{"id":3160,"date":"2013-03-28T13:11:13","date_gmt":"2013-03-28T13:11:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/?p=3160"},"modified":"2013-03-28T13:18:37","modified_gmt":"2013-03-28T13:18:37","slug":"holy-week-2013","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/?p=3160","title":{"rendered":"Holy Week 2013"},"content":{"rendered":"

Commandments for Daily Life<\/strong><\/h2>\n

2007-04-22<\/strong><\/p>\n

Almost thirty years ago, Daniel Berrigan wrote a little book that he entitled, Ten Commandments for the Long Haul. It was, in effect, a handbook of sorts on how to be a prophet in today’s world. It was Berrigan at his best, explaining how a prophet must make a vow of love and not of alienation. Anyone who is trying to be prophetic, from the right or from the left, might profitably read this book.<\/p>\n

He ends with a number of Commandments, not ten but forty-seven of them. Here’s a sample of them (paraphrased), just to give you a taste of his insight, language, and wit:<\/p>\n

1) \u201cOnly for today, I will seek to live the livelong day positively without wishing to solve the problems of my life all at once.
\n2) Only for today, I will take the greatest care of my appearance: I will dress modestly; I will not raise my voice; I will be courteous in my behaviour; I will not criticize anyone; I will not claim to improve or to discipline anyone except myself.
\n3) Only for today, I will be happy in the certainty that I was created to be happy, not only in the other world but also in this one.
\n4) Only for today, I will adapt to circumstances, without requiring all circumstances to be adapted to my own wishes.
\n5) Only for today, I will devote 10 minutes of my time to some good reading, remembering that just as food is necessary to the life of the body, so good reading is necessary to the life of the soul.
\n6) Only for today, I will do one good deed and not tell anyone about it.
\n7) Only for today, I will do at least one thing I do not like doing; and if my feelings are hurt, I will make sure that no one notices.
\n8) Only for today, I will make a plan for myself: I may not follow it to the letter, but I will make it. And I will be on guard against two evils: hastiness and indecision.
\n9) Only for today, I will firmly believe, despite appearances, that the good Providence of God cares for me as no one else who exists in this world
\n10) Only for today, I will have no fears. In particular, I will not be afraid to enjoy what is beautiful and to believe in goodness. Indeed, for 12 hours, I can certainly do what might cause me consternation were I to believe I had to do it all my life.”<\/p>\n

Alongside these commandments, I’d like to share a Decalogue for Daily Living that Pope John XXIII wrote for himself, his own Commandments for daily life. They reflect his depth, his simplicity, and his humility:<\/p>\n

1) “Only for today, I will seek to live the livelong day positively without wishing to solve the problems of my life all at once.
\n2) Only for today, I will take the greatest care of my appearance: I will dress modestly; I will not raise my voice; I will be courteous in my behaviour; I will not criticize anyone; I will not claim to improve or to discipline anyone except myself.
\n3) Only for today, I will be happy in the certainty that I was created to be happy, not only in the other world buy also in this one.
\n4) Only for today, I will adapt to circumstances, without requiring all circumstances to be adapted to my own wishes.
\n5) Only for today, I will devote 10 minutes of my time to some good reading, remembering that just as food is necessary to the life of the body, so good reading is necessary to the life of the soul.
\n6) Only for today, I will do one good deed and not tell anyone about it.
\n7) Only for today, I will do at least one thing I do not like doing; and if my feelings are hurt, I will make sure that no one notices.
\n8) Only for today, I will make a plan for myself: I may not follow it to the letter, but I will make it. And I will be on guard against two evils: hastiness and indecision.
\n9) Only for today, I will firmly believe, despite appearances, that the good Providence of God cares for me as no one else who exists in this world
\n10) Only for today, I will have no fears. In particular, I will not be afraid to enjoy what is beautiful and to believe in goodness. Indeed, for 12 hours, I can certainly do what might cause me consternation were I to believe I had to do it all my life.”<\/p>\n

In the United States there is an ongoing debate about the value or non-value of posting the Ten Commandments in certain public places. Proponents argue that, as a culture founded on Judeao-Christianity, we owe it to ourselves and our children to post publicly our essential moral code. Opponents argue that this isn’t fair to other religions and, beyond that, we would serve ourselves better by posting the Beatitudes, the real challenge that awaits us beyond the Ten Commandments.<\/p>\n

