Food for the journey – a Lenten reflection

Today, we will be reflecting on Pope Francis’ message for this year’s Lent, that is “Lenten Penance and the Synodal Journey”, with some points from his 37th World Youth Day message and his Apostolic Letter, Desidirio Desideravi on Liturgical Formation.




So first, let us start with these three questions:

1. Why am I here?

2. What is it that I want to get from spending my time in the church?

3. Am I getting what I want?




Activity 1: Reflection and Sharing

1. Individual reflection: 5 minutes

2. Group sharing: 15 minutes




In his Lenten message, Pope Francis takes us to a journey – that time when he decided to take Peter, James and John to the mountain, the three not knowing what they would see there, what they would experience there, the gift that awaits them at the top of the mountain.




For them they were simply accompanying their master whom they thought would simply be going to the top of the mountain, to an isolated place in order to pray. And pray he did, but more than that, the journey reached a climax for there they became witnesses to a most beautiful event – the transformation of Christ. They were able to see and experience the reality of Christ.




“The three disciples are given the grace of seeing him in his glory, resplendent in supernatural light,” Pope Francis said.




There too, they witnessed the witness of Moses, representing the law, and Elijah, representing the prophets.




There too, they heard the voice of the Father, proclaiming Jesus to be his Son.




But before arriving to this most beautiful event, they had to take a journey. A very difficult journey, uphill. The journey to top of Mount Tabor is not easy.




Pope Francis said that this “uphill path that, like a mountain trek, requires effort, sacrifice and concentration.”




And this is exactly what we are doing during this season of Lent – to make an effort in our journey to holiness, by sacrificing that which holds us back and putting our focus, our concentration back on our goal – to experience the splendor of God’s love.




And so, let us take this journey, together, as we reflect on our lives and how we have been living the life that would allow us to reach the peak of Mount Tabor to witness the Transfiguration of Christ, and to experience our own transformation in Christ.




This transformation is what would allow us, to excitedly go in haste and be witnesses of God’s love for us. This is the challenge of Pope Francis to our young people in his third message for the 37th World Youth Day, happening in Lisbon, Portugal this August.




So again let us review the movements – we take the journey with Jesus to Mount Tabor, then we experience Jesus in a very beautiful encounter leading to our transformation, and then we journey home ignited by the encounter and excited to be witnesses of the love that we received from the encounter.




What is our journey, by the way?




Our journey comes in different forms but we have one destination - Christ.




For us here, we are embarking on our journey, together, by sharing our time, our resources, our talents, our efforts in the work of the Church, that is in the building of God’s kingdom in the here and now.




The uphill climb can be difficult with a lot of challenges.




Let us now reflect on some of these challenges.




What are the challenges that we are experiencing in our ministry? In the youth ministry?




Activity 2: Identifying the different challenges in my journey of faith.

1. Family

2. Personal

3. Group

4. Others




Challenges may come in different forms:




First would be in terms of challenges from the family. Some parents may not want you to spend more time outside of your house, they want you home most of the time, or you have obligations that are just as important, like helping in the livelihood of your parents.




There are also challenges that comes from ourselves like burn out, too much work to do, school work, other commitments, lack of resources, insecurities, attitude, personal goals that may not compliment the commitment expected of you by the group.




While there are also challenges that would come from our group itself – leadership, politics, conflicts, scheduling, and even the not so good influence within that leaves you in not fulfilling your obligations at home, and others.




And then there are other challenges like our other friends who may eat up most of your time, politics, studies, your peers, and other obligations. And then there are the distractions that eat up a lot of our time like online games, social media, your hobbies, and the likes.




That is why, in this journey we need energy, we need strength, we need food.




Where do you think we could get this energy, this strength, this food?




We can get it from family, friends, and even from each other. But these sources of energy, strength, and food, so to speak can be very limited because they too can be drained. They have their own journeys; they have their own challenges.




That is why Christ made sure that, before leaving us to return to the Father, he left us the Holy Spirit to give us strength, energy, and food for the journey. But how do we experience this power of the Spirit?




Christ instituted the different Sacraments from which we experience God’s love, which would help recharge our batteries. For this, let me focus on that which is freely available to us daily and that is the Eucharist and Confession.




Baptism and confirmation, and even ordination and marriage, we can get only once. For ordination and marriage, we can’t have both, although some may have received the gift of receiving both.




Then there are the sacraments of penance and healing – the anointing of the sick and reconciliation or confession. We can have that anytime as well, but then, I don’t know, the sincerity of asking for forgiveness would be kind of diluted and might lose its meaning if like we do it everyday. It may become routine and shallow. You know, when you do things often, it becomes ordinary, and I have heard that in many penitents, who can’t seem to live without going to confession on a daily or weekly basis. Monthly, is good. There is this self-blaming, self-loathing, honestly, I feel like they actually enjoy it, and this is not good. It can be a psychological disorder of sorts.




We want to keep this beautiful gift special, always. That is why the church recommends that we go to confession at least once a year, for the grave sins that we have committed; for us to concretely experience the gift of forgiveness. (CCC 1457)




What are these grave sins? Murder, sex outside of marriage, participating in the exploitation of people like watching pornography, abortion – which, technically, is murder, leading others to commit sin, taking advantage of the misfortune of others, and the likes. Those sins that gravely affects others and gravely destroys our relationship with others, and leading them to lose faith in God.




