This is a guest article written by Eric Engel

In all the passages in the four gospels, there are two that really stand out as testaments to Christ’s humanity. The first one is obviously the prayer from the cross, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” What inspiration this offers to the suffering. Here hangs Christ, at the hour of fulfillment. At his most admirable moment…while He is in total conformity to God’s will. And He feels abandoned. If any person out there hasn’t felt abandoned by God, it’s because they never felt in company with God.

The other event isn’t quite as obvious, and is only reported in Luke. It’s the small exchange between Christ and the good thief. Where the first one relates to man’s relationship with God, this one relates to man’s relationship with man.

It’s easy to see the connection to Christ’s parable of the “Prodigal Son”. The thief asks Christ to remember him when He comes into His kingdom. Christ tells hime that “on this day, you will be with me in paradise.”

When the thief utters his acceptance of guilt and pleads for mercy, Christ breaks all precedence. At the thief’s last hour, he becomes one of the few men we know for certain is in heaven. But looking at it from a more personal level, it’s about more than just mercy. It’s about companionship.

I’ll never forget my childhood school days. Sadly, I spent much of it sitting outside the principal’s office anticipating a punishment. The list of my offenses is long, and I won’t begin to mention them. Most of the time, I was waiting out in that hallway alone. But every now and then, there was someone to share my state of dread.

In short, misery loves company. No one wants to go through something alone…and Christ was no exception. His punishment was different from the thief’s because Christ hadn’t actually committed a crime. But when the thief asked to be remembered, it was more than a petition. It was “We’re in this together…even though I deserve it and you don’t.” So it’s no wonder that Christ promised to take him the whole way, even after death.

While we’re going through pain and suffering in life, it helps to remember that we’re sharing something with Christ. Offer your pain to Him as sign of your commitment. “I’m here for you…be there with me at the hour of death.” Remember that every one shares Christ’s joy and gladness. But suffering connects us to Christ at His hour of fulfillment in a deep, personal way. And the second person of the Trinity still finds satisfaction from this personal connection

Written By Eric Engel, chief editor of The Catholic Letter at http://thecatholicletter.com.

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Here’s a review of posts of interest from other blogs:

• Exegetically - 2.1 Roman Catholic traditions; 2.2 Protestant traditions. 3 Judaism. 3.1 Midrash; 3.2 Mikra. 4 Indian philosophy; 5 Islam; 6 Exegesis in a secular context; 7 Bibliography. 7.1 Old Testament Introductions; 7.2 New Testament Introductions …
• Union of Catholic Asian News » News Archive » Church Stages … - He expected the performance to help the children appreciate local Catholic traditions. The drama, Rajathun Kattuwa (three kings), is based on the biblical story of the Three Kings, or Magi, who offered gold, …
• Should Ontario Expand or Abolish Public Funding for Religious Schools? - With the Ontario election campaign beginning to show signs of life, the long-debated issue of faith-based education has once again re-surfaced. And once again, the issue is polarized along partisan lines. On the one hand, …

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“Remember, man, that you are dust and unto dust you shall return”.

These are the words the priest recites to each and every person who receives ashes on Ash Wednesday.

Ash Wednesday is the official first day of Lent and starts 46 days of preparation for the passion, death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ at Easter.  On this first day, Catholic faithful confess and repent for their sins and receive the sign of the cross upon their foreheads as a symbol of penance and mourning.  The priest places the sign of the cross using a mixture of blessed ashes and holy water.

These ashes are made by burning leftover palm plants from the previous year’s Palm Sunday and mixed with water and incense.  The receiving of ashes on Ash Wednesday dates back to the 900’s AD.

Tradition has it that once these ashes are placed on the forehead they are not washed off until after sundown.  This is a profession of faith to others.

The day is also observed by fasting or abstaining from meat.  In 2009, Ash Wednesday will be celebrated on February 25th.

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Like many boys growing up in the sixties, I was a scout; a cub scout and a boy scout.  One of the awards we strove to achieve was the Parvuli Dei Award.

Parvuli Dei means “Children of God” and is an award established by the National Catholic Committee on Scouting to foster family and church values in young Catholic boys.

The award was first conceived by the Rev Gerard A McWilliams, a priest at Our Lady of Lourdes parish in Bethesda, Maryland.  The first recipient was cub scout Patrick Bell of Pack 300 on February 8, 1953.  The idea spread rapidly to other parishes and it officially became a National Award in 1956.

The program to achieve the award has been appropriately updated throughout the years and is now organized around the seven sacraments of the Roman Catholic Church.

Nearly half a million Cub Scouts have earned the Parvuli Dei emblem since it was made available.

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This week in review:

• Maitland Art Center - The education begins when the 25 students ranging in age from 8 to 14 gather in a small outdoor theatre adorned with Hispanic carvings of various catholic symbols. The speaker is Nancy Rosado, a local aspiring artist who was born in …
• Spain: Nativity Scene Removed « International Religious Freedom News - There is a continued debate over secularism in Spain, where Catholic symbols remain prominent in public life 30 years after the end of the dictatorship of Francisco Franco who had established Catholicism as a “state religion. …