Catholic Fire

The following are notes from a talk given by Fr. Dominique, a few years ago, about the meaning of Lent. I have adapted them very slightly in order to help clarify the meaning in English, as the speaker is French. The content is still the same. Lenten Reflections Lent is a retreat that the Church gives us in order to re-focus on what should be first in our lives. The purpose of Jesus' life was to glorify the Father and Save the world. Today, we are called to rediscover the dignity of being invited to live as the Son. Lent is not first a time of giving up but a time to re-choose to be victim of Christ, the Lamb. It is a time to live the Beatitudes. If sleeping less makes us gloomy, then we should sleep as we normally do. Lent should bring us joy – Christian joy. We become joyful when we live out the sacrifice of Christ in our lives. To re-choose a Christian joy means to embrace the sorrowful mysteries that lead us to the glorious. During the Lenten season, we must refocus on Jesus Ch...

"As gold is purified in the fire, our own crosses offered to Christ for the conversion of ourselves and the world will keep us from approaching the abortion bound mother or father with anger or bitterness." ~ Msgr. Philip Reilly, Founder of the Helpers of God's Precious Infants

1. "They brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord...)" (Lk 2,22). Today, forty days after Christmas, the Church relives the mystery of the Presentation of Jesus in the temple. She relives it with the astonishment of the Holy Family of Nazareth, enlightened by the full revelation of that "child", who - as the first and second readings have reminded us - is the eschatological judge promised by the prophets (Ml 3,1-3), the "merciful and faithful high priest" who came to "expiate the sins of the people" (Heb 2,17). The Child, whom Mary and Joseph lovingly brought to the Temple, is the Word Incarnate, the Redeemer of man and of history! Today, commemorating what took place on that day in Jerusalem, we are invited to enter the Temple, to meditate on the mystery of Christ, the Only-Begotten Son of the Father who, by means of his Incarnation and the Paschal Mystery, became the Firstborn of redeemed ...