Fr. Kevin's Cluttered Desk
Sunday, March 10, 2019
“Even now, says the Lord, return to me with all your heart.” The reading from the prophet Joel begins every Lenten season with this calling. What does God ask from us? Nothing but a humble, contrite heart. Humble: marked by modesty or meekness, respectful, unpretentious. Contrite: to be repentant. Heart: source of unconditional love. In church Latin, humility refers to meekness, and is taken from “homilis”, or lowly. Humble literally means on the ground, or taken from “humus”, the earth.
I have always preferred this last understanding of humility or humbleness, “to be from the earth”. It reminds us that we are dust and to dust we shall return; that we are God’s creation and in the end we all return to him for judgement. This leads to contrition: the act of repentance, being sorrowful for our transgressions, the harm we have done to ourselves and to others, which in turn harms God. All of this leads to a transformation of the heart.
Question of the day? When you kneel before a Crucifix and pray this prayer what do you feel in your heart?
Prayer before a Crucifix:
Look down upon me, good and gentle Jesus
while before Your face I humbly kneel and,
with burning soul,
pray and beseech You
to fix deep in my heart lively sentiments
of faith, hope, and charity;
true contrition for my sins,
and a firm purpose of amendment.
While I contemplate,
with great love and tender pity,
Your five most precious wounds,
pondering over them within me
and calling to mind the words which David,
Your prophet, said to You, my Jesus:
"They have pierced My hands and My feet,
they have numbered all My bones."
Amen.
As Sister would to tell us, “Your sins are the source of His wounds.” That’s how much He loves you.
Peace Fr. Kevin
I have always preferred this last understanding of humility or humbleness, “to be from the earth”. It reminds us that we are dust and to dust we shall return; that we are God’s creation and in the end we all return to him for judgement. This leads to contrition: the act of repentance, being sorrowful for our transgressions, the harm we have done to ourselves and to others, which in turn harms God. All of this leads to a transformation of the heart.
Question of the day? When you kneel before a Crucifix and pray this prayer what do you feel in your heart?
Prayer before a Crucifix:
Look down upon me, good and gentle Jesus
while before Your face I humbly kneel and,
with burning soul,
pray and beseech You
to fix deep in my heart lively sentiments
of faith, hope, and charity;
true contrition for my sins,
and a firm purpose of amendment.
While I contemplate,
with great love and tender pity,
Your five most precious wounds,
pondering over them within me
and calling to mind the words which David,
Your prophet, said to You, my Jesus:
"They have pierced My hands and My feet,
they have numbered all My bones."
Amen.
As Sister would to tell us, “Your sins are the source of His wounds.” That’s how much He loves you.
Peace Fr. Kevin
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