Smorgasbord #74
Failure | Hierarchy | Laetare Sunday
Failure
I don’t think it is a coincidence that failure keeps popping up in my prayer life, so I’m leaning into it. Last week I told you how I was failing successfully, and then I listened to the third chapter of Hubert van Zeller O.S.B.’s “Approach to Calvary” titled: Failure.
In this chapter, van Zeller discusses the inevitability of frustration. However, it is a frustration of a kind that can be explained by love and that will not destroy but perfect. Without failure, the soul’s experience of love is incomplete. This is all in the context of Jesus’s first fall and how He allowed the folly of the cross and the finality of the crucifixion in order to prepare us for the glory of the Resurrection. To succeed, we must fail.
If we are to resemble Christ, we should expect to resemble Him in failure—failure is not our punishment but our privilege—and we are never nearer to Christ than when we’re beaten by the weight of life. When I am weak, then I’m strong. Failure opens the door to graces, but we will need several tools—humility, compassion, perseverance, hope, faith, and a spirit of penance.
The Gospel has a pattern of weakness and renewal. For example, St. Peter denied Jesus three times, but then he repented, dusted himself off, and followed the Lord unto death on a cross like his master. Our falls can lead us to growth in dependence on God and charity toward others, going from sin to a life lived in a new dimension, a life of grace. Jesus was destroyed by His persecutors, but He was not defeated. Because His kingdom is not of this world and because we share the life He lives in His kingdom, we have no reason to feel defeated.
We ought to decide: the way of the world or the way of faith. The man of faith surrenders to nothing but the will of God. If we must be perfect with Christ, we must fail with Christ. In the end, nothing succeeds like Christian failure.
Hierarchy
The following is a reflection on Chapter 3 of Lumen Gentium (the dogmatic constitution of the Church) that I wrote for my “Apostolate of the Laity” class at the Kino Catechetical Institute.
“Be merciful, diligent, walking according to the truth of the Lord, who became the servant of all.” –St. Polycarp
The more I learn about the Church, the more I understand why it’s still around. The hierarchy exists as a ministry to serve the brethren in their journey to salvation. Knowing that Jesus called His apostles and gave them the command to go and make disciples, to sanctify and govern them, and that their successors are still today carrying out that work and that there will be more after them who will continue this ministry until the end of the world gives me a lot of hope.
I knew the pope is the successor of St. Peter, the Vicar of Christ, and the visible head of the whole Church; however, I was surprised to find out that the pope is also meant to be the perpetual and visible principle and foundation of unity of both bishops and the faithful. The same is true for bishops and their churches.
Then I thought about this: St. James visited Spain, St. Thomas went to India, and St. Andrew went to Greece. All the apostles went to the corners of the known world to proclaim the Gospel. Two thousand odd years later, I’m on a different continent, in a country that has barely existed for a quarter of a century, and by the grace of God, there is a successor of the apostles where I live. That is wild, that’s probably something I took for granted. Some people may not like colonialism, but a positive thing, in my book at least, would be Spain and Portugal bringing Catholicism to America. In addition, European immigrants came to America between the 17th and 19th centuries. When you think about the Church as a family tree, it’s awe-inspiring to see the root in Pentecost and where the branches are reaching today.
I like that LG says we’re on a pilgrimage toward eternal happiness. The Church participates in the economy of salvation by proclaiming the Gospel, administering sacraments, and guiding people toward eternal life. Priests are the stewards of the mysteries of God, just like the elders or presbyteros in the early life of the Church.
The whole hierarchy of the Church is set up to serve the body of Christ until the end of the world. Deacons, priests, and bishops don’t exist in a vacuum; they usually come from holy and pious families. We need both, holy families and clergy. We owe it to each other to do so. In the end, we all belong to the body of Christ. We’re all in the same boat, and we’re all sea sick. The laity and the clergy ought to work together to build the kingdom of God on earth, and we have different yet important roles to play.
Laetare Sunday
The fourth Sunday of Lent, also known as Laetare Sunday, takes its name from the beginning of the introit “Laetare Jerusalem” (“Rejoice, O Jerusalem”) from Isaiah 66:10.
