Lent week 1 - Monday
And the King will say to them in reply,
whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for
me.
[Matt 25:40]
Jesus is
speaking to the people about the last judgment. When we see or hear of
someone in need whether it be for food , education or shelter we should
recognize His presence in that person and respond generously just as He
would if Jesus himself appeared as the needy person. The lesson we
might learn is that the Lord is among us now asking us to see and meet
the needs of those here and now just as Jesus reached out to sick, the
lonely and poor during his earthly life. Then as he promised, we will
enter our eternal home to rejoice with Him forever.
Leviticus
19:1-2, 11-18
Psalm
19:8,9 10, 15
Matthew
25:31-46
Lent week 1 Tuesday
But the hour is coming, and is now here,
when true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth
John 7:23
A person came
into my life by way of an introduction with a warm smile and a friendly
greeting. It was so well received that it turned the friendship into a
gift likened to that of a pearl. As the days passed I started to notice
the morning sunrise, the setting of the sun in the west and the
beautiful birds flying around the blue sky. I see the face of God in
the blooming flowers everywhere. Then I feel the warmth of his love all
around me. I listen to beautiful music played and songs so meaningful
sun, you hear his voice. What a wonderful gift of friendship that can
touch the soul. I feel my Lord's arms around me and his eternal
friendship is mine.
Isaiah:
10-11
Psalm
34:3-4,6-7,16-17,18-19
Matthew
6:7-15
Lent week 1 Wednesday
There are
several important things to note in today's first reading from the
prophet Jonah. This is the second time that God gave specific
directions to Jonah, the prophet who tried to sail away from the
mission to announce the need for the citizens of Nineveh to repent.
According to the story, Jonah is an Israelite prophet preaching to a
pagan people, who actually listen to what he has to say after but a
single day's walk through the city. Everyone, including the king and
his nobles and all the animals, fast, put on sackcloth and repent of
their evil ways! And God shows mercy on a pagan city.
Here are the
lessons to be learned: First, each of us has a call from God who is
relentless until we answer. Second, sometimes we are sent by God to
foreigners, those with whom we do not socialize. Third, God's word is
effective; it changes people's minds. And fourth, God is interested in
all people-no matter what their religion, race or sex may be. During
Lent, we learn from Jonah that when we cooperate with God, the Holy One
makes our work fruitful. Both Jonah and the people of Nineveh repent or
change their minds.
Jonah
3:1-10
Psalm
51:3-4,12-14,18-19
Luke
11:29-32
Lent week 1 Thursday
We are amazed
at the confidence with which Jesus speaks. Ask and you will receive;
knock and the door will be opened; seek and you will find! I am sure
all of us have had enough experiences of asking the Lord for something
and not receiving what we really asked for, or knocking at the door of
something and not being opened for us, or seeking something and not
finding. These experiences can disappoint and discourage us. Jesus is
giving us an insight as to the spirit with which we may pray or ask or
seek.
In fact Jesus
gives us two important attitudes for our life of prayer. First of all
we need to trust that God knows what we truly need. Will he not give us
then? Can we believe this? Secondly, God also reminds us what we need
to be really praying for. We need to pray to help us do His will. True
happiness is doing God's Will and being faithful to Him. God is
faithful even when we are unfaithful.
Seek
ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all else will be
added to you.
Esther:
C:12, 14-16, 23-25
Psalm
138:1-2, 2-3, 7-8
Matthew
7:7-12
Lent week 1 -- Friday
Matthew 5:24: A call to reconciliation
Would you be
able to travel 300 miles in a lawn mower to put things right with a
brother you have not spoken in many years? That's what Alvin Straight,
a 73- year-old man, does in the movie The Straight Story. Having lost
his driver's license and detesting bus trips, he rides his lawn mower
to Wisconsin to mend things with his dying brother. He decides to end
hatred and choose reconciliation.
As I watched
the movie, I thought of the many broken relationships that are so
common among people and how important it is to break down the walls of
anger that separate us from another human beings. This is exactly what
Jesus addresses when he said: "First go and be reconciled to your
brother; then come and offer your gift." (Mt 5:24). He is calls us to
reflect on the importance of reconciliation, especially those with whom
we hold grudges. Jesus urges us to become good and humble reconcilers
and help to build the great family of the children of God. Do you have
a friend, a relative, a neighbor, a co-worker, a brother or sister in
Christ with whom you need to make things right? This time of Lent is
the appropriate moment to go straight to that person and look for
reconciliation.
