Lectio Divina

I’m writing this reflection at Wellington airport after a day with an inspiring group, reflecting together on Pope Francis’ liturgy letter Desiderio Desideravi published in June of last year. It’s my role with the National Liturgy Office that leads me, along with the NLO co-director Catherine Gibbs, to offer these formation sessions across the country.

Fasting has become fashionable.

While many religions promote fasting as a hard but necessary practice, fasting has never really taken off as an attractive and life-giving movement. Until now maybe?

Yesterday morning I was at Nazareth House, a Christchurch retirement community, for Ash Wednesday Mass. This Wednesday Mass is a weekly appointment for me and I look forward to it and the conversations with the residents before and after Mass.

While the visible and external world of healthy religion is inspiring, a maturing faith requires an openness to the inner life. The external practices and precepts of religion are signs that point us towards a deeper reality, a world where integrity is found, becoming ourselves in relationship with the divine.

Today, the day before Ash Wednesday, is commonly known as  ‘shrove‘ or ‘pancake’ Tuesday.

This day is more widely known in many parts of the world as Mardi Gras (ie fat Tuesday), or ‘Carnival‘ (literally ‘goodbye meat’). These celebrations began years ago when the fasting really was tough: 40 days without meat or dairy products hence the bingeing on pancakes to empty the larder.

I recall at this time last year a friend who lives above the equator Facebooked: “Spring is in the air and it is GOOD!”  That may be true for the northern hemisphere, but here in the south the leaves are beginning to turn and fall: it’s almost Autumn for us.

Lent as ‘spring’? That doesn’t sound right.