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REFLECTIONS
Lent: This Week
Each week of Lent we will try to provide our community with an opportunity to take some positive and proactive ways to change our world and ourselves, even in small ways. In doing so, we help make the Reign of God grow in our midst. Let's try taking a few minutes each day this Lent and read the suggested scripture pieces. Then apply the questions and comments provided to our own lives.
Third Sunday of Lent
Nuture Growth
Lk 13:1-9 A fig tree doesn't
live up to its name if it produces no figs. The gardener offers the tree one more
year of ultra-special care to see if there's any hope for fruit. Locate a fruitless
corner of your life. Smother it with attention
Monday: Testify
2 Kgs
5:1-15b; Lk 4:24-30 You don't need a witness stand to testify. Nor does it take
a pulpit or even a milk create in the park. We testify to what we believe when
we tell the truth - popular or not.
Tuesday: Repay
Dn 3:25,
34-43; Mt 18:21-35 Jesus asks us to repay God's mercy by offering mercy to others.
"Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors" is the general idea.
How could we dare to withhold our forgiveness, in the shadow of the cross.
Wednesday:
Listen
Dt 4:1, 5-9; Mt 5:17-19 From the time we're children, the command, "Obey"
gets our dander up. Being ruled by someone else's will just plain rankles. But
the root word of obey means "to listen." Give God's will a fair hearing
in five minutes of daily contemplation.
Thursday: Discern
Jer
7:32-28; Lk 11:14-23 Making good decisions is tricky. You need the right information,
smarts, sometimes guts. Discernment, however, requires one thing more: wisdom.
Seek wisdom from every wise person. Read, ponder and pray for the spirit's guidance.
Friday: Praise
Hos 14:2-10:Mk 12:28-34 Praise God! I mean
literally: Make praise a pillar of your life. Jesus named orienting our lives
to God as the number one commandment. If God's not at the center, what will keep
heart, soul, mind and strength together?
Saturday: Kneel
Hos 6:1-16;
Lk 18:9-14 Only the strong survive, we're told. Stand up for yourself, be ambitious,
even ruthless when the occasion demands. Jesus tells us we also have to kneel,
bow our heads and admit our weakness. "Remember thou art dust."