tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7853204965986587589.post4556235596313223405..comments2024-03-17T22:48:00.427+08:00Comments on Reflections and Ruminations: Whither this desert experience of Lent?Fr Luke Fonghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03079016104331055895noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7853204965986587589.post-518423511952127902012-02-28T15:33:02.480+08:002012-02-28T15:33:02.480+08:00I am delighted that my two favourite teachers conc...I am delighted that my two favourite teachers concur on the ‘desert ‘ allegory in last Sunday’s gospel teaching. You said that to ‘’enter the symbolic desert of our lives..............so that we encounter what we fear most – our true selves......’’ and also ‘’for the sole purpose of getting in touch with the God within themselves...’’ – whilst Fr Laurence Freeman (WCCM ) in his Sunday Lenten Reflection, said –‘’our desert is our meditation.....’’ and that the wild beasts are the forces that reside within us that has to be - ‘’confronted in the solitude and stillness of the desert of our heart......’’ !<br /><br /><br />Meditation or the ‘’prayer of quiet’’ / ‘’prayer of the heart’’ also called contemplative prayer is not something exclusive to the East for it was traditionally taught by the first Christian monks, the Desert Fathers, especially John Cassian ( 4th century A.D.) and only recovered by the Benedictine monk John Main ( 1926-1982) to become what we call Christian Meditation today. By the repetitive sounding of a single sacred word – (faithfully and lovingly) – it brings us to silence, stillness and simplicity - to an awareness and awakening to the reality of the indwelling of His Spirit within us. As you have mentioned – it is an encounter with our fears ....and also a letting go and emptying......but as you said ‘’we do not go alone, but with the Spirit of God as our guiding light and strength , ’’ –and this is true for the opening prayer at each meditation prayer session begins with this invocation :-<br />Heavenly Father, open our hearts to the silent presence of the Spirit of Your Son,<br />Lead us into that mysterious silence where Your love is revealed to all who call....<br />Maranatha......come Lord!<br /><br /><br />It is simple enough for children to learn it yet it is a ‘’work of attention’’ and it requires discipline to put aside a time and space to go to our ‘’upper room and close the door’’ and leave our baggage outside – at least for 20 to 30 minutes. It is a time to ‘be one with oneself in unity of mind and senses, of soul and body, of person and environment, a unity which gives back its balance to the soul and its well-being to the whole person, through which one finds God in the silence of the senses and the oneness of being.’ So the desert can be the balm that we need in our noisy world and this need not only be a Lenten experience !<br /><br />God bless you, Fr<br /><br />tessaAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7853204965986587589.post-83583268749400821882012-02-28T11:07:50.162+08:002012-02-28T11:07:50.162+08:00That one quadrant in the johari window. The one ev...That one quadrant in the johari window. The one everyone shies away from. The one everyone tend to speak little of. The one that I tell myself can be the most 'useful' for a conversion. Yet the one that stings even when wanting to be open and accepting. <br /><br />I guess sometimes it's overwhelming to be shown that there are many more areas in need of a change than the million that I already see in me.. But i realize, lent isn't about becoming perfection. It's about stepping that much close to the Father. And if I can't tackle all 1 million and 1 sins in me, having a conversion of 1 is just as worthy a celebration on Easter.sheilahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06263263658580315867noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7853204965986587589.post-5084495243381251982012-02-27T12:07:38.066+08:002012-02-27T12:07:38.066+08:00Candid and truthful points as always Padre. I thin...Candid and truthful points as always Padre. I think an important thing to take away from our Lenten experience is that many of the distractions that we remove or put aside during this time need not necessarily be allowed to enter our lives again come Easter. The fact that we have done without them for 40 days will likely go to show that we can do without them for much longer and they were likely not necessary in our lives to begin with, and probably were just a distraction and a worldly allurement separating us from our God.<br /><br />Vanity of vanities, said Ecclesiastes: vanity of vanities, and all is vanity. What has a man more of all his labour, that he takes under the sun? One generation passes away, and another generation comes: but the earth stands for ever. (Ecclesiastes 1:1-4)<br /><br />Anything that does not lead you to God is a hindrance. Root it out and throw it far from you. (The Way: 189, St. Josemaria)The Anti-Modernisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03108312974688755489noreply@blogger.com