Lent ~ the Last Great Race

These early March days find us, along with many Alaskans, daily checking standings for the mushers running the 1100-mile Iditarod Sled Dog Race, the “last great race.” My dog-loving twelve year old daughter checks multiple times a day and moves colored pins for her four favorites along a map (She’s a hard-core fan.). Since it is also Lent, I see Lent everywhere and the Iditarod is no exception.

Initially called the Great Race of Mercy (Hello, Lent), the race commemorates the 1925 diphtheria serum run to Nome by way of the Iditarod trail, a mining transport route through the now-ghost-town of the same name. Those mushers were smart and strong, risking their lives and the lives of their working dogs to get that medicine to stricken Nome. The Iditarod is still a dangerous run, “Not safe,” according to musher Dee Dee Jonrowe. “Challenging conditions are true every year. It’s the Iditarod Trail. The race must go on,” says Iditarod Trail Committee Executive Director Stan Hooley.* As is Lent. Each year has its own spiritual dangers and challenges. We have our Hell’s Gates and Dalzell Gorges. We may be lonely. We also have our rest stops available in Friday evening soup and stations. Extra reconciliation services are our health checks. And the race will go on for us, too, ending with the Easter celebration year after year until the Great Banquet in the Father’s House.

We may need to drop out, or “scratch,” in order to get our dogs or ourselves (or both) tended back to health for next year’s run. This is OK. If we desire betterment and do not allow bitterness to creep in, we will learn what we should and become closer to Jesus His way. “Let it be unto me according to what you have said,” said our Blessed Mother. Two years ago, my baby was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis in the beginning of Lent. That year, fasting for me took the form of mentally wrangling fear and anger to the ground and lifting my eyes to Jesus to embrace love and redemptive suffering. It was exhausting. I fired the computer back up and made needed connections. On the Yukon River deciding things for racers, says musher Martin Buser, “The Yukon always is a decider if it’s punchy or slow.”* Indeed. Sometimes Lent is decided for us, whether punchy or slow.

Physically running the Iditarod and spiritually running Lent begins with preparation. Take stock, figure goals, decide risks, and gather materials. While there is a general pattern in Lent (pray, fast, give) and a general pattern in mushing (food, gear, map), everyone’s plan is their own (Musher Jeff King is known for his inventions like boxed sled seating and heated handlebars!). Then jump in and participate. Just do it and see what happens! There are physicians and public servants at checkpoints on the way (priests and angels) and those watching on the periphery for culture and entertainment may be inspired to get in the race themselves. God be praised.

The last great race truly is a great race of mercy. May we find opportunities every day to enrich Lent with mercy accepted and given. May we actively look for burning bushes, even in Iditarod stories. Go mushers! Go us!

*March 7, 2014 Frontiersman and Anchorage Daily News headlines

(This was also posted at Catholic Sistas today.)

Five non-spiritual Lenten lessons

Yes, I know the season of Lent has been over for three weeks now, but I've just realized a few things.  And it took me all this time to connect the dots because I also gave birth during Lent and I'm still a bit . . . fuzzy.  So :


1.  No desserts means that children eat much more dinner.  Good for my culinary esteem ; bad for leftover lunches the next day.

2.  No daytime television means more bickering.  This study is so terribly correct.  The more brain activity, the more arguing.

3.  Prayers for orphans means some homeschool days involve hours in front of Reece's Rainbow, crying. 

4.  Concentrating on Stations of the Cross when the Knights of Columbus are downstairs preparing a fish fry means it is very difficult to concentrate.

5.  Memorizing a passage from Tobit means struggling with irritation that such treasures were tossed by protestants.


Any deeper than this and my brain will explode ~
Next year maybe,
Allison

Lenten Sunday #5

This week's focus : Think of Jesus sad,  and :

PRAY : for our Holy Father, as he prays for the sadnesses of all people,
FAST :  from wallowing in our own sadness,
GIVE :  ourselves to noticing and helping with someone else's sadness.


