about “hardness of heart” in Psalm 95... If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.  Pharaoh’s heart was hardened as were the hearts of the people of Israel as they crossed the desert to the Promised Land. Scripture reveals that nothing good results from a spiritual hardness of heart. There is much evidence to suggest that many of us suffer from some form of hardness of heart today. Take our attitudes, for instance. There are many who have become hardened to one degree or another by life’s experiences A homeless person will approach us on the street and ask for some change and we refuse them. We justify our actions in many different ways…They need to get a job…. They will only buy booze… and on and on.

Our attitudes are fixed on every topic from A – Z, from abortion to xenophobia and we are not about to change our positions, only hunker down on them.

That is exactly what the Season of Lent is all about. It’s time to make some changes in our attitudes and, as Philippians 2:5 says, “Have among yourselves the same attitude that is also yours in Christ Jesus.” And our attitudes can only change when we take steps to change the focus of our life from ourselves to Christ as the epicenter.

I don’t think many of us enter Lent looking to do a complete makeover of our lives. Most of us know that even small changes in our behavior are very difficult to make. Just try to stop smoking or go on a low cholesterol diet! We find out then how making small changes really impacts many other facets of our lives

Maybe that’s why we approach Lent so cautiously. We are afraid to go messing around with some of those attitudes that need to be adjusted Let’s face it; it is easier to give up a meal here and there than to try reaching out to a co-worker who is always making our lives miserable. It is much easier to say a Rosary than to say, “I forgive you” to someone who has hurt us in the past. It is much easier to do nothing because the problems we face are too big than to look at our own complicity with sin with a contrite heart and make the changes we need to make.   

During this Lenten season, let’s ask God for His grace that calls us to a spirit of “Contrition” so He may help us in our efforts to breakdown any and all of those attitudes that keep us separated from His love, mercy, and compassion.

Enjoy the day and remember to say “I Love You” to the special people in your life.

Deacon Tom

Image Credit: doodlescribble/1306@deviant.com

A Tough Nut To Crack

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                                           Deacon Tom writes ©

A Tough Nut To Crack

First Sunday of Lent Year B

The word “Contrition” comes from the Latin word contritio, meaning a breaking of something hardened…  Like our attitudes, perhaps?  We all become hardened to one degree or another by our life experiences. A homeless person will approach us on the street and ask for some change and we refuse him. We justify our actions in many different ways… They need to get a job…They will only buy booze… Those panhandlers make loads of money! …Etc. If only we were in their shoes for a little while, how our attitudes would change.

That is exactly what the Season of Lent is all about. It is a time to make some changes in our attitudes. And our attitudes can only change when we take steps to change the focus of our life.

I don’t think many of us enter Lent looking to do a complete makeover of our lives. Most of us know that even small changes in our behavior are very difficult to make. Just try to stop smoking or go on a low cholesterol diet!  We find out then how making small changes really impacts many other facets of our lives.

Maybe that’s why we approach Lent so cautiously. We are afraid to go messing around with some of those attitudes that need to be adjusted. Let’s face it; it is easier to give up a meal here and there than to try reaching out to a co-worker who is always making our lives miserable. It is much easier to say a Rosary than to say I forgive you to someone who has hurt us in the past.  Yet, Lent is the perfect time to look deeply into our lives and honestly confront those areas where change is needed.  Perhaps we need to be more forgiving of ourselves and others.  Maybe we need to be more appreciative of what others do for us, more thankful for the gifts we have, kinder with our words when we things aren't going our way.  If we just take the time to reflect on the events of the day and how we responded to them, I am sure our eyes would be opened to some of the changes we could make to improve our attitudes so that we could become better persons and more Christ like in the process.  

During these next forty days, let’s ask God for his grace that calls us to a spirit of “Contrition” so he may help us in our efforts to breakdown any and all of those attitudes that keep us separated from His love, mercy, and compassion.

Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom