MAKE A FRIEND, BE A FRIEND, BRING A FRIEND TO CHRIST

 FROM OUR SPIRITUAL DIRECTOR

Dear Fellow Cursillistas,

As I write this message I am mindful that the great season of Lent is upon us.  The forty days are reminiscent of cleansing, renewal and preparation.  This can be a time of adversity as we struggle to put on the person of Christ more deeply.  As St Paul sums it up, “…it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.  And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God,* who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Gal 2.20)  “Make a friend.  Be a friend.  Bring a friend to Christ.”  A wonderful statement of mission and ministry.  But is assumes that we are with Christ and Christ in us.

As you are aware in the Roman tradition of the Catholic Church Lent begins on Ash Wednesday with the anointing of ashes as a mark of sorrow for sin and a personal commitment to turn your life back to Christ.  In the Ukrainian-Greek tradition of the Catholic Church Lent begins two days earlier on “Clean Monday.”  Clean Monday refers to the leaving behind of sinful attitudes and practices; and making the personal commitment to live a life of justice .  The theme of Clean Monday is set by the reading appointed for the day, “Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.”  (Isa 1.16-17)

In some countries (like Greece) Clean Monday is a public holiday.  It is celebrated with outdoor picnics, large meals (with no meat, eggs or dairy products) and with the widespread joyful custom of flying kites!  At first glance this happy, springtime atmosphere may seem at odds with the Lenten spirit of repentance and self-control.  But this seeming contradiction is a marked aspect of the Ukrainian Catholic approach to fasting that strives toward the gospel lesson that is proclaimed on Sunday, the day before Lent begins, “And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting.  Truly I tell you, they have received their reward.  17But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”* (Mt 6.16-18)

So as we move into and through Lent I encourage you to offer palanca for the candidates and teams of the upcoming Men’s (and Women’s) Cursillos.  And as you do this offer palanca – prayer and fasting – for yourself, that you may live by faith in the Son of God,* who loved you and gave himself for you.   As an aid to your prayer I offer you once again the Lenten prayer of St Ephrem of Syria:  “O Lord and Master of my life, take away from me the will to be lazy and to be sad, the desire to get ahead of other people, to boast and to brag.  Give me instead, a pure and humble spirit, the will to be patient with other people and to love them.  Yes, O Lord and King!  Let me realize my own mistakes, and keep me from judging the things that other people do, for You are blessed unto the ages of ages. Amen.”

Fr Gary Sedgwick

Spiritual Director