Laetare Jerusalem et conventum facite omnes qui diligitis eam; gaudete cum laetitia, qui in tristitia fuistis, ut exsultetis et satiemini ab uberibus consolationis vestrae. Psalm: Laetatus sum in his quae dicta sunt mihi: in domum Domini ibimus.
Rejoice ye with Jerusalem; and be ye glad for her, all ye that delight in her: exult and sing for joy with her, all ye that in sadness mourn for her; that ye may suck, and be satisfied with the breasts of her consolations. Psalm: I was glad when they said unto me, We will go into the house of the Lord.
You may see priests wearing rose vestments. From what I understand, since rose is a lighter version of the penitential purple used during Lent, it indicates a brief reprieve from the season’s somberness. It is also a symbol of joy and hope, looking forward to the approaching joy of Easter. If my count is correct, we’re on day 21 of 40, so we’ll be a little over the midway point.
In Mexico, we have a saying: “Más larga que la Cuaresma” (“Longer than Lent”), that we use to describe something that feels unending. However, after I returned to the Church and started learning more about the liturgical year, I realized that the Easter Season lasts 50 days (Easter to Pentecost). So, maybe we should start saying “Longer than Easter.” I don’t know if it will catch on.
I have been guilty of going through the motions during the Easter season. I usually go hard on the Easter octave, and my feast turns borderline gluttony. This year, I want to find a balance between fasting and feasting, mainly because fasting has been challenging. Through prayer and discernment, I want to figure out an appropriate response to the celebration of the Resurrection.
This fourth Sunday of Lent, I want to take stock of what I’ve done and recommit to what I said I was going to do for prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. I also want to start thinking about how the Easter season will look for the Cantú family, apart from Easter baskets and egg hunts. Now that it is fashionable to attach “fatigue” to almost every word, it is my hope that we don’t get “rejoicing fatigue” after Lent.
As St. John Paul II once said: “We are an Easter people and [the word we buried at the beginning of Lent and will be able to say again on the Easter Vigil] is our song.” We’re halfway there, take heart. If you hadn’t thought about how to prepare to live the Easter season, then you’re in good company. Let’s keep each other in prayer so we may persevere with our Lenten observances and know what God calls us to do to celebrate His victory over death and sin.
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Sobremesa
Do you have a favorite “fail” video?
Have you had a boss who has made an impact in your life?
How’s your Lent going?
I’ve been thinking about failure quite a bit myself lately. I’m not sure it’s an appropriate word to use regarding living the spiritual life. I say this because we’ve only failed spiritually if we end up in Hell. I don’t think not meeting a goal is failure. It’s just not meeting a goal. The same with not keeping a resolution. Especially when so doing isn’t sinful.
The word “failure” carries a lot of baggage. Very often it induces quitting. Jesus fell under the weight of the cross three times and he needed help carrying it. These weren’t failures by any stretch of the imagination. He didn’t quit. He saw the journey through to the end. We won’t end the journey until we’ve received our eternal end, Heaven or Hell. Only the damned have failed.
We’ve got to keep going. If we fall we must get up and move on, even if we fall again after one step forward. We might need to lie in the dust for a while, even a long while, but eventually we have to push on. No failure there unless we never get up.
I’m interested in what you think of this. Is it total crap? 🤷🏻♂️
Now, on to the important stuff.
1. Fail video?
2. Yes. Several. And each in different ways, some good and some bad.
3. Not as I expected. As Mr. Beaver (or was it Mrs. Beaver) said in “The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe,” Aslan is on the move. And he isn’t a tame lion. 😎
2. Yes, we were friends first and then she became my boss, and working with her was the best (regularly paying) job I’ve had. I learned professional communication and so many other life skills from her. I send her and her children Christmas presents every year to this day.
3. Scoot keeps mentioning how it’s God’s Lent and we’re just living in it, and that accurately summarizes my Lent. I’m also failing my resolutions, but I think maybe part of it is that God is trying to teach me something. That being said, I need to be more diligent with my prayers.
Btw, I really enjoy your weekly reflections on the Introits. Each Sunday when I hear them at Mass, I appreciate them more, having seen them a couple days prior in your newsletter. It really helps set the tone for the whole Mass, and doing it more contemplatively has been a beautiful experience, so thank you.