Reflection from Friar Nicholas

SATURDAY, FIRST WEEK OF LENT    Deutero 26:16-19; Ps 119:1-2,4-5,7-8; Mt 5:43-48 Our Consecration to the Word In his sermon on the mount, Our Lord edited the Law of Moses, making it stricter by removing all the human considerations Moses allowed in his administration of the Law to the people of Israel. He carried out these editions on his own authority. His action came across to the Pharisees and scribes as a clear proclamation of his Godhead. The Law of Moses was held sacrosanct as expressing the mind of God; no one has the authority to change or alter any aspect of it with impunity. Our Lord’s proclamation of a new Law that supersedes the Law of Moses calls attention to his divinity. If he is divine, then we have a duty to listen and obey his words. As we have noted earlier this week, his edition of the Law is stricter and evidently impossible for our fallen nature to keep. But we must not make any mistake on the nature of the word of God; both in the Old Testament and...

FRIDAY, FIRST WEEK OF LENT    Ezek 18:21-28; Ps 130; Mt 5:20-26 The Choice of Life over Death The word of God is the gift of God to us. The gift remains a gift inasmuch as we receive it as the gift of God. If we fail or refuse to receive the word of God as a divine gift, then it is no longer a gift to us, but rather a curse. Just as God informed the Israelites through Moses, in Deuteronomy 30:19, that the words spoken to them constitute life or death before them. The words would give them life if they obey, and death if they disobey. Thus, both life and death come from Yahweh as his divine will, though not as life and death, but as divine goodwill for his creatures. The divine will evoke death only in the one who rejects the blessing of communion with God. God made us for Himself, that we may dwell with him always. The attainment of this end is the fullness of life for us. Our spiritual death is to miss this desired communion with God, both in this temporal life and...

THURSDAY, FIRST WEEK OF LENT    Esther 4:17; Ps 138:1-3,7-8; Mt 7:7-12 Asking, Searching, and Knocking We are back on the subject of prayer, for concerning the practice of prayer, we can never say enough. The reason is that prayer in itself is the essential or defining operation of a Christian. Every entity that has life has vital operations that support its life and the end or purpose for which that life is lived. For a Christian, the spiritual life is essentially the sanctifying grace which the presence of the Holy Spirit introduces in the soul. The central vital operation of the Christian is prayer, which he does or carries out in union with the Holy Spirit. So, the departure of the Holy Spirit marks the spiritual death of the soul, because the spiritual life cannot be solely sustained by self-operations. Our spiritual life is a participation in the life of God and not something solely belonging to us. The purpose of our spiritual life is the attainment of commun...

WEDNESDAY, FIRST WEEK OF LENT    Jonah 3:1-10; Ps 51:3-4,12-13,18-19; Lk 11:29-32 The Sign of Jonah to Ninevites Today’s readings are all about the Prophet Jonah. The story of Jonah is very interesting. It is about the people of Nineveh, whose manner of life evoked the justice of God. Because God is just in all his ways and in his dealings with us, He resolved to warn them of the destruction that their evil lifestyles were drawing upon them. God, therefore, called Jonah to carry his word or message to them, to ask them to change their life before the city is destroyed. The prophet, Jonah, like many of us, considered it a waste of time to go and preach to the Ninevites. He was mistaken in thinking like that because the will of God must be done. None of us can put aside the will of God for us and feel safe and comfortable. The will of God is the cause of everything in existence. The story of Jonah teaches us to employ ourselves daily, and in all things to fulfil the w...

TUESDAY, FIRST WEEK OF LENT    Isa 55:10-11; Ps 34:4-7,16-19; Mt 6:7-15 The Prayer of Our Lord The beginning of our Lenten journey is the recognition of our sins and the fact that we are sinners through and through. For the purpose of attaining this knowledge and thereby establishing a good beginning for the Lenten observance, we have fasted and continued other abnegations or self-mortifications. From this firm basis on which God commences his work of establishing his presence within us, we commence the exercise of prayer. Prayer is given to us as the means to the end we have envisaged for the Lenten journey. As the choice of means must always correspond to the end to which we journey, it is essential that we understand the concept of prayer so that we know how to pray. It is by God’s grace that we were able to know ourselves truly as sinners, and by his light we have recalled our sins, come to know how evil they are. The light of the word of God has also helped us ...

MONDAY, FIRST WEEK OF LENT    Levi 19:1-2,11-18; Ps 19:8-10,15; Mt 25:31-46 Seeing Jesus Christ in the Needy Meditating on the words of God, spoken through Moses to the people of Israel when they came out of Egypt, it is evident that God intended the community of the people of Israel to reflect his own holiness as the people of God. The question remains whether human persons can attain the holiness of God in this mortal life. The Commandments were given as the guiding principles of the relationship between the people and God, as well as the relationship among themselves. The instruction given by God through Moses was for the people to constantly ruminate on the word of God they had received. God affected the people through the revelation of His divine will for them through Moses. The constant meditation on the word would instil the Spirit of God in those who obey the instruction given to them. Thus, the reason they were to live justly and wisely is that God is with them ...