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| EDUCATING LEADERS OF FAITH & CHARACTER |
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Chaplain’s Reflection, by Fr. Michael Buentello, CSB
Fr. Michael Buentello, CSB, is a Basilian priest and the University of St. Thomas Chaplain.
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Chaplain's Reflection: Advent – Season of Joyful Penance
Advent marks the beginning of a new liturgical year for the Catholic Church. For the University of St. Thomas, it is a wonderful opportunity for us to prepare for the celebration of Jesus’ birth, his second coming, and to formally enter a period of “joyful penance”.
In our American society, we do a good job at celebrating in this month of December. But are we forgetting why we celebrate? The Incarnation of God into human history reveals God’s profound love for us. The glory of God and heaven is revealed to us in the weakness of an infant. Jesus, fully man and fully God, shows us the way to our true home in heaven and also restores us to an intimate relationship with the Father. Unfortunately, our world attempts to not acknowledge the significance of Jesus’ birth. This season is marked by phrases that move us away from Jesus. We have all heard, “Happy Holidays” and “Seasons Greetings”. Advertisers go to great lengths to not use the word “Christmas”. It is important for all Christians to remember that Christmas is a solemn holy day.
The four weeks prior to Christmas is a time of “joyful penance”. Advent reminds us that Jesus has saved us from our sins and all of the consequences of original sin. As his disciples we are to strive for holiness and share in his mission as we approach his birth and prepare for his second coming. On the second Sunday of Advent we read the words of John the Baptist, who traveled “throughout the whole region of the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins…” (Lk 3:3). It is all too easy to forget the call to holiness in the month of December. As chaplain of the University of St. Thomas, I call on this community to begin Advent with a clean soul. The sacrament of reconciliation is celebrated everyday, Monday through Saturday, at 12:00 p.m. Make use of it. Attend daily mass. Set aside time for extra prayer. Make it your goal to offer mercy and forgiveness everyday to those around you. Allow one day of the week for fasting. Above all be joyful, as you eagerly prepare for Jesus’ birth and second coming. Fear not for God is with us.
Happy Advent!
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Chaplain’s Reflection: Ash Wednesday and Lent
Dear Faculty, Staff, and Students,
On Wednesday we will enter the season of Lent. This is the Church’s primary penitential season in the liturgical year that prepares us for the great feast of Easter. We will mark this day with the customary distribution of ashes at each of our daily Masses. This season lasts until the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday.
It is a 40 day spiritual journey where the Christian enters the desert as our Lord and Savior did prior to beginning his mission. As followers of Jesus Christ we are to look at our lives, especially the areas where we have sinned and failed to live out our Christian vocation to love God and all people. Praying, fasting, and almsgiving are the traditional methods that Catholics have used the days of Lent to root out sinfulness and to draw closer to God. We are blessed in so many ways here at the University of St. Thomas.
We have a wonderful place, our chapel. I invite you to make use of it for daily Mass and for personal prayer. Go to the website for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (usccb.org) for the daily readings at Mass. The Church asks us to fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. While not required to fast through all 40 days of Lent, we might consider abstaining from some food item that we particularly enjoy. Finally, we can increase our aid to the needy through financial donations or simply donating our time and service to those who are in need.
It is my prayer for this university that we will faithfully enter into this season and emerge as a more holy institution and with a grater awareness of the presence of Jesus Christ in our lives and world.
Basic information concerning Fasting and Abstinence:
Fasting:
Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are days of fasting as well as abstinence from
meat. A fast limits us to a single full meal, but allows two collation (light meals)
as well.
Abstinence:
All Fridays in Lent are days of abstinence from meat, although fish is allowe
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Chaplain’s Reflection on the Second Week of Lent
We are now in the second week of Lent, the Church’s primary penitential season in the liturgical year that prepares us for the great feast of Easter. We entered this season on Ash Wednesday with the distribution of ashes, a visible sign to all that we at least acknowledge this season. One of the prefaces for mass during Lent tells us that “Each year you [Father] give us this joyful season when we prepare to celebrate the paschal mystery with mind and heart renewed.”
Lent can be a joyful time if we have consciously entered these forty days where we grow in our understanding of ourselves and how far we have deviated from the will of the Father. It brings about a true sense of sorrow for sins and a stronger conviction to leave behind a wayward way of life. The joy that the preface refers to is that at the end of Lent we have a greater love for God.
This love for God will naturally lead us away from sin. My prayer for the university community is that we persevere in our Lenten journey that began on Ash Wednesday.
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