Reflection Starter from Edmund Burke

"Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little." – Edmund Burke

Thank You, Lord

Thank you, Lord, for the blessing of inspirational literature.

Lent: Spring Training for the Soul

Ever thought of Lent as spring training for the soul? The odds are against it, I know, and I admit I've never thought of it that way. More important here and now, however, is the fact that Father Joe Breighner not only thought about it, but wrote about it, too. And like most of the things he writes about, darned if it doesn't make sense. (I've written about Father Joe before; he's the columnist for the Catholic Review in Baltimore. He used to have a radio program called Ask Father Joe, and there he held forth freely on whatever came up.)

As it happens, Lent has a number of things in common with spring training, among them the amount of time it takes (give or take a few days). This year Lent goes for most of February and March, beginning on Feb. 10, and winding up on Holy Saturday, March 26.

But more to the point, there's something that gets to the heart of the matter: Lent and spring training are all about getting back to basics. In baseball, the basics are hitting, pitching and fielding. In Lent, they're prayer, fasting and giving to the poor. The person who ignores those fundamentals is like the baseball player who tries to limber up without paying attention to the basics of the sport: he's likely to get nowhere fast.

"Just because we know the way doesn't mean we go that way," Father Breighner writes. "We always come back to basics."

He offers insights into one of those "basics," praying. "Prayer is different for all of us," he says. "Some like to pray in silence, and others like noisy places. Some like to sit at the front of the tabernacle, and others visit the presence of God within themselves. One size does not fit all."

The same thing goes with fasting, and here Father Breighner offers a personal reflection. "I thought fasting was simply a matter of making myself miserable," he writes. But that turns out to be not the meaning at all.

"Fasting is not a matter of 'giving something up' as 'letting things go.'  We let go of our addictions to food, sex, anger, wanting and craving. We go into the desert of our own insides, and discover that when we let stuff go we are in the presence of God…Lent takes me back to basics, if I let it."

Finally there is almsgiving, giving to the poor. Of course, there's more to it than that. Give to the poor and worthy charities, by all means, but give of your time and energy as well.

"I'm convinced," Father Joe writes, "that the greatest gifts are not about how much we give, but how much of ourselves" is involved. That's all the difference, and it's a vital point.

Father Breighner reminds us of another important distinction. "It was easy to be a believer on Easter Sunday," he writes. "It wasn't as easy on Good Friday."  And he takes us from there:

"Much of life, I'm convinced, is lived on Good Friday. But if we take time to pray, if we take time to fast, and if we take time to give alms - giving of what we have and who we are - we will discover a moment of resurrection."

And that, in a sentence, is what Lent is all about. It's just a matter of getting back to basics. Spring training, that is - for the soul.

This essay is a recent "Light One Candle" column, written by Jerry Costello, of The Christophers; it is one of a series of weekly columns that deal with a variety of topics and current events.)

Background information:

The Christophers

Reflection Starter from Antonin Scalia

"God has been very good to us. One of the reasons God has been good to us is that we have done Him honor." - Justice Antonin Scalia

"Hail to the Chief"

As we continue of celebration of Washington's Birthday (celebrated in a number of states as Presidents' Day), I offer this version of the United States Marine Band presenting "Hail to the Chief":

Thank you for the suggestion, Myrna!

Thank You, Lord

Thank you, Lord, for the many good things You have done, whether we are aware of them or not, through each President of the United States.

Fr. Longenecker on Padre Pio and Our Lenten Observance

"With Padre Pio's relics visiting Rome for the Year of Mercy we're reminded of his amazing biography and how infused his whole life was with the miraculous. . . .

"The one thing which is most devastating for the Catholic faith is modernism. Modernism is like a watery soup full of various unappetizing and inedible  bits floating round in it, but the bottom line is that modernism is religion without the supernatural. It is a form of faux Christianity that has reduced Christ's sacrifice to martyrdom, his miracles to inspiring stories and his resurrection to a myth.

"If religion isn't supernatural then it's not really religion. As a plain speaking Australian once said about liberal Protestantism, 'That’s not a religion mate. That’s a set of table manners.'

"The same can be said about modernism in Catholicism.

"Chesterton said 'Every age is converted by the saint who is most unlike it.' Therefore one of the best saints to counter modernism is Padre Pio who was a thoroughgoing supernaturalist. Padre Pio's life was a constant witness to the reality of heaven and hell and the need to view this life as a pilgrimage to our heavenly home.

"Lent is the time to renew our awareness of the spiritual battle . . . .

In a recent commentary, Father Dwight Longenecker (parish priest at Our Lady of the Rosary Parish, Greenville, SC) reflected on several quotations from Padre Pio through which Padre Pio offered insights on a number of spiritua truths.

To access Fr. Longenecker’s complete post, please visit:

Standing on my Head: Ten Lessons from Padre Pio for Lent (9 FEB 16)

Background information:

Dwight Longenecker - Catholic priest and author

Reflection Starter from George Washington

"The ways of Providence being inscrutable, and the justice of it not to be scanned by the shallow eye of humanity, nor to be counteracted by the utmost efforts of human power or wisdom, resignation, and as far as the strength of our reason and religion can carry us, a cheerful acquiescence to the Divine Will, is what we are to aim." - George Washington (in a letter to Burwell Bassett, Sr., 25 April 1773)

Linda Ronstadt: "My Funny Valentine"

As we continue our celebration of Valentine's Day, I offer this version of Linda Ronstadt singing "My Funny Valentine" (from the 1937 Rodgers and Hart musical Babes in Arms):

Thank you, Myrna, for the suggestion, and Happy Valentine's Day!

