It can be said of human nature that we tend to hurt the ones we love. Also, it is easy to take for granted the very things we need the most, like air and water.
How many phone numbers do you know? Except for a few long defunct landline numbers from my childhood, I know my mobile number. That’s it.
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In recent years I made a series of major decisions that were accompanied with pain, disappointment and suffering. For a while I got caught in a cycle of revisiting the decisions and trying to identify where I went wrong. My friends say that I made courageous choices. Yet, amidst the consequences, I am tempted to be hard on myself.
When life gets tough, we often turn to creature comforts – a double scoop of gelato, a relaxing massage, some retail therapy – things in excess of what we use daily for our health and wellbeing. We might say we are ‘indulging’ in a little self-care. The kindness we show ourselves when we indulge is not based on merit but on generosity.
September 14 is the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross. This feast is so important that it replaces Sunday when it falls on the Lord’s Day. For those of us baptised in the Catholic faith, our first ritual step into Christianity was the wordless reception of the symbol of the cross when the celebrant claimed us for Christ by tracing the sign on our forehead.
Recently I was introduced to the resource centre at Catholic Education, the Catholic Resource and Information Service (CRIS). I picked out one book to take for research towards a workshop. After looking at some others, I exclaimed how many great items there were! The problem is, I’d have to actually read the books.
If Lent has become routine or hollow for you, consider these ten forms of penance from the tradition and what they might look like for you today.
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