All posts tagged: Lent

A Thing For Lent

Published by Osemhen

It’s almost cliché, isn’t it? My first post this year is on the first day of Lent. I think it’s safe to say Lent is my favorite part of the Catholic calendar. Does that sound weird? Lent is ash on my forehead. Lent is fasting and abstinence and purging my soul. Lent is haunting hymns. Lent is sorrow and pain and deprivation and all the things that are considered ugly about human existence. Lent is death. But Lent is also hope. It’s the reminder of everything this world is. Drought. Then rain. Aslan dying. And then resurrecting. Death. And Life after. Lent is honesty with God. Look, Lord. It’s just me here. With my flaws and imperfections and I’m unworthy, Lord. Many times, I even forget to pray. Did I ever tell you how I sometimes envy Muslims their dedication to prayer? Seriously, good Muslims are #dedicationgoals. I see them stop conversations abruptly so they can go pray. And I think with shame of all the times my phone buzzes that it’s time for my prayer, and …

Things To Give Up This Lent: A List of Ideas

Published by Osemhen

We interrupt our regular “Blessed Are The Merciful” series to bring you this Lenten edition. 😀 So Lent begins officially on Wednesday. That’s tomorrow. Traditionally, these 40 days before Easter are dedicated to fasting, alms giving and prayer. The model is Christ’s example; he spent 40 days in the wilderness fasting and praying. Most people remember the fasting; not everyone remembers giving alms and using the season to deepen our prayer life. And when we say fasting, people automatically think of food. Then there are all the various modes of fasting as practiced by the various denominations. 6am to 6pm fasting, one-large-meal per day fasting, dry fasting (no liquids, no food), one normal-sized meal per day and liquids (Milo, Lucozade etc.) to supplement… I could go on. For clarity, these are the rules for fasting in the Catholic Church: Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are prescribed days of fasting and abstinence (from the flesh of all animals except fish) for Catholics between the ages of 18 and 59. The ill, pregnant and nursing mothers …

A Lenten Reflection on Faith

Published by Osemhen

This is who I am. This woman in her mid-twenties, with a day job and a writing itch. A daughter. A sister. The “best girlfriend in the world”. A cousin. A niece. A best friend. A friend. A colleague. A side-kick. A buddy. A Catholic. A practicing Catholic. And what does that even mean? I left the Catholic Church as a teenager. I was disillusioned by many of the adult Catholics around me including, it must be said, a couple of priests. I didn’t understand the “idol worship”, or how the Catholic Church could help me develop the faith I needed to move the mountains in my life. And there were many mountains that needed moving. So I left in search of the Light. And I found it…in the Catholic Church. Let me explain. I searched in other churches, and I found sparks, glimmers that whetted my appetite. In one of the pentecostal fellowships I joined in university, I learnt to study sacred Scripture. In another, I learned to give to the church, to only …

Ted-Posts, Lent and Broken Laptops

Published by Osemhen

Early this year, one of my friends asked me, “If you could give a Ted-Talk on any subject of your choice, what would you talk about?” It took me awhile to answer but I replied, “The importance of singularity, of not taking your cues from the crowd and daring to stand alone.” But his question has haunted me over the past one month and I realize now that I’d actually talk about something else, if I got the chance. I’d talk about the importance of friends. Because no matter how much I want to believe that I have always done my thing, it would be slightly dishonest. I am the sum-total of all the people I have let into my life. And everything good about me, I have because I aped someone else. Ditto everything bad 🙂 (this is a sub to relevant parties. You know yourself). But honestly, I have been privileged to know and count among my friends, some pretty cool people. And I want to share them with you via “Ted-Posts”. If …

Clearing Out My Head…

Published by Osemhen

I’ve started, and discarded many posts over the last week. Laziness, ennui, hormones, sleeplessness, blasted writers’ block (thank God for whoever coined this term) took over and had me all sorts of cranky. This week, however, sanity prevails. Maybe it’s the prospect of Lent (starts tomorrow for Catholics). Maybe it’s the realization that the end of March marks the end of the first quarter of 2011 and my resolutions are on a downward slope. Need to tighten that belt, let’s go. One of the things I wanted to blog about was the definition of success. I’ve always balked at the automatic association some people make between success and wealth: to be successful is to be rich and if you’re not rich, or if you’re poor, then you’re unsuccessful. I can’t quite put my finger on what exactly doesn’t ring true about this definition. Maybe it’s the fact that it makes success too mercenary. I mean, if I’m a thieving senator, am I successful? (Don’t tell me I’m a successful thief!) If I inherit a billion …

My Definition of Success

Published by Osemhen