Franziska Notes
No.6/3 March 2009
The word for Lent comes from an old Germanic term for Spring. So our holy season of Lent can be seen as a time of joyous renewal instead of painful privation. Mother Franziska was very suspicious of extreme forms of penance. She wanted her sisters to live the life of ordinary good Christians. At the same time she often called for sacrifice for good purposes. The sisters could not afford luxuries and sometimes even had to do without what seemed to be necessities because of the poverty of the young congregation and the urgent desire to use its limited resources for the good of those in their care. In one of her Lenten circulars she tells her sisters to “fast with the tongue”. At first reading I understood this to mean that the sisters must make renewed efforts to keep the silences that promoted prayer, recollection and useful work, and I am sure these were concerns of the early little communities.
The Lenten circular of our Holy Father, Benedict XVI gives a beautiful new emphasis to the concept of fasting. “Jesus brings to light the profound motive for fasting,…True fasting, as the divine Master repeats elsewhere, is rather to do the will of the Heavenly Father, who “sees in secret, and will reward you” (Mt 6,18). Today when so many people must limit themselves to the barest necessities or even suffer want, it is appropriate that we also limit our material wants to share with those in need. Following Mother Franziska’s words in the light of the positive slant in our Holy Father’s letter, we have, in addition, a beautiful program for Lent. We can “fast with our tongue” by making a positive effort to spread beautiful and kind words with a smile to strangers and our dear ones everywhere. We will be like angels leaving a trail of blessings which sooner or later will bring ourselves and many others to the joy and love of the Resurrected Lord.
The Lenten circular of our Holy Father, Benedict XVI gives a beautiful new emphasis to the concept of fasting. “Jesus brings to light the profound motive for fasting,…True fasting, as the divine Master repeats elsewhere, is rather to do the will of the Heavenly Father, who “sees in secret, and will reward you” (Mt 6,18). Today when so many people must limit themselves to the barest necessities or even suffer want, it is appropriate that we also limit our material wants to share with those in need. Following Mother Franziska’s words in the light of the positive slant in our Holy Father’s letter, we have, in addition, a beautiful program for Lent. We can “fast with our tongue” by making a positive effort to spread beautiful and kind words with a smile to strangers and our dear ones everywhere. We will be like angels leaving a trail of blessings which sooner or later will bring ourselves and many others to the joy and love of the Resurrected Lord.
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