(2 Kg 2:1,6-14; Ps 31; Mt 6:1-6; 16-18<\/p>\n
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Does the word \u201casceticism\u201d sound attractive to you?<\/p>\n
The gospel today invites us to practice three ascetical traditions in the Church as a way of humbly living out our faith and the Great Commandment of Jesus, as well as meeting our deepest human needs.<\/p>\n
There are three ascetical practices or disciplines highlighted every year during Lent especially: almsgiving, prayer and fasting. These were the three most important spiritual disciplines for a faithful Jew. These three disciplines match the Great Commandment from Jesus to love God, to love others, and to love ourselves. Prayer is all about loving God; almsgiving is all about loving others, and fasting is all about loving ourselves. In giving us these three disciplines, Jesus was a good psychologist, because they also fulfill our deepest human need to be loved, to belong and to be valued.<\/p>\n
Regarding the first discipline of prayer, I would encourage us to grow in two different ways of praying \u2013 Lectio Divina and the prayer of the Anawim<\/em>. Lectio Divina is a very mature way of praying involving scripture (Lectio)<\/em>, pondering the Word (Meditatio)<\/em>, praying with scripture (Oratio)<\/em>, and especially, just being in the presence of the Lord, soaking up God\u2019s love (Contemplatio)<\/em>. Thomas Keating calls this kind of prayer divine therapy because it allows the Holy Spirit access to our deepest self and bring about healing.<\/p>\n To pray like the Anawim <\/em>(the poor people who know they need God) is to pray like Peter sinking in the water \u2013 \u201cLord, save me,\u201d knowing no one else could save him. We need to humbly admit we cannot live this day the way God wants us to (with joy, freedom and peace) on our own. Each morning, our first prayer should be humbly asking for the gifts of the Holy Spirit to help us that day, one day at a time. This is very similar to Step 11 of A.A. \u2013 conscious contact with God, seeking only the knowledge of God\u2019s will for us and the power it carry it out.<\/p>\n Almsgiving entails being generative and giving our lives away to make the world a better place. We give of our time, talent and treasure to the extent we are able. A statement by Sir Winston Churchill is appropriate here \u2013 \u201cWe make a living by what we get; we make a life by what we give away.\u201d<\/p>\n Fasting is a discipline that has fallen on hard times in the life of the church, unfortunately. Fasting was seen by the Jewish people at the time of Jesus as a powerful expression of turning to God, more so than repentance. It is like tuning into a radio station\u2019s frequency for clearer reception. In a similar way, fasting was seen as a valuable method of finding the Lord and hearing God\u2019s voice. Fasting is just as valuable today, giving us more time to turn to the Lord in prayer, and letting our physical hunger get us in touch with our spiritual hunger for a closer, more intimate relationship with God. Notice, Jesus didn\u2019t say \u201cif\u201d you fast but \u201cwhen\u201d you fast, so fasting is something he expects of us.<\/p>\n Sweat Lodge<\/p><\/div>\n The Indigenous peoples have honored the discipline of fasting very well. For many years, a group of Oblates and lay people entered into an eight-day awareness experience on a First Nations community that included sweat lodges, sharing circles and four days of fasting without food or water. Each year I participated in such a fast, I was gifted with a new awareness of life that enriched my personal growth and healing. This is a gift that Indigenous spirituality is giving back to the church.<\/p>\n In the Gospel, Jesus describes how we should live out each discipline, stressing they should all be done in secret, and not drawing attention to ourselves. This humble quality is more needed then ever today, in a world craving for attention at any cost. One example is Lil Tay, a nine-year old social media star, rapper and internet celebrity known for her controversial Instagram videos. She had an Instagram profile of 2.5 million followers and caught the attention of many news outlets including CBC, VICE, Newsweek, gossip empire TMZ and ABC\u2019s Good Morning America. She has also made videos with both Chief Keef and Jake Paul. In her online videos, she swears profusely, flashes stacks of cash, poses in luxury cars and houses, brags about expensive clothing, and references drugs and trap houses. She is a self-described \u201cyoungest flexer of the century\u201d (Flexing is slang for showing off or boasting).<\/p>\n Lil Tay, her mother Angela Tian and those supporting her are prepared to capitalize on her notoriety and attention. Honesty doesn\u2019t seem to be important, as they have faked some of the scenes. Her promoter Diomi Cordero admits she gets some hate mail, but reasons in social media, the more comments garnered, even if negative, and the more \u201clikes\u201d she receives, the better it is for the account. However, the author of an article on her in Maclean\u2019s Magazine July 2018 writes, \u201cIt is hard to feel anything but low-grade depression at what the quest for fleeting internet fame has become. The attention on her may accrue more followers and a brand sponsorship, but it will also propel a child further down a very strange and unhealthy path.\u201d Her mother brushes aside these concerns, because Lil is a star now.<\/p>\n This craving for attention and notoriety seems to be the extreme opposite of what Jesus is teaching in today\u2019s gospel \u2013 humble faithfulness and love expressed especially by prayer, fasting and almsgiving in secret, actually trying not to attract attention. The common denominator is to do them from the heart.<\/p>\n Richard Rohr, founder of the Centre for Action and Contemplation in New Mexico, offers an interesting reflection that applies to today\u2019s gospel: \u201cParadoxically, immense humility, not arrogance, characterizes the True Self. You simultaneously know you are a son or daughter of God, but you also know you didn\u2019t earn it and you are not worthy of it. You know it\u2019s entirely a gift (see Ephesians 2:8-9 and throughout Paul\u2019s writings). All you can do is thank Somebody Else, occasionally weep with joy, and kneel without any hesitation.\u201d<\/p>\n The Eucharist involves all three disciplines: traditionally, we fast for an hour before mass. The Eucharist is of course our greatest prayer, and we give alms during the collection. More than that, we give of ourselves in ministry and fellowship.<\/p>\n So, let us celebrate this Eucharist with faith and active participation, letting it empower us to live out those three disciplines in our lives with greater love and intention.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" HOMILY WEEKDAY 11 03 \u2013 Year II Three Ascetical Practices (2 Kg 2:1,6-14; Ps 31; Mt 6:1-6; 16-18 ********************************************* Does the word \u201casceticism\u201d sound attractive to you? The gospel today invites us to practice three ascetical traditions in the Church as a way of humbly living out our faith and the Great Commandment of Jesus, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3687","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-homilies","category-ordinary-time"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3687","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3687"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3687\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3689,"href":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3687\/revisions\/3689"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3687"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3687"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3687"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Sweat-Lodge-Woman-300x188.jpg\")