Ezekiel
18:21-28
Psalm
130:1-2, 3-4, 5-7a, 7bc-8
Matthew
5:20-26
Lent Week 1 -- Saturday
God's First offer of Love
Be careful to
observe the statutes and decrees of the law; observe these with all
your heart and all your soul and you will be a people sacred to the
Lord, your God, as he promised.
[Deuteronomy]
We were
created by God and given a free will. However he does want us to keep
the commandments. We may be bewildered at times, but we do have a
choice and God wants us to accept His will. God asks us to love our
enemies as well as our friends for we are all his children and he makes
the sun shine on the evil and the good. He likewise, sends rain on the
righteous and the unrighteous.
Deuteronomy
26:16-19
Psalm
119:1-2, 4-8
Matthew
5:43-48
Lent Week 2 - Sunday
"...and led them up a high mountain"
[Matt:17:1]
I'll never
forget my visit to the Holy Land. Our group of priests left the Jordan
River area and slowly the mountain came into view. The bus came to the
spot where we huddled into vintage Mercedes station wagons and up we
went for the final assent. Right away it was clear the drivers were in
a hurry and knew the curves and just how close to the side they were
supposed to go. No ride for the faint of heart ! Coming out of the car
at the top began to place myself with Jesus and his disciples on this
mountain. Near the church, I could see the verdant plains below, the
quietness, the breeze and the late morning sun were preparing me to
celebrate the Mass together around the altar of the Transfiguration
with the beautiful mosaics of it in the background. What a difference a
little distance can make to see things in a new way. Just a little
distance is what I needed to catch a glimpse of myself, my God and all
of life around me. Coming down the mountain was a jolt back into the
everyday world, but the transfiguration brought a new appreciation of "how
good it was to be there."
Open my eyes, O God, to see you in new ways !
Genesis
12:1-4a
Psalm
33:4-5,18-19,20, 22
2
Timothy 1:8b-10
Matthew17:1-9
Lent Week 2 - Monday
God Himself is the Judge! Come let us adore!
Do not judge, and you will not be judged?
[Luke 6:36]
The Church has
always recognized that we are called to avoid judgment of other persons
and names certain actions wrong.
As I look
back, and even now, I find myself judging others by their faults, which
I may think are wrong. Or I don't like something about the person. Who
am I to judge?
I especially
remember one time when I judged a person I didn't know but heard rumors
about her and because of what I heard ignored her when I saw her. One
day I found I had to work with her in a group. I did, and as I got to
know her we became good friends. She is a wonderful person and I
learned from her. During this time I also realized that I committed the
same act she did and had completely forgotten about it and here I
judged a person wrongly for the same thing I did. How often do we do
this ?
God asks us
not to judge or condemn but to forgive offenses and to give without
counting the cost, as God himself has done.
Daniel 9:4b-10
Psalm
79:8,9,11& 13
Luke 6:36-38
Lent Week 2 - Tuesday
Isaiah
portrays God giving specific instructions in today's first reading.
Isaiah's directions are especially appropriate for us during this
second week of Lent as we continue our preparation to renew our
baptismal promises during the Easter Vigil and on Easter Sunday and be
washed clean. We scarlet-colored sinners are commanded to make biblical
justice our aim. Those we have wronged through gossip, anger, stealing,
etc., need to be redressed; we owe that to them. We owe prayer for and
help to the children in orphanages, in rehabilitation houses and
state-run foster care programs. The poor, especially widows, deserve
our concern in their loneliness, old age and nursing homes. According
to Isaiah, through our practice of biblical justice, God will turn our
red-face embarrassment into white-as-snow or white-as-wool joy.
Throughout the Bible, God has a special concern for those who are left
behind.
Lent offers us
the opportunity to be sure that we are doing our part to leave no one
behind. We have received God's commands; now let us enact them through
our practice of biblical justice.
Isaiah
1:10,16-20
Psalm
50:8-9,16-17,121,23
Matthew 23:1-12
Lent Week 2 - Wednesday
Jesus said
Whoever wants to be more important in your group shall make themselves
your servant.
