Each day, it's important to take your bearings. Where are you today? In this Lenten exercise, in the scriptures, in your daily life, and in your very self? Spend just a minute or two getting your bearings for the day.
Let's briefly examine where we are in this Lenten exercise and then begin each day with a prayer for transformation--for ourselves, our fraternity brothers, and all Exodus Men.
You are in Jerusalem. This week, we will focus on the greatest transformation: to love with Christ’s love. Let us be transformed!
Pray the Lord blesses you and your fraternity with a foundation for real personal change during this season of Lent.
Pray for the grace of perseverance for all Exodus Men, just as they are praying for you.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.
And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” And some of the bystanders hearing it said, “Behold, he is calling Elijah.” And one ran and, filling a sponge full of vinegar, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.” And Jesus uttered a loud cry, and breathed his last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that he thus breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”
Today, love has revealed itself. Benedict XVI writes, once again in Deus Caritas Est (#12):
Jesus’ death on the Cross is the culmination by which God gives himself in order to raise man up and save him. This is love in its most radical form. By contemplating the pierced side of Christ we can understand that “God is love” (1 John 4:8). It is there that this truth can be contemplated. It is from there that our definition of love must begin. In this contemplation the Christian discovers the path along which his life and love must move.
In Mark’s Gospel, the only person who confesses Jesus to be the Son of God is the centurion who sees Jesus breathing his last. It is this moment that completes Peter’s first confession that Jesus is the Christ. It is the second step in the gift of faith. Men knew there was something special about Jesus, but only on the Cross is the fullness of his divinity revealed. What is St. Mark saying?
Faith for its fullest expression requires love. While we might laugh at the lover who sees wondrous beauty in his beloved, it is perhaps most true that only the lover really sees his beloved as she really is. All the rest of us are not looking intently enough to see her dignity and worth. Jesus reveals himself in love; his last act is to breathe his last, that is, to give forth his Spirit, his love.
The Spirit revealed in faith at his baptism, the Spirit that accompanied him in hope at his transfiguration is now may manifest in love. In his most extreme agony, Jesus cries out to the Father who had proclaimed him at the beginning of his ministry. The Trinity revealed at his baptism in prophetic signs is now made manifest for all mankind upon the Cross.
Today, let us contemplate Christ crucified and see in him the fullest presence of divinizing love. Be transformed.
Now place yourself before God, and converse with him. If making a holy hour is a new practice for you, consider using the Holy Hour Guide.
1. Enter into Holy Week fully. Don’t let this be just another week. Our prayer discipline calls for a daily holy hour. In these final days, set your alarm, get up early, go to the chapel or light a candle beside a crucifix at home, and let the Lord change your life as you sit before him in your holy hour.
2. Consider increasing your fasting. Sprint to the finish line! Push yourself in fasting. Decrease your food intake or your sleep. Now is the time to put it all on the line.
3. Don't give in to distractions this week. Silence your phone, turn off notifications, deactivate badge icons. Do whatever it takes to stay close to Christ, to finish this exercise strongly, to be present to your family, and to live as a free man.
4. Keep moving forward this Easter. If you go back to the way you lived before Lent, you’re likely to slide back and return to the vices you struggled with then. We need to learn to celebrate well, in a way that expresses our joy in God without losing the discipline that we have achieved. If you make a plan to celebrate Easter in a disciplined way, you’re more likely to avoid falling back and instead will keep moving forward. Exodus’s Easter exercise will focus on building a sustainable rule of life, balancing celebration and discipline.
5. Stick with your brothers. You may not know how important your brothers have been to you along this journey. Keep investing in one another and building your friendship. Talk with your fraternity about keeping things going during Easter. Talk about how you plan to feast, reflect, and keep moving forward.