Our Tobit passage continues :

Give to the hungry some of your bread, and to the needy some of your clothing.  Whatever you have left over, give as alms ; and do not begrudge the alms you give.  (vs. 16)


Inspiration :

He gives us His Hands to take hold of, His Power to make it a redeeming thing, a blessed thing, His Life to cause it to flower, His Heart to enable us to rejoice in accepting our own and one another's burdens.    (Caryll Houselander)

This is Ian, eight years old in May  (Getting cozy for the night in our snow cave, which most members of my family think is Fun.).  He and I have been preparing for his first confession and Thursday evening was The Night.  He gripped his favorite book, marked to the act of contrition page with a 3x5 card he'd scribbled with his examined sins.  The half hour drive to church was almost completely silent, peppered with occasional, nervously worded questions.  Do priests do confession?  (Yes, Honey.)  Will you do it, too?  (Yes, Honey.)  What if I forget everything?  (He'll help you.  He's very nice.).

We arrived, got in line  (Gotta love being Catholic ; hard to be holier-than-thou when you're all standing in line to confess sins!), and then he was gone.  Into the little room, just Father Luz and him.  I was without my boy, wondering what was conspiring, praying for him and his sweet soul.  Since Ian was the final child from class, a party began when he stepped out of the confessional, involving cookies, cranberry juice, and snowballs.  They'd done it!

The drive home had decidedly different questions : When can I go again?  (Father is there Saturday afternoons or I can call for anytime.)   What should I do with my paper?  (Tear it up and throw it out!).  Can I go with John next Saturday?  (Yes, if you need to.).  As soon as I opened the door, Ian threw himself into Ken's arms and told him that he was right, Father Luz was really nice and he loved confession. 

Once again, I've fallen deeper in love with our Holy Faith and highly recommend reading children's catechisms and allegories. 




Do go before Easter, friends!

Love,  Allison

Boys and orphans and Lenten Sunday #3

The fourth Sunday in Lent ~
Laetare!



Think about :  Rejoice, Jerusalem, and all who love her!


Pray : for Israel,
Fast : from grudges, as the Lord holds not our sin against us,
Give : mercy, as the Lord to His people.


And continuing our Tobit passage :

"Do to no one what you yourself dislike.  Do not drink wine until you become drunk."

(The 17 and 14 year old made weird faces at sentence #2, questioning the necessity of having the younger kids memorize such a proverb.  I made a weird face right back and told them it would be good to have the Scriptures drill that into their young heads.)



And this grand reminder from Saint Leo the Great :

When therefore, dearly beloved, the Son of God says, "Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass me by," He uses the voice of our nature and He pleads the cause of our human frailty and disquiet -- in order to strengthen patience and drive out fear in those things we shall have to bear.



And about the boys and orphans, thanks to Leila I have been changed.  Ruined, even.  I rocked my enormous 2 1/2 year old on the couch last night until he fell asleep and wept for a little boy I'll probably never meet who lives in an orphanage and cries in his sleep.  He looks like any one of my sons and I want to rock him on my couch, too, until his tears cease.  His name is Nicholas and he is listed on Reece's Rainbow, with over $5000 in his adoption fund.  His story is here.

 

Nicholas
                                         Joseph, this morning.








Since I've learned about this organization, I've found a brother and sister, both with cystic fibrosis, who have been chosen by a LA family  (See sidebar photo link.).  They have just $300 in their help fund.  They will perish without some medicines ~ please consider bonding with these 3 children (and me) in prayer.  They are my focus for Lent.  My sacrifices.  My prayers.  My troubles are nothing.

                                                       

God have mercy,                                      
Laetare,
Allison

Lenten Week ~ Sunday #3

Focus for the upcoming week :


Think about those who had compassion on Jesus, like Veronica, and ~

Pray ~ for those who work with the Church's official charities,

Fast ~ from greed by sharing more,

Give ~ compassion / help to a younger sibling.

