Lenten exercises..please help

[Gospel]

For Lent this year I am trying to work on the notion of forgiveness. Forgiveness also entails getting rid of anger and pride and replacing them with repentance and humility. So if any of you can direct me to any papers or articles on the net dealing with forgiveness, anger, pride, repentance and humility I would surly appreciate it.

God bless…

 

[JRKH]

For Lent this year I am trying to work on the notion of forgiveness. Forgiveness also entails getting rid of anger and pride and replacing them with repentance and humility. So if any of you can direct me to any papers or articles on the net dealing with forgiveness, anger, pride, repentance and humility I would surly appreciate it.

God bless…

I’m afraid I don’t have any links to post, but I try to meditate on the section of the Lords prayer:
“Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

When we pray this in church it is split into two breaths and, in my opinion, loses it’s meaning. As written it is telling us that we should expect forgiveness from God, only in proportion to that forgiveness we truly offer to others.

Just something to ponder on.

Peace
James

 

[MarieVeronica]

Try meditating on Our Lord’s Passion. Especially the Gospel of St. Luke… where Jesus prayed…

"And when they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified Him there, and the robbers, one on His right and the other on His left. And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing”. (Luke 23:33-34).

I can think of no better example of forgiveness for us to meditate on. Hope this helps.

 

[BeeSweet]

One thing occurred to me as I read JRKH’s post, from a little book titled "Daily Reflections for Lent Not by Bread Alone 2008 by Katherine Howard, O.S.B. (ISBN 978-0-8146-3179-9) Today’s reflection on the Lord’s prayer is:

In prayer God is to be addressed as Our Father. Who are the “we” that address “Our Father”? The “our” of the Our Father is even bigger than our family, our country, our religion. It is the “our” of God’s infinite and unconditional love. When we pray we are being asked to allow the unbounded, unresearved love of God to expand our hearts to inclde all those others we are inclined to consider the “they” and the “those people” of our lives and our world - as in “They don’t go to church on Sunday!” Or, “They are cheats and frauds!” “Those people are godless heathens!” “They are so lazy!” “They think they are better than everbody else!” God loves us all. When Jesus says pray “Our” Father he means to include all of us; God wants to draw all of us into the divine Love.

The readings for today are from Isaiah 55:10-11 and Matthew 6:7-15. Pay particular attention to verses 14 & 15 in Matthew 6, you will probably find them helpful.

Also, just my own thoughts, keep in mind when we say “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” we are praying for God’s kingdom to come here, now. We are praying for heaven to be earth. This is what Christ taught us when he spoke to us of repentance and said we are in the end of days. We are to bring God’s kingdom into fruition now, not wait for it to come to us. So that means limitless forgiveness (as long as there is repentance). Meditate also on Matthew 18 21-22

 

[puzzleannie]

perhaps an exercise of browsing the NT looking for the word “forgiveness” and underlining it, and reading and meditating on those passages throughout lent. who is forgiving, who is being forgiven, for what have they been forgiven or are asking forgiveness, did the offender intentionally ask for forgiveness, or for some other favor, what expectation is placed on the one who has been forgiven, did they deserve forgiveness and so forth.

 

[bpbasilphx]

The Prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian, said in the Lenten Office in the Byzantine churches, might help:

O Lord and Master of my life, the spirit of sloth, despair, love for power, and idle talk grant me not.

But rather the spirit of purity, humility, patience, and love grant me, Your servant.

Yes, O Lord and King, grant that I may see my own sins and not those of my brother.

For blessed are You unto ages of ages.

 

[timotheos]

For Lent this year I am trying to work on the notion of forgiveness. Forgiveness also entails getting rid of anger and pride and replacing them with repentance and humility. So if any of you can direct me to any papers or articles on the net dealing with forgiveness, anger, pride, repentance and humility I would surly appreciate it.

God bless…

I don’t know if this is what you are looking for, but …

Here an exercise that is particularly painful for me. At the end of the day, reflect on every uncharitable thing you have said, or thought, about someone. Imagine now that these people are in front of you, as your words or thoughts are played back to them, out loud. Imagine their expressions of shock and hurt. Imagine that you yourself cannot undo the hurt you caused; the only way to undo it is by watching Jesus undo the damage for you, by accepting the nails being driven into his hands, his feet. Imagine the pain he feels; His eyes meet yours in his agony, but he is not resentful of the pain you have caused. He just wants you to know he accepts it because of the great love he has for you.

-Tim

 

[golfsupttdd]

Our Church , Our Lady Star of the Sea, in North Myrtle Beach, SC, had our parrish mission this week. The priest speaking was Fr. Roger Arnsparger from Gastonia, NC, If you ever get the chance to see him, DO…