Mark says that
it was James and John who asked Jesus for important posts in his
kingdom [10:37]. But Matthew puts the blame on the mother. But the
cover-up is transparent in the text when you check the original, "Jesus
said to the brothers, you (plural) do not know what you are asking. Can
you (plural) drink the cup that I am about to drink?' They answered,
"We can." Jesus was speaking to them not their mother. Furthermore, the
others were angry with the two brothers. Jesus measures greatness
differently from the way modern society does. Society measures
greatness in terms of wealth, influence and position. Jesus considers
such things as irrelevant. Jesus measures greatness in terms of quality
of one's service to others. Whose measure of greatness do I tend to
follow - Society's or Jesus'? How comfortable am I measuring another's
greatness in this manner? Why?
Jeremiah
18:18-20
Psalm 31:5-6,
14, 15-16
Matthew
20:17-28
Lent Week 2 - Thursday
"There was a rich man dressed in purple
garments and there was a poor man "(Lazarus) Luke 16:19-20
Here we are
again listening to the word of God telling us of the importance of
reaching out to our fellow man with mercy and forgiveness. The rich man
had all the food shelter and physical needs anyone could need or want.
He selfishly guarded his possessions and failed to share with those in
need -- in the person of Lazarus.
God so
lavishly gives us himself and provides us with more than we can use.
When we share is love, his concern for others we are blessed. When we
lack concern and care for others we are not Christian in the true
meaning of that calling. During Lent, let us decide to become more of
the needs of others.
Jeremiah
17:5-10
Psalm 1:1-2,
3, 4 and 6
Luke 16:19-31
Lent Week 2 - Friday
It seems to me
people today aren't very much different than the folks in today's
Readings. Greed, jealousy, envy and materialism weaves its nasty
threads through them. Whether it be plotting against one's brother as
in the story of Joseph (Genesis) or the horror of murder to attain
treasures and wealth in the parable Jesus told in Matthew's Gospel.
Even in the
midst of all this messiness, God is present and promises to be with us.
My hope then becomes my Faith in action. Human nature may seem the
same, but God's Son, Jesus, took on this same nature for human
redemption. Am I ready to follow Him, even if it means to die to what
the world continues to perpetuate, to walk the road to Calvary? Are you?
Genesis
37:3-4, 12-13a, 17b-28a
Psalm
105:16-17, 18-19, 20-21
Matthew
21:33-43, 45-46
Lent Week 2 - Saturday
Justice -
Ethics - Righteousness: great life-themes these, but we'll completely
miss the point if we try to read them into today's Liturgy of the Word,
especially Luke's Gospel, the parable of the Prodigal Son. I know from
first-hand experience. For much of my life I was perplexed by this
parable, having been taught to strive for and cherish justice, ethics,
and righteousness in my life. I identified with the older son in the
parable, and missed the point. It's not about justice, it's about
mercy, God's relentless mercy and forgiveness. Now, I look back at my
life and see both the countless blessings from God, and missed
opportunities on my part, so it's easy to identify with the prodigal
son in the parable. God, the Alpha and the Omega, extends boundless
mercy to us repentant sinners, chooses to have short term memory of our
sins, and like the Prophet Micah points out "persists not in anger
forever but delights in clemency." The season of Lent is a good time
for reflection, repentance, conversion, and reconciliation with God and
with each other.
Micah 7:14-15,
18-20
Psalm 103:1-2,
3-4, 9-10, 11-12
Luke 15:1-3,
11-32
Lent Week 3 - Sunday
For Jews demand signs and Greeks look
for wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews
and foolishness to Gentiles ...1 Corinthians 1:22-23
Which one of
us does not have trials? Perhaps we feel sorry for ourselves or
complain to God about our lot in life? Which one of us doesn't want a
miracle to take away all our troubles, worries and sleepless nights?
And who among us doesn't wish God would just send us instant solutions
to all the problems and dilemmas we face? We just want all of the "bad
stuff" to go away, right away.
To add to our
frustration and impatience, the world tricks us into believing we have
all the answers, control, power and wisdom we need, but Christ's
message is clear. He is to be our model. We are to unite our "crosses"
to His and trust in Him to lead us straight to our Heavenly Father.
The question
really is---What will we chose, the deception and false hope of this
world or Jesus Christ, our model and Savior?
Lord Jesus,
may we realize our dependence on you and humbly ask for Your power and
wisdom to rule our lives.