Continuing our passage in Tobit :

"Alms are a worthy offering in the sight of the Most High for all who give them."  (vs. 11)



Inspiration regarding the Lenten fast :

"We return it all to God for forty days, not because any of it is 'bad', but because it is indeed very good.  Only good things should be offered in sacrifice to God ; only the best of the harvest could be offered as a tithe."     (Scott Hahn, Signs of Life)


I have been a bit . . . preoccupied  (the children may have another word)  this week, consumed with the nursing-with-enzyme-groove that little Adah Marie requires.  Nursing on demand doesn't work the same.  But we press on and do the right thing.  God knows.  He loves her more than I do and He loves me more, too.


I just hope and pray that the younger ones don't grow too much dental plaque, as they've been brushing their own teeth for a week now.  Oy.


Forward, March,
Allison

Lent ~ Second Sunday

Our focus for the upcoming week :  Think of Jesus betrayed and rejected and :

Pray : for those who reject and hate our Church,
Fast :  from giving place to ugly thoughts and actions,
Give : our time to turn the other cheek and do something nice to one who has been mean to us.

Next installment of our Tobit passage :

"Perform good works all the days of your life, and do not tread the paths of wrongdoing."  (4:5).

This is our Crown of Thorns, made from
play-doh and toothpicks.  When I catch
a child using his hands (or whatever the
week's focus), he may take out a thorn
and put it in the bowl.  Easter morning,
the thorns are replaced with bright and
beautiful jelly beans ~ Halleluia!

This is a reminder poster that Clare made and stuck in the
mirror.  Wonder what she'll draw for this week?

                  
                   
                      

First week here.




A simple, spare diet is off the books for me this Lent, as doctor's orders are to Eat Fat.  No calorie-reduction.  Seems like the only way to do this for my tiny nursling without indulging in ice cream and brownies, which seems wrong during a season of penitence is to substitute full fat items for nonfat.

My ten year old, who loves All Things Computer, has grabbed this nutritional bull by the horns and googled phrases like, lots of fat for skinny babies ; fat without dessert ; and  (my personal favorite) fat food for mothers.  Her motivation seems to stem from concern for her skinny sister and the scientific challenge, as well as the aforementioned computer-love.  This is the kid who refuses to learn the method for long multiplication problems, but has provided me with a bullet-pointed grocery list. 

  A new bloggy friend has recently blessed me with these words, "Sometimes our lives provide Lent for us."



"As sometimes the mother gives the most attention to the child who falls the most, so our failures can be used as a prayer that God be most attentive to us, because of our greater weaknesses."   (AB Fulton Sheen)

Thank God for that,
Allison

Our Lenten Week

After a good cry a few days ago  (I don't even remember when ; it's Her Fault!) over my utter lack of preparation for Lent, I drank another mug of coffee  (possibly a pot), mopped myself up, gathered my sleepy brain cells, and devised a Plan :


*Family fast  (Personal penances private)
*Weekly "Pray, Fast, Give" focus
*Scripture passage to memorize together


So for the week ahead, we will think about Jesus' wounded Hands, and ~

Pray -- for priests whose hands bring us the Eucharist,
Fast --  from rough handling of each other and our material goods,
Give -- our own hands for a kind act each day.

And we're working on this beginning of a section of Tobit :

"Through all your days, my son, keep the Lord in mind and suppress every desire to sin or to break His commandments."  (4:5)


Since it has been just four days, there are minimal discernments or discoveries, other than how embarrassingly close I am to pawning my van for a cookie.  But this introspection and God-spection is hard work.  Good work.  Training-the-will work.

"Lent must renew in us our union with Jesus Who speaks to us of the need of conversion and shows us the way to reach it.  The Church, a wise and loving Mother, suggests useful ways to reach this wonderful purpose ; these are prayer, fasting, and almsgiving."  (Pope John Paul II)

All for Him,
Allison