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Thursday, March 04, 2010

Sshh.. the body of Christ is fasting...

Image name: desert death valley ubehebe crater. Photographer: Jon Sullivan
It's the second week of Lent. Why do we fast at Lent? Why do we observe Lent at all? Perhaps because it is a season of grace, given to us (who observe the season) for our own edification. It isn't about what Protestants might fear -- works-righteousness. It's not that the Catholic Church presumes to think that its Lenten observances add to the finished work of Christ on the cross. No, I think it is that Christ takes us unto himself, riding along his own Lenten on earth 2000 years ago, in order to complete in our bodies what is lacking. What is lacking? For ourselves, I think we lack the experience of profound sorrow at the horror of sin and concupiscence. For others, especially those for whom the cross is alien, they lack the witness of the cross and how great the love of God is. I heard Patrick Coffin at Catholic Answers recently say that sacrifice is the measure of love. This is Lent. It's a season of sacrifice: Christ's sacrifice, and we're here for the ride -- desert and all. Thank God.

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