Exodus 17:3-7
Psalm 95:1-2,
6-7, 8-9
Romans 5:1-2,
5-8
John 4:5-42
Lent Week 3 - Monday
The story of
Naaman, the Syrian strikes me as one of those very human encounters. My
prayer is often like that. I have been taught that God can fix
anything. He can solve all of my problems. He will do something
dramatic and everything will be alright. I'm going to leave it in God's
hands. What?... He wants me to do something something so ordinary as
taking a bath? or fasting or alms giving or taking time to be alone
with Him? Is it possible that I missed something?
Lord there are
so many people I see every day, how often I miss seeing your presence
in them. It would be so much easier if you rang a bell, or let the
light flicker so that I would know that it is you. But would I always
accept the fact that you are speaking to me when you challenge me to
change my way of life. The people of your own day had trouble when you
told them the truth. It was hard coming from someone they knew,
especially when it didnt exactly fit into their plan. Lord help me to
take off the blinders that keep from accepting your direction. And help
me also to be grateful for so many things that you do to take care of
me, but I miss them because I thing they are so ordinary.
2 Kings 5:1-15
Psalm 42:2,3:
43:3,4
Luke 4:24-30
Lent Week 3 - Tuesday
Forgiveness is at the core of Faith
Jesus has
asked us to forgive those who have sinned against us no matter what. If
one is hurt it can become hatred so deep and revenge seems to be the
answer but the only way to be at peace is to forgive whoever hurt us
and we will find peace.
We must think
of what Jesus suffered for us and he was innocent so who are we to hold
so much hatred.
We must pray
to overcome the hatred and the sins committed against us and we will
have peace in our hearts
Daniel 3:25,
34-43
Psalm 25:4-9
Matthew
18:21-35
Lent Week 3 - Wednesday
You must be very careful not to forget
the things you have seen God do for you. Keep reminding yourselves, and
tell your children and grandchildren as well. (Deuteronomy
4:9)
Our God is a
faithful arid loving God. A God whose covenant "I will be your God and
you will be my people" remains intact, even when Israel didn't remain
all that faithful.
As a parent, I
have unconditional love for my children. God Is love, agape (1 John
4:8), pure self gift. Self gift in giving His Son Jesus to be crucified
and die on a cross for my redemption and yours. How could I not want to
know, love and serve God!
Staying in
this intimate relationship, not rupturing it requires obedience. Jesus
says in Mt. 5: 17-19 he has not come to "remove (the Law), but to
fulfill them". He invites me to go deeper into their meaning, He
challenges me to transformation, to find freedom and peace, through
loving obedience and discipleship.
Deuteronomy
4:1, 5-9
Psalm
147:12-13, 15-16, 19-20
Mt 5:17-19
Lent Week 3 - Thursday
"Obey my voice, and I will be your God,
and you shall be my people; and walk only in the way that I command
you, so that it may be well with you." (Jeremiah 7:23)
Lent is the
season when the Church will ask the faithful to reflect on the
condition of their souls. This is the time to review our life and see
if we have allowed our hearts to become hardened to the word of the
Lord, or if we have been open to listen to Him, and do his will. Lent
is a special time for repentance and conversion.
As Christians
who are seeking God's will in this season of Lent, our sacrifices,
reflections, prayers and repentance are our answers to His call.
May this time
of Lent be one where we experience the presence of God in a deep and
meaningful way.
Jeremiah
7:23-28
Psalm 95:1-2,
6-7, 8-9
Luke 11:14-23
Lent Week 3 - Friday
We are called
from our birth to live in love with our Creator. We are called to be
partners in a relationship with Jesus, who calls us to take care of
each other. We have each been given many gifts in our lives. At
different times in our life, we seem to be more appreciative than
others. Lord, forgive me for those times when I seem to sleep through
life, unaware of Your Presence.
In today's
readings, we are called to return, to make a change, to journey down
the road with a loving and grateful heart. As I flounder and am easily
enticed down the wrong paths, the readings keep calling me back. I ask
myself, Am I getting stronger? Over the years, am I learning anything?
Or am I still riding on the fence rather that truly committing myself
to follow the paths of the Lord? The years are going by. God is
constant in His call for me to change. I have always thought I will do
it tomorrow, but tomorrow is not a certainty.
