Memento Mori
Yesterday I went to mass and received the ashes on the forehead as a reminder that the season of lent has begun. Lent, in the Catholic tradition, is a time of reconciliation and conversion. Personally, I love ritual and tradition. For one like me, ritual is needed to spur the heart to center on the process of conversion. During the ordinary time of the year, without ritual reminders, I am prone to focus less on my spiritual conversion and more on my material wellbeing. The ritual season of Advent allows me to get ready for Christmas and the season of Lent prepares me for the celebration of Easter.
The Holy Father, Pope John Paul, refered to Ash Wednesday liturgy in his sermon yesterday as the 'Liturgy of death.' Good Friday was mentioned so as to remind us that like Christ we must die to ourselves to be reborn to eternal life. During lent we are encouraged to perform some kinds of penance and I assure you that when I deny myself of something I'm used to getting it keeps me focused on the suffering of Jesus Christ.
Speaking of death, I just finished the first book I've ever read by Muriel Spark, called 'Memento Mori.' Ms Spark is now 86 years old and is considered by many Brits to be the premier living English writer. Her most fameous novel is 'The Pride of Miss Jean Brodie.' Spark was 40 years old and a recent convert to Catholicism when she wrote Memento Mori. The title is Latin and means, 'Remember that thou must die.' The theme is old age, the characters are all elderly. The hook of the plot is that an unknown man rings up various characters, confirms who he is calling by name, and in a civil manner tells the person, 'remember, you must die.' The genius of Sparks is the telling of how each character deals with this omen. All in all, this is a familiar perspective on the four Last Things, as we Catholics call them, of death, judgment, hell, and heaven. This is not a dark and brooding tale, or macabre or grotesque, rather, it is told with humor and wit, like you'd expect from one of our great Catholic novelists writing of the Last Things. The book sure was timely reading for my meditation during this season of Lent.
The Holy Father, Pope John Paul, refered to Ash Wednesday liturgy in his sermon yesterday as the 'Liturgy of death.' Good Friday was mentioned so as to remind us that like Christ we must die to ourselves to be reborn to eternal life. During lent we are encouraged to perform some kinds of penance and I assure you that when I deny myself of something I'm used to getting it keeps me focused on the suffering of Jesus Christ.
Speaking of death, I just finished the first book I've ever read by Muriel Spark, called 'Memento Mori.' Ms Spark is now 86 years old and is considered by many Brits to be the premier living English writer. Her most fameous novel is 'The Pride of Miss Jean Brodie.' Spark was 40 years old and a recent convert to Catholicism when she wrote Memento Mori. The title is Latin and means, 'Remember that thou must die.' The theme is old age, the characters are all elderly. The hook of the plot is that an unknown man rings up various characters, confirms who he is calling by name, and in a civil manner tells the person, 'remember, you must die.' The genius of Sparks is the telling of how each character deals with this omen. All in all, this is a familiar perspective on the four Last Things, as we Catholics call them, of death, judgment, hell, and heaven. This is not a dark and brooding tale, or macabre or grotesque, rather, it is told with humor and wit, like you'd expect from one of our great Catholic novelists writing of the Last Things. The book sure was timely reading for my meditation during this season of Lent.
Comments