What Berrigan and John XXIII do is bring the Commandments and the Beatitudes together. Moreover they both do too what Scripture enjoins us all to do, namely, to inscribe the Commandments into the flesh of our hearts by making them a practical guide for our lives.<\/p>\n

To read more click here<\/a>
\nOr copy this address into your browser
\nhttp:\/\/www.ronrolheiser.com\/columnarchive\/?id=137<\/a><\/p>\n

What shall I do for Lent this year?
\n<\/strong>Mass each Friday at 6.30 am,\u00a0Stations of the Cross each Friday at 7.00 pm<\/p>\n

This season of Lent calls for a wholehearted spirit of denial of those things we comfort ourselves with which can, nevertheless, distance us from God. It is about dying to self in order to grow to Christ\u00a0 and the chief weapons in this spiritual growth plan \u00a0are announced in the Ash Wednesday gospel; prayer, fasting and\u00a0almsgiving.<\/p>\n

Prayer and Sacred\u00a0Scripture should be at the top of our “to do”list. Book of Exodus.<\/p>\n

Daily scripture readings are available at the books stall.<\/p>\n

There are the Thursday caf\u00e9 meetings.<\/p>\n

Friday 6.30am Mass<\/p>\n

Friday 7.00pm Stations of the Cross<\/p>\n

Reduce amount of time watching TV<\/p>\n

Reduce amount of time spent on Face Book, Twitter etc.<\/p>\n

If you find Lent too long you might consider giving up something different each week, and finally, all\u00a0this\u00a0is done to prepare ourselves to celebrate the greatest of our feasts, The\u00a0Resurrection.<\/p>\n

What Is Lent?<\/b>\u00a0Lent is the penitential season of approximately 40 days set aside by the Church in order for the faithful to prepare for the celebration of the Lord\u2019s Passion, Death and Resurrection. During this holy season, inextricably connected to the Paschal Mystery, the Catechumens prepare for Christian initiation, and current Church members prepare for Easter by a recalling of Baptism and by works of penance, that is, prayer, fasting and almsgiving.<\/h3>\n

\"P1050266\"<\/a>Even in the early Church, Lent was the season for prayerful and penitential preparation for the feast of Easter. Though the obligation of penance was originally only imposed on those who had committed public sins and crimes, by medieval times all the faithful voluntarily performed acts of penance to repair for their sins.<\/p>\n

Ash Wednesday is the clarion call to \u201cRepent and believe the gospel\u201d (Mk 1:15). For the next forty days, the faithful willingly submit to fasting and self-denial in imitation of Our Lord\u2019s forty-day fast in the desert. It is in these dark and still nights, these desert-times, that the soul experiences its greatest growth. There, in the inner arena, the soul battles the world, the flesh and the devil just as Our Lord battled Satan’s triple temptation in the desert. His battle was external, for Jesus could not sin; our battle is interior, but with a hope sustained by the knowledge of Christ\u2019s Easter victory over sin and death.<\/p>\n

His victory is our renewal, our \u201cspring\u201d \u2014 which is the meaning of the Anglo-Saxon word,\u00a0\u201clengten\u201d<\/i>or Lent. In this penitential season we have the opportunity to make an annual spiritual \u201ctune-up\u201d, a 40-day retreat with Our Lord. Have we allowed worldly cares and the \u201cdaily drama\u201d to obscure our call to holiness? Have self-love and materialism eroded our relationship with God? Then let us renew our efforts, and through our Lenten observance, discipline the body and master it as we \u201cfollow in the footsteps of the poor and crucified Christ\u201d\u00a0(St. Francis of Assisi).<\/i><\/p>\n

Activity Source:\u00a0Original Text (JGM & MG)<\/i>\u00a0by Jennifer Gregory Miller and Margaret Gregory<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.catholicculture.org\/<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Commandments for Daily Life 2007-04-22 Almost thirty years ago, Daniel Berrigan wrote a little book that he entitled, Ten Commandments for the Long Haul. It was, in effect, a handbook of sorts on how to be a prophet in today’s … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3160","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-feast-day"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3160","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3160"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3160\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3165,"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3160\/revisions\/3165"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3160"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3160"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3160"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}