Lent
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Wednesday, March 17th, 2010Wednesday: March 17, 2010
Readings: Jeremiah 7:23-28 Luke 11:14-23
Scripture Verse: “If it is by the finger of God that [I] drive our demons, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you. Luke 11:20
Reflection: Some time ago there were predictions that in the year 2020 a mile-wide meteorite would pass dangerously close to planet earth. For a few days after this prediction there was no shortage of news reports and “expert” analysis centering on the destruction this meteorite would cause when and if it hit the earth. To add to all this, two Hollywood movies about earth getting hit by a meteorite were released at about the same time as the prediction was made. Further research revealed that the meteorite will actually pass by the earth at a distance of several hundred thousand miles/kilometres.
In our gospel today, Jesus reminds us that there is no guessing, estimating or ambiguity in who he is. Jesus is the human presence of the Kingdom of God. Jesus’ voice is the finger of God from which even the demons run. Jeremiah, as well, emphasises God’s determination to have people absolutely committed to believing in Him.
In Lent we are invited in the midst of life’s confusion to turn to Jesus, to ask for the grace to strengthen our faith and renew our commitment to believe in him fully and completely
As the psalmist prays “O that today you would hear [God’s] voice.” Do not harden your hearts” Psalm 95:7-8
Lent - Week Four 2010
Tuesday, March 16th, 2010Tuesday : March 16, 2010
Readings: Deuteronomy 4:1, 5-9; Matthew 5:17-19
Scripture Verse: “Take care not to forget the things which your own eyes have seen” Deut 4:9
Reflection: Someone once wrote: “I always sleep like a baby when I return to the house where I grew up”. As we mature from childhood to adulthood, we bring with us the sights, smells, tastes and sensation that are rooted in the “house” of our infancy and youth. If we are able to return to that house, we may find that those sensations are still there speaking to us of a time when we were protected and loved. In our first reading, Moses tells the people “not to forget the things which your own eyes have seen but teach them to your children and children’s children.” What is so important that we need to have it ingrained into our senses for centuries? It is the fact that God loves us, cares for us and protects us.
In today’s gospel, when Jesus says that he has come to fulfill the law and the prophets, he is talking about him being the centre of and source of that love and care and protection that God has offered to people since creation began. That love and care and protection surrounded the people of Israel through their centuries of the law and prophets. In Jesus, it is offered to all people as Jesus continues to offer people manna in the desert and a light to guide us in the darkness.
During Lent we are invited to return to the familiarity of our spiritual home, to prayer and worship and listening to God’s Word in Scripture and to allow that experience to speak to us of God’s ongoing love and care and protection of us.
Lent - Week Four 2010
Monday, March 15th, 2010Monday : March 15, 2010
Readings: Daniel 3:25, 34-43 Matthew 18:21-35
Scripture Verse: Then Peter came up and asked him, “Lord, when my brother wrongs me, how often must I forgive him.” Matthew 18:21
Reflection: Chapter 18 in Matthew’s gospel is concerned with relationships among members of the church. It emphasizes that generosity in forgiveness is an essential mark of the Christian life. Without it, the church fades and dies.
Through today’s parable Jesus underlines the basic reason why our forgiveness is to be without limit. The reason is that we have received limitless forgiveness from God. The parable of the unforgiving official—the man who had himself experienced generosity from the king—shows how the official did not appreciate what had been done for him and did not see his responsibility to forgive as he had been forgiven.
This was not an isolated theme in Jesus’ teaching. He returns to it again and again and includes it when he teaches his followers how to pray. Perhaps Jesus dwelt so frequently on the topic of forgiveness because he knew how hard it would be for his followers.
Perhaps we have not yet accepted God’s forgiveness and carry burdens of real or imagined guilt. Perhaps because we haven’t accepted God’s forgiveness, it is challenging for us to forgive. Sometimes some people seem to feel that to forgive would be a sign of weakness—that it might deprive them of revenge—that it somehow makes them a loser in the power struggle of life.
Perhaps this Lent would be a good time for us to be attentive to what is happening at the time of confession and absolution during worship. We can open our hearts to experience the reality of God’s forgiveness and simply accept it and allow it to give us the courage and strength to forgive others.
Let us pray and ask God to grant us his kindness and mercy. Let us ask God to help us treat others with the forgiveness that comes from God.
Lent Week Three 2010
Friday, March 12th, 2010Friday : March 12, 2010
Readings : 2 Kings 5:1-15; Luke 4: 24-30
Scripture Verse: Now I know that there is no God in all the earth, except in Israel. 2 Kings 5:15
Reflection: Saint Lawrence was a deacon in the 3rd century AD. It was a time of persecution and Deacon Lawrence was informed that the government wished to sell all the treasures of the Christian churches. The governor commissioned Deacon Lawrence to gather all the treasures into one church building so that the governor could have his pick before the sale began. When the governor arrived at the appointed church, he found the worship space filled with the weak, the blind, the lame and the sick. Deacon Lawrence told the governor, “These are the treasures of the church.” Deacon Lawrence was executed (martyred) for this act of Christian witness.
Our readings for today invite us to reflect on the reality that we are to be a healing church. The healing tradition—from Elisha in our first reading… to Jesus in our gospel… to two thousand years of Christian tradition… to us today—is carried out through our pastoral care, our care for one another, our care for the people we encounter in daily life, our care for people in hospitals, retirement/nursing homes, our care for people through our outreach, our care for people through our prayers. As Christians we believe in God’s healing love and offer ourselves as instruments of that healing love.
We remember the prayer of the psalmist: “Athirst is my soul for God, the living God. When shall I go and behold the face of God?” (Psalm 42:3)
Lent - Week Three 2010
Thursday, March 11th, 2010Thursday : March 11, 2010
Readings : Micah 7:14-15, 18-20; Luke 15:1-3, 11-32
Scripture Verse: Let us eat and celebrate because this son of mine was dead and has come back to life. Luke 15:23-24
Reflection : How many times have you heard or said the words “Grow up!” or “Act your age!” These words might have been directed to you when you were a child and an adult thought you should have been acting more responsibly. Or perhaps you have heard yourself saying these words to children. One task of children is to grow up and become adults, to leave the parental nest and establish a life of their own.
In Jesus’ parable today, we hear the story of a child who demanded to grow up. So he took his inheritance, left home and tried to establish himself as an adult. Yet the highlight of the story comes when the new adult returns home and reclaims his position as a child.
The great spiritual journey that Christ presents to us in this parable is the rediscovery that we are God’s children. We are never too old to have a happy childhood. The quality of childhood that God cherishes in this parable is open honesty. The child in humility “comes to his senses” and asks to be brought back into the family once again. Micah correctly points out in the first reading that there is no one like our God who removes all our guilt and pardons all our sins.
Lent is a time to return to God and take our place as God’s children—a time to repent and return to the Lord. It is a time to open our heart to God and to accept his forgiving love.