First Sunday of Lent

Today the Church celebrates the First Sunday of Lent. The assigned readings are Deuteronomy 26:4-10, Romans 10:8-13, and Luke 4:1-13. The Responsorial Psalm is Psalm 91 (Psalm 91:1-2, 10-15).

For one version of the Responsorial Psalm set to music, please visit:

YouTube: Responsorial Psalm - Psalm 91 Be with me Lord when I am in trouble

The Gospel reading is as follows:

Filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the desert for forty days, to be tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and when they were over he was hungry.

The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread."

Jesus answered him, "It is written, 'One does not live on bread alone.'"

Then he took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a single instant. The devil said to him, "I shall give to you all this power and glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I may give it to whomever I wish. All this will be yours, if you worship me."

Jesus said to him in reply, "It is written: 'You shall worship the Lord, your God, and him alone shall you serve.'"

Then he led him to Jerusalem, made him stand on the parapet of the temple, and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written: 'He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you,' and: 'With their hands they will support you, lest you dash your foot against a stone.'"

Jesus said to him in reply, "It also says, 'You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.'"

When the devil had finished every temptation, he departed from him for a time.

Reflections on these readings:

Oblates of St. Francis de Sales: Sundays Salesian: First Sunday of Lent (February 14, 2016)

Oblates of St. Francis de Sales: Salesian Sunday Reflection: First Sunday of Lent (February 14, 2016)

Community in Mission: But at Your Command I Will Lower the Nets – A Homily for the 5th Sunday of the Year (13 FEB 16)

Aleteia: Deacon Greg Kandra: What We Give Up: Homily for February 14, 2016, 1st Sunday of Lent (13 FEB 16)

The Sacred Page: Lent as Spiritual Warfare: 1st Sunday of Lent (11 FEB 16)

Be as One: Learning from temptation - Gospel reflection by Father Steven LaBaire (13 FEB 16)

Word on Fire: Three Questions from the Desert (Cycle C * Lent * Week 1)

St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology: Forty Days: Scott Hahn Reflects on the First Sunday in Lent (8 FEB 16)

The Dispatch: Temptation in the Desert and the Divinity of Christ (14 FEB 16)

Spirituality of the Readings: You Are My Beloved (First Sunday of Lent C)

Let the Scriptures Speak: The Testing of Jesus (and Israel and Us) (First Sunday of Lent C)

The Word Embodied: Temptations (First Sunday of Lent C)

Historical Cultural Context: The Devil Made Me Do It! (First Sunday of Lent C)

Thoughts from the Early Church: Commentary by John Chrysostom (First Sunday of Lent C)

Word to Life Radio Broadcast: First Sunday of Lent (13 FEB 16)

Thank You, Lord

Thank you, Lord, for the many graces You give us during these times of spiritual battle.

Msgr. Pope on Spiritual Warfare

"As we begin Lent, we do well to recall that we are engaged in a great and dramatic battle for our souls. The opening prayer for Ash Wednesday Mass makes use of the image of a military 'campaign' and mentions weapons and battle: Grant, O Lord, that we may begin with holy fasting this campaign of Christian service, so that, as we take up battle against spiritual evils, we may be armed with weapons of self-restraint. The First Sunday of Lent lays out the tactics of the devil in terms of temptation, and relates how we must be prepared to refute and resist such things.

"Every ancient prayer manual and guide to spirituality until about fifty years ago had at least one large section devoted to what was known as Pugna Spiritualis (spiritual battle or spiritual warfare). In more recent decades, many spiritual books have either downplayed or completely deleted references to spiritual battle or spiritual warfare.

"Many modern approaches to faith, religion, and spirituality prefer to emphasize consoling themes rooted in self-esteem and affirmation. To be sure, the authentic faith can and does offer great consolation, but the truest and deepest consolation often comes after one has persevered along the sometimes-difficult path, along the 'narrow way' of the cross. But too many today, in the name of affirmation and pseudo-self-esteem, are all too ready to excuse or even support grave moral disorders rather than fight them.

"It is true that the Holy Father would have us focus on mercy this year. And so we should. But, paradoxically, mercy is a tactic of battle. Satan would 'love' nothing more than for us to hold grudges and intensify our divisions through prideful resistance. He would prefer that we despair of God's mercy or despair that it is even possible for us to live apart from sinful habits. Thus mercy is a tool of tactical genius; it breaks the cycle of negativity and sin and robs Satan of victories and of souls, snatching them back from the downward spiral of anger and despair."

In a recent commentary, Monsignor Charles Pope (pastor of Holy Comforter-Saint Cyprian Parish, Washington, DC) reflected on the reality of spiritual warfare facing the Church and her people during these times.

To access Msgr. Pope's complete post, please visit:

Community in Mission: An Early Lenten Meditation on Spiritual Warfare (10 FEB 16)