Daily Lenten Devotions. Lord. Communications. of the. Creative. Sample. Fr. John Kavanaugh, S.J.

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1 Daily Lenten Devotions TheWay of the Lord Fr. John Kavanaugh, S.J.

2 Fr. John Kavanaugh, S.J., was a passionate teacher, a gifted writer and a wonderful preacher. He was also a personal friend and mentor for nearly 40 years. When St. Francis Xavier Parish, the College Church of Saint Louis University, made recordings of his homilies available not long after his death, I eagerly listened to hear his voice once again. It has been a privilege to be able to use so many of his spoken words in this booklet of Lenten reflections. Suffice it to say that in converting his words to print, I could not do his preaching full justice. But I believe some of his conviction about faith and his love of Christ comes through. I hope you will find this as valuable as I have. Mark Neilsen, editor Scripture texts in this work are taken from the New American Bible with Revised New Testament 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. and are used by permission of the copyright owner. All rights reserved. No part of the New American Bible may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the copyright owner. for the Parish gratefully acknowledges Missouri Province of the Society of Jesus for granting permission to excerpts from Fr. Kavanaugh s recorded homilies. Special thanks to St. Francis Xavier College Church, J.G. Lipic and Tom Kavanaugh for making these recordings available. The following works by for the Parish were also used: John Kavanaugh, S.J., and Mark Neilsen, Follow Me

3 Ash Wednesday Our Admission of Need Ashes are imposed on foreheads using one of two formulas: Remember, you are dust, and to dust you shall return. Turn away from sin and be faithful to the gospel. Our mortality and our need for a change of heart the two themes of Lent are the very things we do not like to think about. In fact, in some ways we are masters in the art and science of denying our death. Fearful of our creatureliness, we dream of life extension, cloning, maybe even having a silicone body that could not be wounded or die. Our denial of sin is even stronger. We desperately want to believe that we are nice guys and gals. The most we seem able to admit sometimes is that we made a mistake. It pains us to think that there is something deep in us that needs healing and forgiveness. Even in the smallest matters, it can be excruciating to ask forgiveness, to admit we need help or to acknowledge that we have sinned. So it is with each of us. So it is with the Church. So it is with our nation. But if we think we are not creatures utterly reliant upon God to sustain us, then we will see no need for Lent. If we think we do not stand in need of forgiveness, then we will not want Lent. Worse yet, we will not want Christ either. In the grip of such illusions, we can easily convince ourselves that we have no need of him. Lord Jesus, send your Spirit upon us and renew our hearts, minds and spirits this Lent. Thursday after Ash Wednesday The Cost of Discipleship It s a good bet that Lent will never become fashionable, especially in a consumer society. The dictates of consumerism are more, take, buy, own. The invita- Behold, now is a very acceptable time. 2 Corinthians 6:2 What profit is there for one to gain the whole world yet lose or forfeit himself? Luke 9:25 3

4 tions of Lent are less, give, let go, share. Unlike every other Christian season or holy day, Lent successfully resists the commercialization of faith. Can you imagine sending greeting cards for Lent? Have a happy conversion of heart. Remember you are dust and to dust you shall return (illustrated with a little frown face). I hope your season of repentance is a jolly one. Could little packets of ashes be marketed as a fashion statement? Anything is possible, but I don t think so. Lent certainly more than Advent, which has been turned into one long shopping day draws us to faith in a profound way. Think of how many people show up for Mass on Ash Wednesday. What is it about Lent that seems to set it apart? Lent is one religious time that cannot be turned into a marketing strategy; no one would pay good money for the purifications it proposes. Almighty God, thank you for calling us to genuine repentance through the gospel. Friday after Ash Wednesday Open Up to God s Will Faith is not a private This, rather, is the fasting that I wish: thing. Like Isaiah tells Setting free the oppressed, us, it radiates in action; breaking every yoke; it engages the world, the Sharing your bread with the hungry, oppressed, the homeless, sheltering the oppressed and the homeless the bereft. We ve been Then your light shall break forth like the dawn reminded often enough Isaiah 58:6-8 of the times when the Church has given scandal to the world, but are we sufficiently aware of the light that it s been the clinics in Haiti, in Central America, the care for pregnant women in St. Louis, the schools in India and the ghettos of American cities, the bright genius of Catholic thinkers and scientists and artists, the radiance of saints? Each of us is a source of light. We re so easily mistaken to think that our faith, like love at times, is some kind of finite, natural resource that s nonrenewable. We think we have to hoard it, store it up, bury it, but it s not nonrenewable. It becomes more real as an expenditure. It s an infinite supernatural 4

