Let Me Redeem Myself

I hope this video redeems my last cheesy music video post. Although, from what I have heard, you've found it to be more funny than I thought you would. My husband almost fell off his chair because he was laughing so hard at Chuck Noris!

On a serious note, I would also like to redeem myself to God this Ash Wednesday and Lenten season. Maybe it was providential that I had my death scare just last week (courtesy of Patrick Madrid and Iran) as I mentioned in my February 10 post. The more I am reading and hearing about Lent (even from this little YouTube video), the more I get the impression that it is all about preparing ourselves for death. I am sure I've thought about this before, but this lent it is really on my mind. I usually think of Lent as a way to prepare for Easter- just as Advent prepares us for Christmas, but that is only a small part of the picture. I guess I'm learning to put away my childish ideas as I grow older and learning not limit God- period. (don't worry, I'm not changing "the clay rosary girl" to woman anytime soon- at least not until I'm 30).

I also was reminded of death at Mass this morning when the priest did a really cool thing. After he processed in, he lit a metal bowl filled with palm leaves on fire. The leaves lit up to a good size flame, then, the palms and the fire disappeared as quickly as they appeared into a pile of ashes. It was an excellent pictorial of what the priest says as he puts the cross of ashes on the foreheads: "Remember man, you are dust and from dust you shall return." This is not meant to be a threat! I shouldn't be scared of death, I should be looking forward to going to heaven. While the flames were burning away the palms, I thought of what will be left of me when I am turned to dust. Will I have filled my heart with earthly things and earthly loves so much so that I DO have death to fear? Or will I have spent my time wisely on earth getting to know my God for the great lover that he is? When my body turns to ash, will my soul fly home to heaven where it will be greeted by the Lover it's always known?

So, this Lent, I plan to spend much time thinking and praying and reading about my relationship with God. I want to know God so much that I will truly look forward to my death- be it tomorrow or 50 years from now. I will focus my forty days on who God really is to me- LOVE. So simple, yet hard for me to grasp. I am going to try to read Deus Caritas Est (God is Love) the Encyclical letter of Pope Benedict the XVI and I would also like to reread a very feminine view of a Lover- Captivating by Stacy Eldridge (not Catholic, but a good read). In addition to regular posts, I'll post a personal Lenten refection every day.