Posts

THE EFFICACY OF THE PASCHAL MYSTERIES

Image
THURSDAY, FOURTH WEEK OF LENT Exod 32:7-14; Ps 106:19-23; Jn 5:31-47 The Father’s Witness to the Son We have reflected on the fact that the Son reveals the Father through his life, death, and resurrection. The core of these revelations is the content of the paschal mysteries. By the paschal mysteries through which he sacrificed or consecrated himself to the Father to accomplish his will, he showed forth the holiness of God and revealed the essence of his sacred name: ‘I Am who I Am.’ Through the same paschal mysteries, he forgave our sins and achieved the eternal redemption of all who would call on God’s holy name for salvation. The paschal mysteries have profound significance for us who seek to know God and receive salvation from sin and evil. Its importance is such that the scriptures lose their meaning when we remove these mysteries of our Lord. The words of our Lord in the gospel affirm this. “You study the scriptures, believing that in them you have eternal life; now these same sc...
Post a Comment
Read more

CHRIST, THE DAY OF SALVATION

Image
WEDNESDAY, FOURTH WEEK OF LENT Isa 49:8-15; Ps 145:8-9,13-14,17-18; Jn 5:17-30 The Son’s Paschal Mysteries reveal the Father God the Father is the source of every good gift, which the Son mediates. The Son, who is the Eternal Word, reveals the will of the Father. As the word of God, he comes to us through the ages, illuminating and guiding us according to the plan of the Father for our salvation. But his salvific and redemptive work took a definitive and concrete form at his incarnation. His coming in human nature is the day of salvation prophesied by the prophet Isaiah as we read. “At the favourable time, I will answer you, on the day of salvation I will help you. (I have formed you and have appointed you as covenant of the people.) I will restore the land and assign you the estates that lie waste.” At the incarnation of the Son, the Father has caused the water of salvation to flow from the heavenly sanctuary for our sanctification and redemption. It is the time of favour when g...
Post a Comment
Read more

THE PASCHAL EVENTS TO HEAVENLY MYSTERIES

Image
TUESDAY, FOURTH WEEK OF LENT Ezek 47:1-9,12; Ps 46:2-3,5-6,8-9; Jn 5:1-3,5-16 Devotion to Paschal Realities We have noted that the Church’s interest and focus have shifted from self-mortifications and other observances to the paschal mysteries, which are the ends of the observances. A well-initiated Lenten observance leads to the freeing of minds and purification of our hearts, which enable us to devote them to the paschal mysteries. The humility acquired through our acknowledgment of sins and their confessions is necessary for receiving the new heavens and earth God promised and achieved through and in the humanity of his Son, Jesus Christ. The prophet Ezekiel speaks of the new heavens God promises to create in the passage from Isaiah we read yesterday. As we pointed out, the new heavens are the mysteries contained in the Son of God, whose humanity is the new earth. We are to access these new heavens through the sacred humanity of our Lord. Through the same humanity of our Lord, the b...
Post a Comment
Read more

INVITATION TO PASCHAL CELEBRATION

Image
MONDAY, FOURTH WEEK OF LENT Isa 65:17-21; Ps 30:2,4-6,11-13; Jn 4:43-54 New Heavens and a New Earth As we enter the fourth week of Lent, the Church’s focus moves from observances to the paschal mysteries. The purpose of the self-mortifications and other observances is to free our minds and hearts to understand and embrace the abundance of heavenly graces that come with celebrating our paschal mysteries. These mysteries are the new and heavenly realities God creates among us for our salvation. The prophet Isaiah prophesied about these new spiritual things surpassing the old as reality surpasses its shadow. “Thus says the Lord: Now I create new heavens and a new earth, the past will not be remembered and will come no more to men’s minds. Be glad and rejoice forever and ever for what I am creating, because I now create Jerusalem ‘Joy’ and her people ‘Gladness.’” God creates new heavenly realities, spiritually perceived and understood. So, the effort to purify our minds and hearts is...
Post a Comment
Read more

COMING HOME TO THE FATHER'S HOUSE

Image
FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT Josh 5:9-12; Ps 34:2-7; 2 Cor 5:1-6,17-21; Lk 15:1-3,11-32 Eating of God in Freedom of Spirit A man born into slavery, groomed and raised as a slave, has no experience and knowledge of what it means to be freeborn. The children of Israel had no experience of living in a land they could call their own or their father’s land when they were in Egypt. They were all born in Egypt as foreigners and made slaves, and many of them understood and accepted their situation to be the usual. Their story shadows our situation as sinners called to be righteous in Jesus Christ. Given our birth and upbringing in sin, we cannot even imagine what a sinless life is like. The overwhelming experience of sin in our human life made the prophet Isaiah express despair at the vision of the glory of the most holy God. “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips; and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King; the LORD of hosts!” We fee...
Post a Comment
Read more

HUMILITY ACCOMODATES GOD

Image
SATURDAY, THIRD WEEK OF LENT Hos 5:15-6:6; Ps 51:3-4,18-21; Lk 18:9-14 Humility as the Purpose of Mortification As we bring our reflections on the general theme of the week to an end, which we focussed on the sacred name of God: ‘I Am who I Am’, we try to highlight the critical points of the reflections. First is that the revealed name of God speaks volumes about the presence of God and his desire to be in communion with us. The holy name of God reveals God to be the consecration to himself and his creatures. Second is that the consecration, which God is, demands the corresponding sacrifice of ourselves to him. Hence, our sins arise from our failure to be present in the presence we call God. Third, all the physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual afflictions he sends to us are to evoke the sacrifice we must make of ourselves to God. The words of the prophet Hosea are explicit on the divine purpose. “They will search for me in their misery. ‘Come, let us return to the Lor...
Post a Comment
Read more

OUR FAILURE TO KEEP THE GREATEST COMMANDMENT

Image
FRIDAY, THIRD WEEK OF LENT Hos 14:2-10; Ps 81:6,8-11,14,17; Mk 12:28-34 Deliverance from Unconscious Idolatry The scriptures inform us that only God knows the secret of our minds and sounds the very depth of our hearts. There are idols we worship unconsciously within us, which only God knows. The depths of our hearts are beyond our gaze, and our thoughts are sometimes remotely and externally controlled using the things we love. Without divine help, it would be impossible to know of these idols of the nation we have fallen victim to due to our spiritual slumber and lack of prayer vigilance. God sends his word to overthrow these idols the nations (meaning the crowds) have erected in our souls through our inadvertent followership. The unconscious idolatry we are guilty of, which is driven by human base desires, is the target of the purificatory afflictions and sufferings God permits for our conscious conversion to his holy will and worship. When we find ourselves in afflictions an...
Post a Comment
Read more