Hosea 14:2-10
Psalm 81:6-17
Mark 12:28-34
Lent Week 3 - Saturday
May all Know God's Tenderness In their
affliction, they shall look for me: come let us return to the Lord. For
it he who has rent, but he will heal us; he has struck us, but he will
bind our wounds. Hosea 6:1
We know God is
tender and loving and we experience these qualities in numerous ways.
If we tell his honestly that we are sorry for our sins, He forgives us
and we again are a t peace. If we pray for people who are in need, the
dear Lord answers our prayers and they receive help which changes their
lives in a positive way.
God loves each
one of us so much it is extremely sad to realize that not everyone is
aware of His tenderness and goodness. So, since, we are starting the
season of Lent, let us pray that the unbelievers will see the light and
turn to God so He will heal them.
Also what an
excellent time for each of us to pray for spirituality, do kind things
and reach out to help others know the tenderness of God through the
healing care for others.
Hosea 6:1-6
Psalm 51:3-4,
18-21
Luke 18:9-14
Lent Week 4 - Sunday
During the
Sunday readings this Lent, we hear of conversions. Conversion is
centered on a personal encounter with Jesus.
In today's
Gospel we hear of the curing of the man born blind. His personal
encounter with Jesus teaches us that when we bring our inability to
deal with a handicap whether it is physical, mental, social or
spiritual, we can turn to the Lord and ask for healing and light. Jesus
is the Light of the world. He wants us to come to him with our requests
for healing, for understanding of Scripture because He loves us so
much. He loves to be asked for whatever we need. Let us bring our needs
to him for ourselves and those we love. Trust and confidence in God
will be rewarded one hundredfold.
1 Samuel
16:1,6-7,10-13
Psalm
23:1-3,3-4,5,6
Ephesians
5:8-14
John 9:1-41
Lent Week 4 - Monday
Wiping Away, Unnecessary Tears
Lo, I am about to create new heavens and
a new earth.
[Isaiah 65.17]
We aren't
meant to have "heaven on earth". Life is full of ups and downs but
nowhere near comparable to Christ's dying on the cross for us miserable
sinners.
Tears can be a
source of cleansing from healthy sorrows. Having lost a husband and a
son within two years and four months, crying was an everyday occurrence
in my life.
The statement
is made that "time heals all wounds." I don't believe this. It's like
an arrow to the heart that never goes away. It is hard for me to
understand how Mary could follow Jesus on the way of the cross. To see
Her Son humiliated and spit upon must have broken her heart, but she
was filled with many graces and God the Father most surely helped her
along. However, it was still Her Son who she had for 33 years and to
ever give Him up in that fashion was so unfair. But where would we be
today without the love of Jesus?
Sometimes I
lie there at night and try to find solutions to problems and end up
giving it all to Him. We just can't get along without our faith in God.
We must persevere with love and sincerity in our hearts, and give glory
and praise to our Lord Jesus Christ.
Isaiah 65:
17-21,
Psalm 30:2,
4,6, 11-13
John 4:43-54
Lent Week 4 Tuesday
Water, fresh and life giving!
"Lord, I don't have anyone to put me in
the pool when the water is stirred up. I try to get in, but someone
else always gets there first." (John 5:7)
Each time I
walk to my room I pass a number of plants that I have lined near the
window in the hallway. Sometimes I see them drooping, especially the
tallest one. I know then it's time to bring on the water. Just a simple
watering perks them right up!
I imagine God
frequently sees our drooping spirits. Things have not gone all that
well today, we are sapped of energy and strength, the day has been
long. Sometimes I am like that crippled man lying near the pool waiting
for someone to walk by and give me a refreshing drink. Will you notice
my need and reach out to me like Jesus? Will you be the aqueduct that
extends God's grace to my failing spirit? Just a smile might do it or
perhaps an encouraging word.
Prayer and
fasting are meant to get us in tune with the Lord but then there is
almsgiving too that's meant to be a Lenten practice. Could it be that
this is not just giving money but giving of oneself? God's Grace, like
the water flowing from the temple reaches us through human hands.
Ezekiel
47:1-9, 12
Psalm 46:2-3,
5-6, 8-9
John 5:1-16
Lent Week 4 - Wednesday
Even should a mother forget, I will
never forget you. Isaiah 49:15
Recently a
mother stopped me after Mass to know that her son was dying of cancer.
