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Lent - Week One 2010
By Pat Lee | February 22, 2010
Monday: February 22, 2010
Readings: Deuteronomy 30:15-20 Luke 9: 22-25
Scripture Verse: “Whoever wishes to be my follower must deny himself, take up his cross each day and follow in my steps.” Luke 9:23
Reflection: On occasion we hear of someone who dies leaving millions of dollars to some cause or another. Sometimes the surprise in the story is that the person had any money at all. Often the person has lived a very simple, frugal life and avoided spending money to accumulate the symbols of status in our culture.
Today in our readings, God invites us to choose the door of life. It is the doorway to eternal life in communion with God. Jesus gives us the key to that door. Whoever wishes to be his follower must deny themselves and allow Jesus’ agenda to become their agenda. The Prayer of St. Francis describes this in another way: “Let me seek not so much to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love.” To follow Jesus is to be other-centred. A “self-centered Christian” is an oxymoron.
As Christians we are to focus on giving others what they need even if that means denying ourselves what we are told we want. In a culture where so many waste their lives acquiring ever more power, prestige and possessions and never being satisfied– Jesus trusts his followers to make his way of life our way of life and bear the cross of responding to God’s love by being grateful for what we have and sharing with others.
We remember with the psalmist: “Happy are they who hope in the Lord” Psalm 1
Topics: Lent |
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