Lent Daily Reflection:
March 24, Daniel 3/14-20,91-92,95, John 8/31-42
Do you carry any kind of furnaces in your life? Figuratively speaking anything that is destructive in nature can be a furnace. It can be anger, grudge, unforgiveness, selfishness, pride etc. that burns our relationships and integrity as a person of Christ. Sometimes they can also be the furnace of tragedies, trials or challenges in life or hurt feelings that others have inflicted on us. Nebuchadnezzar created the furnace of his anger and wanted to burn the young men but they were protected by God. If you believe in that protective love of God no furnaces will be able to consume you. He will safe guard you. God never promised that life would be easy, but he did promise that he would be there in the fire to help us. When you go through the fiery situations in life God will give you courage to move forward in faith and He will be there to support you for sure. Think of how Jesus was protected at Gethsemane and on his way to Calvary.
Lent Daily Reflection:
March 26, Jeremiah 20/10-13, John 10/31-42
Opposition, opposition... opposition in the temple where He is supposed to be accepted and adored. Jeremiah in the first reading experienced the same opposition because he talked for God. They wanted to stone him to death. then He went to the desert and people began to come to him and believe in Him. What a contrast! Our religiosity sometimes makes us blind. It includes our knowledge (Philosophical and Theological), expectations, pleasures, etc. they crowd our mind and heart from knowing God who comes to us on daily basis. With all these we have built four walls within that doesn't allow any to enter. The gospel invites us to get out of that crowd within us and move on to the desert experience in this lenten season. The desert makes you open to listen to Him and to see Him.
Lent Daily Reflections:
March 27, Ezekiel 37/21-28, John 11/45-56
As we come closer to the Holy Week, we hear in the readings two effects Jesus's ministry made among the people. They started to become divided - people who believe in Jesus as Messiah and people gather against Jesus, Scribes and Pharisees. In the first reading today, we heard how God was going to gather his people again and liberate them from all their transgressions. And thus, He will be their God and they will be His people again and moreover He is going to make His dwelling among them. So, the division among the people we see as process of bringing them together. So, the death of one man, that of Jesus prophesied by Caiaphas, for the sake of the whole nation was according to the plan of God. Through His death all the transgressions of His people were washed away and made clean. God can intervene in different ways and means in your life to bring about His plans to fruition.
Daily Reflection: Monday of Holy Week
Isaiah 42/1-7; John 12/1-11
As we enter into this the holiest week of the year, we are given this image of Mary lavishing upon Jesus this liter of costly perfumed oil as a way of inviting us to do the same. Though we serve Christ in others who are in need, we must also seek to regularly offer Him devotion and love directly, even in ways that others may think is excessive. Honoring Him, expressing our love, spending time with various devotions, praying for extended periods of time, and even offering Him our financial resources are all ways in which we give Jesus the glory that is due Him. We are invited to imitate this act of loving devotion offered by Mary to Jesus. Think about this how can you best express your devotion to Him this Holy Week?
Daily Reflection: Tuesday of Holy Week
Isaiah 49/1-6; John 13/21-33,36-38
Everything in life has the potential to become an instrument of the glory of God. Even our sin can end in God’s glory when we repent and receive God’s forgiveness. It will not be our sin that glorifies God but His mercy poured forth from the Cross upon us that gives Him glory. The same is true with the events of Holy Week. When looked at from a purely human perspective, what Jesus endured was tragic and horrific. One of His closest companions betrayed Him. The religious leaders of the time betrayed Him. The civil authorities betrayed Him. And all of the disciples except John fled in fear as Jesus was betrayed. But Jesus did not look at any of this through human eyes alone. He saw it all from the eternal perspective and clearly taught that all of these seemingly tragic events would end in His glory. In this Holy Week let us pray for the grace to look at things in the perspective of God.
Lent Daily Reflection: Wednesday of Holy Week
Isaiah 50/4-9; Mathew 26/14-25
The world today is motivated by a philosophy of "more." It thinks that the basis of happiness is having more and more. But does More guarantee happiness? When is enough enough? In the gospel today we heard Judas went to the chief Priests and elders and said, what are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you? And they paid him thirty pieces of silver. He got it all but did it make him happy? The sight of Jesus dragged before Pilate, accused and sentenced to death was devastating to Judas. The guilt accompanying the knowledge of what he did was intense and excruciating. Happiness is not in what you can have rather in accepting what you are and what you have and enjoying every moment of it. Let never our greed take away the joy of the blessings we receive everyday.
Holy Thursday: Exodus 12/1-8,11-14; 1Cor 11/23-26; John 13/1-15
As we begin today the sacred Triduum, we enter into the holiest days of the Church year. We walk with our Lord through His final glorification today as He celebrates the Passover with His disciples and enters the Garden of Gethsemane to await His arrest. Tomorrow we walk with Him through the stations of His Cross. On Saturday, we sit in silent adoration of His tomb as we await the Resurrection. In the Gospel today Jesus gives us a model for holiness by the witness of His actions. He Who is the God of the Universe, the Creator of all, the Eternal Son of God, the Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity, humbles Himself and takes on the form of a lowly servant by washing the feet of His disciples. He then offers them the Most Holy Eucharist for the first time, before He goes to meet His persecutors. The holiness Jesus proposes is a holiness that comes from humility, readiness to go out of yourself and loving the other as a slave. How often are you able to love and serve others as a slave?