And it's also St. Valentine's Day. So as I do every year, I'm sharing this photo I took of St. Valentine's skull, which is now in the church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, in Rome. It's hard to tell if there are ashes on his forehead, though.
As we begin our lenten pilgrimage, I'm not going to try to do what a lot of people out there are doing, which is give advice for how to fast, or share what they're giving up. I always feel like that is kind of private (as we keep hearing in the gospels in The Journey, Jesus warned against making a show of your fasting, etc.) and there are pretty clear guidelines for fasting that the Church puts out there for us. But if you want more direction, there are some good YouTube channels out there (and some bad ones, so watch out).
And I'm also not going to do that thing where someone might say something like, try to do more than last year, or do better than last year, or something like this. I guess all I'll say is, don't make it a comparison or a contest - not even one where you are competing with yourself or trying for some personal best. Think of Lent as an extended vigil, and keep the focus on the morning, which is Resurrection Day. It's not about last year, or any year in the past, but make it only about this year, this Lent, and a constant awareness of the reality of our need for salvation, and gratitude for it.
Finally, if you want to practice Lent the way it was in the early Church, also keep in mind that during this time there are people preparing for baptism, and for reception into the Church. Lent originally began (at least in part) as a time of fasting with the catechumens preparing for baptism. Maybe you know someone who will be baptized or received in the Church at the Easter Vigil this year. Maybe there are people going through that at your church. Either way, pray for them this Lent, whoever they are.
I'm sure I'll have more thoughts about Lent, but for now, don't just let it go by, be intentional about how you will observe Lent this year, and put it on your calendar. I know for me, if I don't literally write FAST on my calendar every Friday, that day will come when I forget. So if that's you, take the time today to write it on your calendar so that you can keep up with whatever you decide to do.
Dear friends - Please take 10 minutes to watch this personal update from me:
I mentioned in The Journey that I wrote a song based on Isaiah 2, which is one of my favorite OT passages:
In days to come, the mountain of the Lord’s house
shall be established as the highest mountain, and raised above the hills.
All nations shall stream toward it. Many peoples shall come and say:
“Come, let us go up to the Lord’s mountain, to the house of the God of Jacob, That he may instruct us in his ways, and we may walk in his paths.” For from Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between the nations, and set terms for many peoples.
They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; One nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for war again. House of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord!
I hope you like the song!
Hi folks,
When I was putting together my list of how to read the rest of the NT chronologically, I now realize that I left out the Letter to the Hebrews!
As you know, in the early and medieval Church there was a debate over whether St. Paul wrote this, and whether it should be included among his letters. Since most scholars do not include Hebrews among the letters of Paul, I had left it off my chronology of Paul's life. If he did write it, we don't know when - but I suspect that if he wrote it, it would have his name on it. In any case, it has to have been written before 70 AD because it speaks of the temple sacrifices as ongoing, and Clement of Rome quotes it in 1 Clement a couple decades later. So I would put Hebrews either with James (after the prison epistles of Paul) or with Peter's letters (after the pastoral epistles of Paul). I'm not saying that I think James or Peter wrote it, but they would be interesting candidates for authorship.
And if you want a couple short, but ...
Hi Folks,
I'm planning to shut down the platform this Saturday. It will be 3 years almost to the day since we started. It's been a lot of fun, and I hope we keep in touch.
Stay subscribed to my YouTube channel for all the upcoming episodes of The Way of the Fathers podcast. The second episode on St. Thomas Aquinas will air on the 29th, and in November we're jumping out of the chronological sequence to talk about the newest doctor, St. John Henry Newman! (And I will be taking December off, getting back into it with St. Catherine of Siena in January.)
And make sure you're on the email mailing list, so you'll know about new books and future pilgrimages (HINT: Mike Aquilina and I are already planning ROME 2026 - probably right about a year from now - so stay tuned...). You can sign up for the email list, which comes no more than once a month, at my home page: https://jimpapandrea.wordpress.com/
Thanks again for all your support!
- Jim
I made this during my PhD program, so about 30 years ago, but I think it holds up - still, please let me know if you see anything you want to nuance or question. I have Paul being executed in 64 or 65, but my latest research suggests that 67 or even early 68 might be more accurate. Also, to the question of whether Paul was martyred before Peter or after him, the evidence suggests Peter was martyred first, but Peter's comments about Paul's letters being Scripture feels to me like Paul was already dead when Peter wrote that. Legends that they were martyred together were created to overcome an apocryphal story that they had had a falling out, but that's not really true.
Jim
