Catholic Lenten Quotes

Not Suffering Alone Father, if you are willing, take this cup away from me; still, not my will but yours be done. Luke 22:42 The “Agony in the Garden” has always moved me deeply. Up to this moment, even at the Last Supper, Jesus has appeared to be strong and in control. Now, however, he is weak, vulnerable and very much alone. Jesus is in a state of profound fear over his upcoming passion and death. Along with the fear is a terrible loneliness; Jesus can find no human support. Like any of us, he would hope that at least one of his disciples would notice his pain and come to his side. But they are sound asleep. Perhaps this is why Luke includes the note that “an angel from heaven appeared to him” to strengthen him, as if the angel were saying, “Be assured: countless souls will be willing to suffer their own agony and death for love of you and your teachings.” As our own Lenten journey nears its conclusion this Holy Week, may we find the spiritual strength we need to bear our cross in union with Jesus and support our brothers and sisters in their times of suffering. Fr. Martin Pable, O.F.M. Cap.

But Jesus overturns the Pharisees’ religiosity with the single word “servant.” A servant 1) carries burdens for others, 2) shines attention on others and 3) seeks to disappear.

For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. Luke 9:24

Aquinas would certainly agree with Saint Thérèse of Lisieux’s description: “prayer is a surge of the heart; it is a simple look turned toward heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy.” (See Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2558–59.)

Our True Needs Do you call this a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord? Isaiah 58:5 In this chapter the prophet Isaiah chastises the people for using their fast to put on a “spiritual show.” Afflicting themselves and lying in the ashes are today’s equivalent of moaning and groaning, whining about our self-imposed deprivation or our fatigue from good deeds, just to position ourselves in the holiest light. This is not the intended spirit behind a fast. A fast should be a quiet, private matter between us and God. Sometimes we fast from nourishment to remind ourselves that our sustenance and fulfillment are found in God. Our hunger reminds us of our truest need, and we realign ourselves in communion with our Savior. But we can do other kinds of fasts as well. I have fasted from negative thinking, from judgment, from complaining, from materialism and from overscheduling—and have found these fasts to be incredibly edifying and healing. Fasting can be about deprivation, but not always. Sometimes we are blessed when we learn to starve the parts of ourselves that do not glorify God and feed the parts that do. Kristin Armstrong

couldn’t stop praying! I would hide behind doors so as to be able to pray unnoticed when there were people around. My siblings, naturally, made fun of me. This particular compulsion only subsided some years later, as a gradual realization and acceptance of my being not always entirely good and possessing some darker sides to my personality as a whole (such as vanity, envy and jealousy, among other vices) took place in me. More on the acceptance bit later. For my part (Hugh), I still struggle quite a bit with scrupulosity. As with Sophia, it started as something religious. I went to a Catholic elementary school, and for a time was terrified of accidentally thinking that I “hated God” or “loved the devil.” So, I would repeat that I loved God and hated the devil ad nauseum in my head. Eventually that particular form of religious scrupulosity went away, but it was replaced with a general fear of sinning and going to Hell, reaching a point in middle school where I had to stop making Lenten promises, even simple ones like giving up ice cream or candy, for fear of accidentally breaking my promise and being punished by God.

Stations of the Cross are usually observed during lent, especially of Lenten Fridays and most importantly on Good Friday. This is the one popular devotion for Roman Catholics. The purpose of this devotion is to focus on the Passion of the Christ.