with St. Francis de Sales
Wednesday February 17
“Give me back the joy of being saved; may the generous spirit support me. “(Ps 50:14) He who longs will love ardently. My God Theotimas! who will give us the grace to burn with this desire, which is the desire of the poor and the preparation of their hearts, which God so willingly grants? He is poor who is not sure of loving God, he is a beggar who wishes to love him – beggar of that begging of which the Lord said: “Blessed are the poor in heart, for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand. them. “(TLD XII, 2)
The first day of Lent invites us to open the door of our hearts to a burning desire to unite with the love of God. For this let us prepare our hearts to be beggars, that is to say to recognize ourselves as small, humble, sinful, expecting everything from Him who is Goodness, Love and Mercy. Let us ask for the grace to live this day by being joyful witnesses, to live “happy begging”.
Thursday February 18
“He was telling them all, ‘Whoever wants to follow me, let him renounce himself, take up his cross every day and follow me. “(Lk 9:23) The purification of our soul will only end with our life. Therefore, do not worry about our imperfections; for our improvement consists precisely in combating them. And could we fight them without knowing them, and defeat them without facing them? Our victory does not consist in not feeling them, these imperfections, but in not agreeing to them. But if I suffer from it, it is because I do not consent to it. For our humility, it is good that we are sometimes wounded in spiritual warfare. But as long as we live and do not lose heart, we will not be defeated. For imperfections and venial sins cannot deprive us of spiritual life, since it is only lost through mortal sin. So it only remains that they do not make us lose our courage. Deliver me, Lord, said David, from cowardice and discouragement. “Isn’t it fortunate that in this kind of war we are always victorious as long as we agree to fight? (IDL I, 5)
Jesus asks us to follow him, if we want to, with all that that involves fighting. Let us look, without disturbance and with courage, at our imperfections which prevent us from following him today … It is indeed a constant struggle from which we will emerge victorious through prayer: “Deliver me Lord”. Let us go out of ourselves, out of our own will and take the path that Christ offers us.
Fri February 19
The fast that I like, isn’t it this: breaking down unjust chains, loosing the ties of the yoke, giving freedom to the oppressed, breaking all yokes? “(Is 58, 6) O Philotée, since you want to engage in the spiritual life, it is not enough for you to leave sin; it is also necessary to detach your heart from all the bonds which flow from sin. (IDL I, 7)
Ask for the spirit of detachment and examine my conscience: what binds me and prevents me from leaving this or that affection that leads me to sin. What is taking up too much space in my life? Lord, help me to detach myself from it out of love for You and to purify my heart with good contrition.
Sat Feb 20
Watch over me who am faithful, O my God, save your servant who leans on you. “(Ps 85, 2) Grace did not fail you: you had it! it was you who failed in grace […] O most good God, you only abandon those who forsake you. You never take your gifts away, as long as we don’t drive you out of our hearts. (TLG II, 10)
Through our baptism we have received the grace necessary to live our life of faith. The Lord is faithful. He is always there to reach out to us, to forgive us for our infidelity. Let us begin again today to increase the grace that God has given us. How good and sweet it is to have such a faithful God!
Sunday February 21 (1st Sunday of Lent)
“For Christ also suffered for sins only once, he the righteous for the unjust, in order to bring you before God. “(1 P 3, 18) He died freely, and not by force of evil. […] My God, Theotimas, what a blaze of love this is! With what flames should we do the works of love, for the sake of our Savior, since He has given us so much proof, when we are so bad! (TLG X, 17, Pleiade p. 868)
Will we too, like Mary at the foot of the Cross, be able to unite ourselves to the suffering Christ and receive him with a heart begging for mercy?
Source:https://saint-francois-de-sales.com/category/careme-2018/page/5/