Letting go of her son was difficult enough, but she was also having a
crisis of faith and belief. How could she believe in that God, who
loves her so much, and who says I will never for get you and yet when
from all human response it feels like God has abandoned her and her
son. Where is God in this moment?
As difficult
as it is, God is asking us to go deeper in faith. There are times when
the mystery and immensity of God clash with our human perspectives. God
as infinite, immense, incomprehensible (as St. Vincent Pallotti wrote)
hits our finite, sequentially ordered and human world. It doesn't seem
to make sense. In our pain we look to Jesus and the scene in the garden
of Gethsemane stops us Jesus is comforted by and angel as He
experiences His agony of faith in the garden. God has not spared His
only begotten Son even as His human mind reached the edge of its final
searching. He concluded that He must uphold His Father's will.
Pray
the Lord's Prayer slowly and devoutly.
Isaiah 49:8-15
Psalm 145:8-9,
13-14, 17-18
John 5:17-30
Lent Week 4 - Thursday
In today's
first reading from Exodus and the verses from Psalm 106, the Israelites
abandon their faithful God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the
One who led them out of bondage in Egypt, and turn to an idol made in
the image of, as the psalmist says, a "grass-eating bull."
God's attitude is one of 'Enough! I don't need this!'
and tells Moses to leave so that God's wrath may consume this
stiff-necked people. But Moses intercedes for the people and implores
God to relent, calling God's attention to the faithfulness of the
Patriarchs, and the promises God made to them, so God relented in the
threatened punishment on the people.
In today's Gospel, Jesus is exasperated with the unbelief of those who
have heard the testimony of John the Baptist, and the teaching of
Jesus. In our daily lives, sometimes we may reach a similar point of
frustration and say "I don't need this"! Then, if
we take some time to count our blessings, and realize that God sent
Jesus, the Suffering Servant, to die for our sins that we may forgo the
punishment we deserve, we know God's great love for each of us
Ex 32:7-14
Psalm
106:19-20, 21-22, 23
John 5:31-47
Lent Week 4 - Friday
Let us beset the just one because he is
obnoxious to us; he sets himself against our doings. (Wis.
2: 12a)
The Book of
Wisdom was probably written about one hundred years before the coming
of Christ. Yet today's first reading sounds amazingly close to a
description of Jesus. It reminds us of the salvation that God had been
planning for us from the beginning of time. The reading not only points
to Jesus. It can also describe the life of anyone who follows Jesus.
There are times that we may have to pay a price for our witness to
Jesus. We are reminded today of the opposition that our faith in Jesus
may bring us. Yes, we may find opposition when we follow Christ. Jesus
himself did and if Ho did, so may we. As we follow Christ, even when it
is difficult and challenging, well find that He works in us in many,
perhaps even unexpected ways.
The gospel
tells of the Jews who plot Jesus downfall. Today, as well, many reject
Jesus. When we are the ones rejected because of our faith in Jesus, we
may find ourselves resenting Jesus or resisting his influence or
presence. We may find ourselves wishing Jesus would just go away and
leave us alone. We lose touch, momentarily, with God's plan for us.
Jesus has given us the potential, the possibility of being filled with
His love and power. Let us remember our call and the goodness of God.
We can carry on the good fight of faith confident that Jesus is still
with us.
We are roughly
midway in our journey through Lent. What is it that keeps us from
giving greater witness to our faith in our daily lives?
Wisdom 2:la,
12-22
Psalm 34:
17-18,19-2021,23
John 7:1-2,
10, 25-30
Lent Week 4 - Saturday
Prayer in time of Confusion
Confusion very
often is mind blowing as we all know. We often believe we are alone in
our confusion; however Jeremiah was confronted with much confusion even
in his time. He was upset with God for letting arrogant people oppress
their neighbors.
God warned him
that his neighbors were plotting against him. Jeremiah angrily demanded
that God bring them to justice. The dialogue between Jeremiah was
confusing because Jeremiah was confused. He was very disturbed that his
prayers were not effective, but God conversed with him regardless as he
does with each of us.
So may I
suggest that we offer our prayers to the Lord, our God with sincerity
and love and we sill be rewarded because God is good, kind and loves
each of us so very much.
Jeremiah
11:18-20
Psalm 7:2-3,
9bc-10, 11-12
John 7:40-53
Lent Week 5 - Sunday
Then you shall know that I am the Lord,
when I open your graves and have you rise from them, O my people.
