Today we commemorate the day Jesus rode triumphally into Jerusalem as we begin Holy Week. May this week be richly blessed for all.
On the outskirts of Jerusalem
the donkey waited.
Not especially brave, or filled with understanding,
he stood and waited.
How horses, turned out into the meadow,
leap with delight!
How doves, released from their cages,
clatter away, splashed with sunlight.
But the donkey, tied to a tree as usual, waited.
Then he let himself be led away.
Then he let the stranger mount.
Never had he seen such crowds!
And I wonder if he at all imagined what was to happen.
Still, he was what he had always been: small, dark, obedient.
I hope, finally, he felt brave.
I hope, finally, he loved the man who rode so lightly upon him,
as he lifted one dusty hoof and stepped, as he had to, forward.
+ Mary Oliver
Today we mark the fifth
Sunday of Lent. These days have gone
very quickly. During this Lenten season, Jesus continues to show us that God is
full of mercy and forgiveness. God looks beyond our faults and sees what we
need. All of us need God’s love which is everlasting no matter what.
In our Gospel today we hear
the familiar story of the woman accused of adultery being brought to Jesus by
the scribes and Pharisees. Jesus knew what
was behind them bringing her before Him.
They brought the woman but where was her partner as it takes two to tango. He was nowhere to be found. At this point we see Jesus bend down and start
writing in the sand. What was He
writing? Was he writing down the names of
those present? Was He writing down their
individual sins down? As Jesus writes
they begin to leave one by one, dropping their stones as they left. Jesus extends mercy and forgiveness to all.
Our loving God knows us at our deepest level. God knows our
strengths and abilities. God knows limitations and weaknesses but always offers
mercy as his gift to us all. When we look back over our lives and how far we
have come, we know that it must have been the hands of God that saved us from
ourselves.
I remember being on retreat
once and the director invited me to take a walk on the beach and sit with this
Gospel. As I did so she had given me an
exercise to do where I was invited to write in the sand all the things I wanted
to surrender to God. It did not take long
to write in the sand. The hard part came
when the next direction was to read the list I had written and then move my hand
over it and erase it all symbolizing leaving it with God. It was a most powerful exercise that I have
gone back to many times in my life. What
I learned from this exercise was the abundant love and mercy of God.
Perhaps today is a good day to look at the reality that God’s love surrounds us, and God knows us better than we know ourselves. God’s love for us is everlasting and will never change. Let us drop our stones and live in the love and mercy of our God.
In today’s responsorial psalm, (Psalm 31) our response is Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.
Quite honestly, I find that a big order. It requires me to have to stop having my own personal control and to trust in God as my savior. I can’t just do things on my own. Rather I need to ask God for help and trust in God’s loving kindness to assist me. It is about God too, not just me!
In the verses there is mention of God bring a rock of refuge, a fortress, a stronghold, and God shining his/her face and providing shelter to his/her servant. All these talk of the strength of God’s care and goodness to us. How comforting!
My spirit which must be presented to God, our Lord consists of my emotions and my character. It is my soul-it is the true part of me not just the physical piece. It consists of my deepest desires and wishes.
I say those are to be and do what God wants of me-but that requires me to have courage, trust and to be vulnerable. I am not always great at that, but I have to keep trying at least!!
St. Angela Merici, Founder of the Ursuline Sisters says – You need not be anxious if you try your best. I must take those words in consideration and always try my best to trust in God. Trust isn’t easy for me but it is necessary for me to live a good life.
God hasn’t
really let me down beforehand so I must keep building up my relationship with
God and stop trying to control things-I must let God take the wheel! We all need to keep remembering that and
working our best to let it happen.
Good Luck, my friends!
This
song gives me hope. Our loving God
refuse to abandon us, he chooses to attend to us. Let us live this week
remembering God’s abundant love for us.
In
this Sunday’s Gospel, we hear the story of Jesus’ Transfiguration. During our
Lenten journey, we are called to be transformed and hear God’s voice tell us,
“This is my beloved Son, listen to him.” Like those first disciples, we can
become afraid, but we acknowledge how good it is to be here with the Lord.
When I
began my prayer today, I was overwhelmed by images and thoughts of
Ukraine. I could not get the people out
of my mind. I found myself struggling
with trying to connect the Transfiguration with the reality of our world
today. Fear of a third world war,
possibility of a nuclear attack, and the images of the bombings so close to
Poland caused me to wonder. As I prayed,
I found comfort in the idea of God’s promise to always be with us. Somehow no matter where we are God is with
us. I kept trying to focus on that
during my prayer. I know I desire a
nonviolent solution, but I also am realistic enough to know that may not be possible. What is essential is that I keep praying for
all those situations I find myself bombarded with.
During
this Lenten season as we fast and pray let us take time to listen to Jesus in
prayer and find the time and space for silence.
Fasting from those activities and noises that so easily distract us can
help us find that time and space to spend with Jesus. Let this Lenten season transform our hearts
and minds toward love and peace.
Today
we celebrate the first Sunday of Lent. We
hear in the Gospel the familiar story of Jesus’ Temptation in the Desert. In each of the three Synoptic Gospels, after
his baptism, Jesus is reported to have spent forty days in the desert, fasting
and praying. In Luke and in Matthew, the devil presents three temptations to
Jesus. Satan tempts Jesus to use his power to appease his hunger, he offers
Jesus all the kingdoms of the world if Jesus will worship him, and he tempts
Jesus to put God's promise of protection to the test. In each case, Jesus
resists, citing words from Scripture to rebuke the devil's temptation.
Each temptation that Jesus faces offers insight into the spirituality we hope to develop as we keep the forty days of the Season of Lent. We can trust God to provide for our material needs. We worship God because God alone has dominion over us and our world. We can trust God to be faithful to his promises. Jesus' rejection of the devil's temptations shows that he will not put God to the test. Grounding himself on the Word and authority of Scripture, Jesus rebukes the devil by his confidence in God's protection and faithfulness.
Lent means spring.
This season calls us to conversion.
Christians are asked to return to God with their hearts. Jesus is the faithful friend who never
abandons us. Even when we sin, he
patiently awaits our return; by that patient expectation, he shows his
readiness to forgive. Lent is a
favorable season for deepening our spiritual life through the means of prayer,
fasting and abstinence. At the basis of
everything is the word of God, which during this season we are invited to hear
and ponder more deeply.
Pope Francis reminds us in his message
for Lent 2022, we are called to “sow seeds of goodness for the benefit of
others”, to take daily concrete actions in favor of our brothers and sisters. This
means actively choosing to make visible and hear the voices of those people who
are on the margins. This means actively seeking and reaching out to those whom
society has excluded and making a place for them. This means to sow seeds of
hope even in the darkest moments. This means putting into practice our call to
love without exception.
St. Angela tells us, “For in these troubled times,
you will find no other refuge than Jesus Christ. For if it is he who directs and teaches you,
you will be well taught…Act, move, believe, strive, hope, cry out to God with
all your heart, for without doubt you will see marvelous things…” Pope Francis and St. Angela both encourage us
to reach out to others and hold them in prayer.
Let us make our world a softer, gentler place as we walk to road to
Easter.
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