5 resource; it s not like oil, it s not natural gas. It s light, and it only is when it gives itself away, and like light, all that faith and love need to do is shine, just where it is. Lord Jesus, open my heart so that I can let the light you ve given me shine. Saturday after Ash Wednesday The Center of Our Lives How often do all of us, how often does the Church, fall into the temptation to put some human person, some human law, some human practice, some tradition, some secondary matter of Christian life more important than our life in Christ? This reminds us that our Church as well The Pharisees and their scribes complained to [Jesus ] disciples, saying, Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners? Luke 5:30 as all of our laws and all of our sacraments that we invite our friends to, that we baptize our children into, really mean nothing if Christ is not our center and has saved us. Lord, you are the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. May I never put anything before you in my life. First Sunday of Lent Facing the Truth We Christians believe that the Scripture is a living Word. It s not read just for the remembrance of things past. It s not Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by only an account of the ancient days of the prophets, merely a recollection of the the devil. Matthew 4:1 time when Jesus walked the earth or St. Paul fondly wrote to his Thessalonians. That would make it too easy, too comfortable. Scripture would become something we don t have to take seriously or take to heart. But Holy Scripture is not dead words; it s a living Word that cuts into us, into our heart, and judges us anew in every epoch, even our own. All of us always have to ask 5

6 ourselves, Will we let the Word of God address us, our time, our lives? Can we take it seriously? Can we permit it to challenge us? Lord, as the Spirit led you into the desert to face temptation, so may that same Spirit guide us this Lent as we seek to follow your way more faithfully. Monday, First Week of Lent We Are All the Least Then the righteous will answer him and say, Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you? And the king will say to them in reply, Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me. Matthew 25:37-40 In our creed we say true God, true human of Jesus. At the end of his ministry, after his withering indictments of the Pharisees, you find out what Jesus is passionate about and what God wants from all of us. Whatever you have done to the least of these, and he says the imprisoned, the hungry, the naked and surely the unborn count among the least. But, really, all of us count for the least: there s no privileged position. Each and all are among the least, and how we treat them, we treat the Lord our God made flesh. Every time you reached out to comfort a friend, every time you fed your children, every time you consoled your spouse, every time you nursed your parents, you were obeying the great commandment: You ve done it to me. God of the least, may my treatment of those in need improve this Lent in concrete ways. May I love them as I love you. 6

7 Anyone who thinks forgiveness is an easy thing need only try it. We can all easily imagine a forgiveness that is possible at some other time, some Tuesday, First Week of Lent The Need to Forgive If you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions. Matthew 6:14-15 other place, for some other person than here, now and with each other. In our own circumstances, we may prefer to ignore the whole matter. Very often, we don t think forgiveness is a problem for us, even though we may be enslaved and blinded by our refusal to forgive. I have two relatives who have gone to daily Mass for decades, reciting the Our Father faithfully, yet who have refused to talk to each other for fully a third of their lives. They can t possibly know the words they are praying. And they don t realize that their unwillingness to forgive others prevents their own deep experience of forgiveness for themselves. That s why our Lord said, Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. No, forgiveness is not easy, but it is one of the most powerful acts a human being can do. Help us, Lord, to forgive those who have injured us so that we might experience the fullness of forgiveness. We must realize that we Christians believe something radically uncommon in the history of human consciousness. Our central prayer of baptism and the Eucharist Wednesday, First Week of Lent Love s Explosiveness When God saw by (the Ninevites ) actions how they turned from their evil way, he repented of the evil he had threatened to do to them; he did not carry it out. Jonah 3:10 is about a community of persons, radically One in being and identity. That s what started all of creation, and it wasn t just as Creator and Redeemer and Sanctifier that s the way to describe their functions in relationship to the 7

8 TheWay of the Lord Fr. John Kavanaugh, S.J., died in He was a passionate teacher, a gifted writer and a wonderful preacher. When St. Francis Xavier Parish, the College Church of Saint Louis University, made recordings of his homilies available not long after his death, we decided to use some of his spoken words for this booklet. Converting his words to print does not always do justice to his preaching. But, still, his passion, his intelligence, his love of Christ and his pure spiritual insights come through in compelling ways. This is a booklet that is sure to move readers in ways that will make their Lenten journey a deeply rewarding experience. This book, along with many other for the Parish products, is available on and The Way of the Lord was written by Fr. John Kavanaugh, S.J.. Design by Jamie Wyatt. Cover photo by Elisabeth Holm /Shutterstock for the Parish, 1564 Fencorp Dr., Fenton, MO (800) All rights reserved. Printed in the USA. RH4