"I urge you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, your spiritual worship. Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect." -Romans 12:1-2
-Fulton J. Sheen, Lent and Easter: Wisdom from Fulton J. Sheen"When you fail to measure up to your Christian privilege, be not discouraged for discouragement is a form of pride. The reason you are sad is because you looked to yourself and not to God; to your failing, not to his love. You will shake off your faults more readily when you love God than when you criticize yourself.... You have always the right to love him in your heart even though you do not love him in your acts.... Do not fear God for perfect love casts [out] fear. God is biased in your favor.... God is more lenient than you because is perfectly good and, therefore, loves you more. Be bold enough, then, to believe that God is on your side, even when you forget to be on his."
Lent is one of the "intense moments of the Church's penitential practice" (CCC 1438). It calls us to become more sensitive to the role of sin in our lives and its effects within our personal surroundings and our larger society and culture (Lent and Easter Wisdom from Fulton J. Sheen (Liguori, MO: Liguori Publications, 2004) ix). A major part of conversion, of turning away from sin and back to God includes some form of penance. Without penance we are unlikely to advance in holiness. Time and time again we hear Jesus say in the Gospel, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand'" (Matthew 4:17). Through the holy season of Lent, we immerse ourselves into the death of Christ so that we may also rise with Him. By the grace of our Baptism we are moved everyday to immerse ourselves into this death and resurrection. "You were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him." (cf. Col 2:12) Through the grace of our Baptism, we realize "the great mystery in which man dies to sin, is made a sharer in the new life of the Risen Christ and receives the same Spirit of God who raised Jesus from the dead (cf. Rom. 8:11). This free gift must always be rekindled in each one of us, and Lent offers us a path" (Message of His Holiness Benedict XVI for Lent 2011 [ML], 1).
"Enter the church in silence and with great respect, considering yourself unworthy to appear before the Lord's majesty [present in the Sacrament of the Eucharist]. Among other pious considerations, remember that our soul is the temple of God and, as such, we must keep it pure and spotless before God and His angels. Let us blush for having given access to the devil and his snares many times -- with his enticements to the world, his pomp, his calling to the flesh -- by not being able to keep our hearts pure and our bodies chaste. Let us blush for having allowed our enemies to insinuate themselves into our hearts, thus desecrating the temple of God which we became through holy baptism. Then take holy water and make the sign of the cross carefully and slowly. As soon as you are before God in the Blessed Sacrament, devoutly genuflect. Once you have found your place, kneel down and render the tribute of your presence and devotion to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. Confide all your needs to Him along with those of others. Speak to Him with filial abandonment, give free rein to your heart, and give Him complete freedom to work in you as He thinks best. ...In short, behave in such a way that all present are edified by it and, through you, are urged to glorify and love the heavenly Father. Never forget Jesus, this divine Model. Try to see a certain lovable majesty in His Presence [in the Blessed Sacrament]. Try to hear a certain pleasant authority in His manner of speaking [to your heart].... Imagine His extremely composed and sweet expression with which He drew the crowds, making them leave cities and castles, leading them to the mountains, to the forests, and to the solitude of the deserted beaches of the sea. Imagine the crowds totally forgetting food, drink, and their domestic duties in order to follow Him. Let us do our utmost to be, as far as possible, similar to Him on this earth, in order that we might be more perfect and more similar to Him for the whole of eternity in the heavenly Jerusalem. ...On leaving the church, you should be recollected and calm. First, take your leave of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament by asking His forgiveness for the shortcomings committed in His divine Presence. Last, do not leave Him without asking for and receiving His paternal blessing."From: Praying In the Presence of Our Lord with Padre Pio by Eileen Dunn Bertanzetti, Meditation 14
"What a sad life does he lead who wants both to please the world and to serve God! It is a great mistake to make, my friends. Apart from the fact that you are going to be unhappy all the time, you can never attain the stage at which you will be able to please the world and please God. It is as impossible a feat as trying to put an end to eternity. Take the advice that I am going to give you now and you will be less unhappy: give yourself wholly to God or else wholly to the world. Do not look for and do not serve more than one master, and once you have chosen the one you are going to follow, do not leave him. You surely remember what Jesus Christ said to you in the Gospel: you cannot serve God and Mammon; that is to say, you cannot follow the world and the pleasures of the world and Jesus Christ with His Cross. Of course you would be quite willing to follow God just so far and the world just so far! Let me put it even more clearly: you would like it if your conscience, if your heart, would allow you to go to the altar in the morning and the dance in the evening; to spend part of the day in church and the remainder in the cabarets or other places of amusement; to talk of God at one moment and the next to tell obscene stories or utter calumnies about your neighbor; to do a good turn for your next-door neighbor on one occasion and on some other to do him harm; in other words, to do good and speak well when you are with good people and to do wrong when you are in bad company." -St. John Vianney