[Ezekiel 37:13]
Does the Lord
have to prove to us that he can open our graves? I think not. If we
just have faith in God, who will need proof. Let's face it we are all
going to die someday. Our Lord was ready to leave this earth and be in
God's glory. I hope so! I know in my own family it was hard to say
goodbye to a loved one. We must remember that God has a plan for all of
us whether young or old, rich or poor. That day will come when we meet
our Lord face to face. That will be the best time in our heavenly life.
Ezekiel 37:
12-14
Romans 8: 8-11
John 11: 1-45
Lent Week 5 - Monday
This story of
the woman caught in adultery is one of the most powerful stories in the
entire New Testament. Imagine the humiliation to which this woman was
subjected to! She was surrounded by the accusing finger of the
authorities, and a jeering crowd ready to cast the stones at her. And
Jesus at the background! The truth is that the stones have already been
cast at her soul, at her heart, at her dignity and respect! She was
already dead morally if not physically!
But Jesus
brought her hack to life and dignity. Neither do I condemn you, go, and
sin no more These were words of new life to her. Jesus can bring us
back to life and dignity. Do we have the courage and humility to face
Jesus and acknowledge our sinfulness? We will hear him say as well,
Son, daughter, neither do I condemn you, go, sin no more. This story
also brings to light the death we bring about in people's lives by our
accusations and condemnations. We have the power to bring life and
death to people. What do we choose?
Judge
not, and you will not be judged
condemn
not, and you will not be condemned.
Be
merciful as your heavenly father is merciful
Daniel:13:1-9.
15-17
John:8:1-11
Lent Week 5 Tuesday
"When you have lifted up the Son of Man,
then you will know that I am He" [John 8:28]
Jesus had told
the Pharisees that He was going away -- to a place they could not go -
because of their sin. He was completing the work His Father had given
Him. He had taught the people of the Father's Love for all of the
people, but not everyone believed Jesus. How important is our faith!
When things go
well it's easy to trust, but when trials and troubles come our way,
perhaps we fail to ask God's help and pray with trust that God will
hear us as we persevere in childlike dependence on our heavenly Father.
Jesus death on
the cross won for us all we will ever need. He was "lifted up" for each
and all of us.
Numbers 21:4-9
Psalm 102:2-3,
16-18, 19-21
John 8:21-30
Lent Week 5 - Wednesday
Truth sets us free from fear
the truth will set you free.
[John 8:32]
In the world
we live in, everyone seems to believe he or she has the ultimate truth.
Individuals, nations, religions, and secular movements fight for the
truth they think they possess, often refusing even to listen to the
truth the other side stands for. This results in meaningless bickering.
Bickering, however, is a sign of someone who is not yet free within
himself or herself. We bicker because we are afraid. But why are we
afraid?
The root of
our fear is the possibility that the truth we believe in might be
rejected by others. That is frightening because what gives us a sense
of security is a greater number of people than ourselves acknowledging
what we believe to be true. When others seem to deny the truth we
believe in, our personal worlds come tumbling down. This means that the
truth we believe in has, unfortunately, not made us truly free. The
truth we believe in had been fabricated by ourselves to give us a sense
of meaning and purpose. But truth is not something to be fabricated for
our convenience. Truth is God, the ultimate reality. That is why Jesus
confidently claimed that he is the way, the truth and the life. A
person set free from the untruth by the Word of God is free from fear.
A true disciple of Christ is free in this manner.
When the truth
we believe in exhorts us to be hateful, violent, selfish, and divisive,
we can be sure what we hold is not the truth. When the rejection of the
truth we believe in makes us unhappy, it is time for us to turn towards
Christ and obey his teaching. When we do that, we will know the truth.
When we accept that truth, we become free. As free people, we no more
live in kingdoms we have built for ourselves, rather we live in the
Kingdom of God where truth reigns supreme. As members of this kingdom,
we are truly free. We do not take it as a personal affront when others
reject the truth that has set us free, because we know that whether
others accept this truth or not, this is the only truth there is.
Lead us from the
unreal to the real
Lead us from
darkness into light
Lead us from
death to immortality
Upanishad
Dn
3:14-20, 91-92, 95
Daniel
3:52- 56
John
8:31-42
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