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FEBRUARY 7, 2008
Editor’s note: Bishop Olmsted will resume his columns on the Virtue of Love in the next edition of The Catholic Sun.
Lent: 'Offering up little things'
“Most of our life is unimportant, filled with trivial things from morning till night. But when it is transformed by love it is of interest even to the angels.”
These words of Dorothy Day explain why she had such an impact on others as she lived out her radical commitment to the Gospel of Christ. She knew that love is the most important thing, and that love is practiced in the “little things” of daily life.
These “little things” include the small annoyances that tempt us to impatience and the tiny inconveniences that test our forbearance. But how can these irritating little things lead us to closer friendship with Christ? Don’t they hinder our love for Him rather than help it? Not if we offer them up cheerfully to Him.
Sharing in Christ’s great compassion
“Offer it up,” this advice once frequently heard in Catholic homes is seldom heard among us today. While some mistakenly consider this a hopeful sign, it is actually a loss of something good, even something essential. Pope Benedict XVI reminds us of this time-proven wisdom in his insightful recent encyclical on hope.
After explaining how suffering can have meaning, even how it is integral to the human experience (Cf. #38-40), the Holy Father speaks of the enduring relevance of “offering up the minor daily hardships that continually strike at us like irritating jabs, thereby giving them meaning.” Yes, it is true, as he points out, there can be unhealthy applications of this devotional practice, but the mistaken applications of it on occasion do not negate the great worth of its valid incorporation in our lives.
When we “offer up” the little things that drive us crazy, when we patiently endure the irritating weaknesses of others, or when we embrace with love the small aches and pains of our own body or heart, we are able to insert these into Christ’s great compassion. We can join them with the mystery of His Cross. “In this way,” as Pope Benedict writes, “even the small inconveniences of daily life could acquire meaning and contribute to the economy of good and of human love.”
How about “offering up” a little something for Lent this year? It could be a health problem you already suffer, or a new burden God has placed on your shoulders. It might be a long-standing difficulty that you have refused to accept or a person you find difficult to love. It could be a penitential practice or sacrifice that you choose to do yourself or with your family.
Finding meaning in suffering
Pope Benedict says there are two ways to find meaning in suffering, i.e. two ways to bear the Cross in union with Christ. The first way is to take up the suffering of another, so that the other no longer suffers alone. The second way is to embrace the suffering that comes from standing up for what is true and good and right. “Truth and justice must stand above my comfort and physical well-being or else my life becomes a lie… To suffer for the sake of truth and justice, to suffer out of love… these are the fundamental elements of humanity, and to abandon them would destroy man himself.”
The First Lenten Eucharistic Preface proclaims: “Father… each year you give us this joyful season when we prepare to celebrate the paschal mystery with mind and heart renewed.” Our Lent 2008 will enrich us humanly and spiritually, it will bring us closer to joyful communion with Christ if we practice the age-old devotion of offering up prayers, penances and the little difficulties of daily life.
Holiness consists in allowing the Lord to lead us wherever He wills, even along uncomfortable paths. It demands a daily effort to trust in His ways, including those that run counter to our ways and our thoughts (Cf. Isaiah 55:8-9). As the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness to be tested and prepared for His earthly mission, may we allow the same Spirit to lead us during these 40 days of opportunity and grace.
The Church requires three exercises of us during the Lenten season: prayer, penance and generous giving. These are the same exercises that Jesus practiced for 40 days in the wilderness and throughout His earthly life. All three require little but significant efforts. They aim at deepening our communion with the Lord and at preparing us to celebrate worthily the great mystery of love revealed in Good Friday and Easter Sunday.
A sacrifice of joy
As we begin Lent 2008, let us determine to do so with a cheerful heart, remembering Jesus’ caution (Matt 6:16f): “When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites… But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you may not appear to be fasting, except to your Father who is hidden. And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you.” Half-hearted efforts and downcast spirits will not sustain us to the goal.
Let us also decide to rid ourselves of those narrow attitudes that get in the way of cheerfully “offering up” little sacrifices to the Lord, things like hurt pride, laziness or self-pity. Remember all those times in the Sacred Scriptures when God insists on our being joyful. Through the Prophet Zephaniah, God says (3:14): “Shout for joy, O daughter Zion! Sing joyfully, O Israel! Be glad and exult with all your heart!” God gives us joy to be our energy and our strength. We cannot be faithful to Christ without it. As Ezra tells the exiles who returned to rebuild Jerusalem (Neh 8:8ff), “Do not be sad, and do not weep… for today is holy to our Lord. Do not be saddened this day, for rejoicing in the Lord must be your strength!”
Copyright 2008 The Catholic Sun.
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