For me, each Lent arrives, both unwelcome (too soon) and much desired (much needed). It is as though the ashes I have accepted on my forehead have marked me both as one in need of God’s mercy and as one who is intent on opening myself to the transforming power of the Lenten call to prayer, penance, and alms giving. I am marked as a follower of Christ.
What does it mean to follow Christ? One way of answering this is to say it is to live as he lived, according to his values, based on the Mosaic Law. Joan Chittister, OSB, in her series, “The Ten Commandments: Laws of the Heart,” “invites us to think deeply about the moral fibers of our society and presents the idea that The Ten Commandments are an adventure in human growth—that we are not so much convicted by them as we are transformed by them.”
The Laws of the Heart, then, have to do with the transformed heart that acts in right relationship with God, self, and others. In Matthew’s Gospel, to test Jesus’ fidelity to the law, one of the Pharisee sects, a lawyer, asks Jesus which commandment is the greatest. Jesus responds, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” Jesus continues, “This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Jesus gives us the two Laws of Love.
Matthew then comments,” On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”
During the five sessions of Linger Over Coffee offered at Marillac Center this Lent, we will explore, with Sister Joan’s insights, what the Ten Commandments have to say to us today. Jesus summed them up in the two laws of love. Sr. Joan comments, “It is the issues dealt with in the Ten Commandments that tell us what it is to be a full human being. Commandments one through four teach us about creaturehood. . .. But it is the second Sinai tablet–the tablet with commandments five through ten on it—that challenge us to ethical standards that can make the entire world safe, whole, and fully human.” In other words, these commandments are about becoming community: a holy people.
Consider joining us during our Lenten Journeys at Marilac Center for one of the following events:
Linger Over Coffee
Tuesdays, February 20-March 19, 9 to 11 a.m.
This Lenten season, we will use materials from the series “The Ten Commandments: Laws of the Heart” by Joan Chittister OSB.
Lenten Reflection Day with the Vincentian Family
Friday, February 16, 9:30 to 3 p.m.
Fr. Tom McKenna, CM, author of “Praying with Vincent,” will help us uncover elements of the Vincentian charism lived by St. Vincent de Paul and St. Louise de Marillac that will help us live this season.
Grace of Resilience Retreat
February 19-24
Sr. Mary Pat Garvin, RSM, Ph.D., a Sister of Mercy of the Americas, will speak of Resilience as a grace . . .a gift of the Spirit that blesses our lives with insight and provides opportunities for deepening our relationship with ourselves, others, and God. The daily flow of retreat will consist of a morning gathering, daily Eucharist, afternoons free for prayer and reflection, and an afternoon “gathering of the graces.”
Poetry as Prayer
Saturday, March 16, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Sr. Rosemary Kolich, SCL, helps us experience poetry as a way of prayer, where the poet looks to God in light of humanity and all creation. The retreatant will break open various forms of poetry and experiment with prayer writing, leaving the day with a personal written prayer.