The Catechism, however also states:




Without being strictly necessary, confession of everyday faults (venial sins) is nevertheless strongly recommended by the Church. Indeed, the regular confession of our venial sins helps us form our conscience, fight against evil tendencies, let ourselves be healed by Christ and progress in the life of the Spirit. By receiving more frequently through this sacrament the gift of the Father's mercy, we are spurred to be merciful as he is merciful… (CCC 1458)




If you commit grave sins in the course of the year, you don’t have to wait for Lent or Holy Week to go to confession. Experience the relief, the comfort, the warmth of God’s love for you by receiving his forgiveness.




It is really different when you hear someone telling you: “God has forgiven you of your sins.”




The relief from the burden that you may be carrying from keeping that sin. The experience is just, magical. It is like a very tight hug from someone you love on a very cold night and at a time that you badly needed it.




To confess our sins during this season of Lent is such a beautiful practice to help prepare and sustain us in this journey.




Now, another gift that Christ has given us is the Eucharist, the sacrifice of the mass, the holy communion, the Lord’s supper.




Eucharist, comes from the Greek word Eucharistia, meaning thanksgiving. Mass, on the other hand, may come from the Latin word Missa, which means dismissal, to depart; from the concluding formula of the celebration – Ite, missa est, meaning, “depart, you are dismissed”. Some would say that it may come from the Hebrew word matzah, meaning unleavened bread. But these terms are all the same. We become witnesses in the sacrifice of Christ and we partake of his body and blood as food for our journey.




Why should we be faithful in attending mass and in participating in the Holy Communion? Why should we be excited in joining the mass?




The mass is a prayer, as Pope Francis would put it, it is “the prayer par excellence, the highest, the most sublime and, at the same time, the most ‘concrete.’ In fact, it’s the encounter of love with God through His Word and the Body and Blood of Jesus. It’s an encounter with the Lord.”




Just like in confession and with the other sacraments, in the mass, we have a true encounter with Christ, but for this to happen, we must put ourselves into the prayer. We must fully participate, and not just be spectators of what the priest is doing. This is a communal prayer, a prayer of the community, and your role is very important for the mass to truly mean something for us and for our community.




Pope Francis said in Desiderio Desideravi:




We may not even be aware of it, but every time we go to Mass, the first reason is that we are drawn there by his desire for us. For our part, the possible response — which is also the most demanding asceticism — is, as always, that surrender to this love, that letting ourselves be drawn by him.




We go to mass, because we are called by Him. He calls us, he desires to see us, to meet us in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Would you deny Christ this encounter?




It is not enough that we serve. It is not enough that we join the activities of the youth, the young people. If we are content with this without going to mass, without participating in the different liturgy of the Church, then we don’t really understand our faith, we are not there out of love, but we are there for other reasons – be it for financial gain, for recognition, magpapasikat, for friendship, or for some other selfish reason.




So, if we are in church because we want to serve him, then in serving, we must have that desire to see him, to have an encounter with him, and what better way for us to experience this encounter than through the sacraments, especially the sacrament of the Eucharist.




This is the Tabor encounter, the Transfiguration that should lead to our transformation. And we need this constant encounter to give us the energy, the strength, the food in our journey towards self-transformation.




Lent is an opportunity for us to look back at our lives, to see the efforts that we are doing in truly living out the life that Christ intends us to live, to realize and appreciate our own transformation.




And as Pope Francis would put it:




Lent leads to Easter: the “retreat” is not an end in itself, but a means of preparing us to experience the Lord’s passion and cross with faith, hope and love, and thus to arrive at the resurrection.




On reaching the top and in experiencing the Transfiguration of Christ, we should experience the transformation of the self.




Pope Francis said:




(W)hat awaits us at the end is undoubtedly something wondrous and amazing, which will help us to understand better God’s will and our mission in the service of his kingdom.




This understanding of God’s will and our mission, is what would transform us. The clarity of the purpose of our lives, of our being, should transform us and should give us the enthusiasm to serve. It should give us a new perspective, a clearer view on why we are doing what we are doing, on why we are here, on why we are even giving time to volunteer in the youth ministry, on why we should be making effort to make the ministry’s projects successful, on why our lives should be deeply linked in and with the church.




And once we are clear on this, Pope Francis said:




Let us go down, then, to the plain, and may the grace we have experienced strengthen us to be “artisans of synodality” in the ordinary life of our communities.




Yes, the journey does not end at the top, the return journey is just as important.




Energized, strengthened and filled with the spirit, we are now tasked to spread the Good News of God’s love.




In his message to young people, to you, for the 37th World Youth Day, Pope Francis challenged the young people to be like Mary, who after the Annunciation, filled with the Holy Spirit, with the Child Jesus in her womb, went in haste to her elderly relative, Elizabeth, who was six months pregnant at the time, so that she could serve her.




That is the effect of being filled with the spirit, with a most beautiful encounter with our Lord, we could not hold the feeling in ourselves, we have to share it.




Pope Francis said:




The haste of the young woman of Nazareth is the haste of those who have received extraordinary gifts from the Lord and feel compelled to share them, to let the immense grace that they have experienced be poured out upon others. It is the haste of those capable of putting other people’s needs above their own.




And further said:




Mary is our model; she shows us how to welcome this immense gift into our lives, to share it with others, and thus to bring Christ, his compassionate love and his generous service to our deeply wounded humanity.




And his final message, which is a beautiful point to reflect on:




Let us carry Jesus within our hearts, and bring him to all those whom we meet! In this beautiful season of your lives, press ahead and do not postpone all the good that the Holy Spirit can accomplish in you!




Now let us end this reflection with a short activity. We go back to our first reflection: Why am I here?




With this we also ask ourselves:




What is my experience of encounter with Christ?

How is this encounter transforming me?

How is this encounter leading me to serve others and helping me in my involvement in this ministry?




Activity

1. Individual reflection: 5 minutes

2. Group sharing: 15 minutes