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TO DO GOD'S WILL IN PLACE OF OURS

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SATURDAY AFTER ASH WEDNESDAY   Isa 58:9-14; Ps 86:1-6; Lk 5:27-32 The Nature of Christian Fast As we have already observed in the previous reflections within the week, our observance of Lent is a spiritual journey. This means that it is not a journey we make through physical activities alone, although physical activities are part of the journey; rather, it is a journey made through spiritual activities. In the Gospel of yesterday, the disciples of John the Baptist came to Jesus to know why his disciples were not fasting along with them. They were shocked to hear his reply: “Surely the bridegroom’s attendants would never think of mourning as long as the bridegroom is still with them? But the time will come for the bridegroom to be taken away from them, and then they will fast.” Reflecting deeply on our Lord’s reply, we understand that the confusion of the disciples of John is based on their understanding of fasting and its purpose in our religious practice. The major reas...
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FASTING TO REFIND THE BRIDEGROOM

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FRIDAY AFTER ASH WEDNESDAY   Isa 58:1-9; Ps 51:3-6k18-19; Mt 9:14-15 A Fast that is Pleasing to God With the understanding that our spiritual journey during this Lenten season is initiated, directed, and sustained by God, our attention must be on him in order not to miss the way. This consideration is even more serious when we know that the journey is not physical, but spiritual. As Christian people, we know that God, in Jesus Christ, is reconciling us to himself through the grace of repentance we have received in abundance in Christ. We need the light of Christ to understand the beginning of the journey, the means or way we are to proceed, and the end for which we make the journey. The beginning of our Lenten journey is the knowledge of ourselves as we are in the eyes of God. None can have this knowledge unless the light of the word of God shines upon us; so, we need the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ to know how sinful we are before God and our need of God’s mercy and ...
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LAW OF SPIRITUAL DISPLACEMENT

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THURSDAY AFTER ASH WEDNESDAY   Deut 30:15-20; Ps 1:1-4,6; Lk 9:22-25 Losing our Life for Christ In chemical reactions, an element that is higher on the periodic table displaces a lower one in a chemical compound. The higher element achieves this by breaking the bond holding the lower element in the compound with a greater force and forming a stronger bond in a new chemical compound. The resulting compound has a new composition, identity, and operations different from the old. Our interest is not in chemical compounds and their reactivities, but in spiritual entities that we are without Jesus Christ, the Eternal Word of God. In the spiritual realm, the Word of God is the greatest and the supreme Spirit, existing by Himself and infinite in all perfection. He made us to be in communion with him; that is, to form a spiritual entity with him, similar to a chemical compound. Thus, on the scale of spiritual strength or reactivity, He ranks the highest. But there is an immunity ...
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THE SECRET WORK AND REMUNERATION

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ASH WEDNESDAY   Joel 2:12-18; Ps 51:3-6,12-14,17; 2 Cor 5:20-6:2; Mt 6:1-6,16-18 The Father sees All Done in Secret The celebration of Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the holy season of Lent. It is a holy season for the Church, when we intensify our penitential practices which characterise the Christian life. Our life as Christians is characterised by a continuous repentance from our sins and recommitment to the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Repentance from sin marks the very beginning of Christianity or the following of Jesus Christ. The Gospels confirm this by starting the public ministry of Jesus Christ with his baptism at the river Jordan by John the Baptist. Though he had committed no sin, he nevertheless submitted himself to the ritual of baptism to emphasize its importance for us. By our baptism, we accepted to let our sinful life and lifestyle fall to the ground and die, which the baptismal ritual shows, for us to start a new spiritual life of commitment ...
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THE YEAST OF THE PHARISEES AND HEROD

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TUESDAY, SIXTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME   James 1:12-18; Ps 94:12-15,18-19; Mk 8:14-21 Blindness caused by the Yeast of Pharisees The procedure for the acquisition of wisdom, which Saint Bernard of Clairvaux outlined for us, involves three components: The first is acknowledgement and confession of sins; the second is to give thanks and praise God for everything he is doing in our lives; the third is to profess the goodness of God in our words and actions. In summary, the path to acquiring wisdom involves confession of sins, gratitude for everything, and proclamation of divine goodness. The proper working of this algorithm produces holiness in us, which is the indwelling of Jesus Christ within us. These three constitute a single motion or process leading to our renewal in the image of Jesus Christ. Thus, the three-partite motion has the Son of Man as its cause. This is clear because the purpose for which the Son of God assumed our human nature is to redeem us from our sins. ...
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THE HIDDEN WISDOM OF THE SON OF MAN

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MONDAY, SIXTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME   James 1:1-11; Ps 119:67-68,71-72,75-76; Mk 8:11-13 The Sign of the Son of Man The Pharisees, discussing with Jesus, demanded a sign from him to demonstrate that he was truly from God, the Messiah. Our Lord was troubled by such a request because it revealed that they were not genuinely interested in discovering the truth or receiving the answer to the demand they had made of Him. The demand betrayed their lack of interest and attention to the words and works of our Lord. He had done many wonderful and remarkable works and proclaimed the word of God to all who were with him, before they made the request. So, it was obvious that their request or demand was not born of genuine interest to know the Son of Man, but to test him and find something to hang on him, in order to condemn or attack him. The Evangelist remarked this. “The Pharisees came up and started a discussion with Jesus; they demanded of him a sign from heaven, to test him. An...
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HUMAN NATURE AND THE COMMANDMENTS

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SUNDAY, SIXTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME   Eccles 15:16-21; Ps 119:1-2,4-5,17-18,33-34; 1 Cor 2:6-10; Mt 5:17-37 The Commandments of Wisdom Building on the subject of wisdom that featured prominently in last week's reflections and meditations, we proceed to the subject of Commandments. We note that the Commandments still encapsulate the theme of wisdom. Our approach, rooted in the framework of Commandments, tends toward the personalization of wisdom. The focus on the Commandments moves from what is naturally given to us to what we ought to do in response to the gift of God’s creation. Our consideration of wisdom was a reflection on what is connatural to us. As we noted, the image of God we bear is a natural predisposition to our reception of the Eternal Word of God, who is the Eternal Wisdom. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the Garden of Eden was an objective presentation of the instruction to man on how to use the brand-new nature we received from God, which is...
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