THE OBEDIENT SERVANT

Jeremiah tends to be a pitiful character in the Old Testament. He is always in trouble with his fellowmen, mainly because they grow weary of the prophet’s call to repentance and how destruction awaits their beloved nation if they do not come clean. This weeping prophet was summoned by God to call the people to repentance in the event of an attack of higher and mightier forces of power, namely Assyria and Babylonia.

The three short verses we have in today’s first reading are full of similarities in the life of Jesus, particularly His Passion. First, there is revelation and insight. God reveals to Jeremiah the plot that the wicked men are planning to do with his life. He is given insight and revelation by the Lord that this is their doing. Jesus, too, was aware of His fate as the prophet.

Second, there is sacrifice. Jeremiah, similar to Jesus, is  considered the lamb to be slaughtered. He was to be cut off from the land of the living so his name will be remembered no more. Jesus is the lamb that was led to the slaughterhouse. In fact, as tradition tells us, when Jesus carried the cross, it was the same time that the lambs were led to the slaughterhouse to be killed for the sacred offerings.

Third, there is trust. Jeremiah, in the face of his death, places his whole trust in the Lord. He commits his cause to the Lord, fully trusting and loving the Lord in all his days. His heart and mind are at rest because he believes that the Lord is the righteous one. Jesus, as He dies on the cross, also commends His life to God in His dying hours: “Into Your hands, Lord, I commend my spirit.” He has acted righteously in all His ways and entrusted everything into the hands of the Lord.

In just a few short verses, we have quite a comprehensive meditation as we continue to journey through the Lenten period with our eyes on the Lord.Fr. Brian Steele, MGL

 

Reflection Question:

When people are up against me or circumstances test my faith, do I willingly place my trust in the Lord?

 

Lord, I place my trust in You. Reveal to me Your will and help me to be obedient as Jesus and Jeremiah were in their lives. Amen.

 

St. Hedda, pray for us.

THE LIGHT OF TRUTH

 

There were many feasts celebrated in the history of the Jewish people. The Feast of Tabernacles is one. This feast, commemorated in September and October, celebrated the completion of the harvest. It was the original celebration of thanksgiving to God for His protection during their desert wanderings. As the disciples went to Jerusalem to observe the feast, Jesus said He would not go. However, John tells us that He did, yet secretly. One could almost feel the tension rising as we read the stories of the last day of Jesus in Jerusalem, leading up to His death.

Jesus is considered as a madman. He mentions that He has been sent. He is always aware of the hour that is to come. He speaks of God as His Father and He presents Himself as the Christ. The crowd finds this too hard to accept and is willing to arrest and hand Him over to the authorities. A constant refrain we read in the Gospel of John is that the hour had not yet come. However, Jesus always stays on the side of the truth, no matter how much the crowds persuade Him not to.

There will be times in our life when we need to stick to the truth despite having to endure setbacks and criticisms. We would be considered madmen for the sake of Jesus. Those closest to us would seek to challenge us and draw us away from the Lord and His will in our life. We must not be afraid to stand alongside the truth no matter what the price. For Jesus, it was death — death on the Cross. The disciple will always be where His master is.

Lent is the time where we consider our relationship with Jesus again. We are in a time of renewal in the Lord. Are we willing to stand up for the truth and stand with Jesus? Are we willing to be as Francis of Assisi would say, “fools for Christ”? As we remember the Jews who celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles thanking God for the blessing of His provision, let us thank God that He is always on our side. The Spirit is the Advocate, the One who defends those who live with Jesus, the Way, the Truth and the Life. Fr. Brian Steele, MGL

 

Reflection Question:

Where and to whom is Jesus calling me to stand up for the truth?

 

Lord, despite the trials that may come my way and the temptation to quit, I will always seek to live my life in the light of Your truth. Amen.

 

St. Conscessa, pray for us.

CONFIDENCE IN GOD

 

Who would want to be Moses? God asks Moses to free the Israelites from the stubborn hand of the Pharaoh. God challenges him to divide the sea in two. He is to put up with complaints of the people for 40 years in the desert. Moreover, he has to put up with their disobedience when they turn from the law and the love of God in worshipping a cow. Who would want his job? Could you imagine the reaction of Moses? He is having a pleasant conversation with God on the mountain. He is about to receive the commandments and stipulation from the hand of God. God interrupts and says, “Hey, you better go down and see what your people are doing. They are running amok and worshipping the cow!”

Moses has a way with God. He cools the temper of God. He puts it back to God — the people are His responsibility. He reminds God that He has brought them out of Egypt. He tells God to calm down and everything will be OK.

The First Reading makes a good meditation material for this Lent. We are in the fourth week of Lent and by now, you must be in good terms with God. You have come to a place of trust in a God who loves you and listens to you always. Moses had a great confidence and trust in God. He conversed with God as with a friend. God calls us to be friends and to relate with Him as one in whom we can trust and confide in. And in the end God relented in the punishment that He has threatened to bring to the people.

Intercession is one of the gifts we can develop in our spiritual life. Moses interceded before God on behalf of his people. How did he do that? He reminded God of His promises (as if God needs reminding). He questioned the motives of God (as if God needs questioning). He made God reconsider that if He would carry out His threat, what kind of God would He be in the eyes of the people? Moses is very bold in his relationship with God. Moreover, it seems that God can handle this. He wants us to be bold with Him, to have confidence and trust that He will answer us when we call upon His name.Fr. Brian Steele, MGL

 

Reflection Question:

Is God calling you to intercede for someone or a particular situation?

 

Remember Your people whom You have called by name. Answer us and save us, O Lord.

 

Blessed Ursulina, pray for us.

THE FATHER

Jesus is in dangerous territory and He knows it. He equates Himself on familiar terms with God the Father as His own father. To the Jewish mind,God as father to the individual was forbidden. No Jew would dare allow himself to be so familiar with the Father. They knew God is the Father of all, but no one had ultimate claim on God as their father. As Jesus spoke with them about the Father in intimate ways, they struggled with thoughts of how He could speak like that. Jesus is using very odd language in referring to the Father. He speaks of working with the Father, listening to the Father, doing what the Father does and acting upon the will of the Father. This is all too much for the Jews and they would do anything to destroy a man who familiarizes himself in this way with the Father. The Jews judge Jesus as a blasphemer and deserves punishment, nothing less than death. Jesus is the One sent by the Father, a common theme that we see in the Gospel of John. The theme of Jesus is the Father. It is like His pet topic. He cannot speak enough of the Father. Jesus delights that we can have the same relationship with the Father. With the insight of the resurrection, we can see what Jesus means in His relationship to the Father. We, too, have that same access to the Father through the death and resurrection of the Son. God the Father has given this authority to the Son that whoever believes in Him has eternal life. For John, believing is equivalent to having eternal life. Jesus is the image of the Father. He is the Word of the Father. To see Jesus is to see the Father. To follow Jesus is to follow the Father. To love Jesus is to love the Father. Let us give thanks to Jesus for showing us the way to the Father. What an amazing gift we have in Jesus who opens to us the love and acceptance of the Father. Let us not be afraid to approach the Father through Jesus who is the Way, the Truth and the Life.Fr. Brian Steele, MGL   Reflection Question: Do you know the Father?   Lord Jesus, You are the loving image of the Father. Help us to love You and follow You, because in doing this, we love and follow the Father. Amen.   St. Rufina, pray for us.

GET UP AND WALK

 

Imagine being sick for 38 years. That is an incredibly long time to be suffering affliction and pain. The crippled that we hear about in the Gospel must have had an incredible patience in waiting to get into the “moving waters.” If I were him, I would have given up a long time ago. You’d wonder if you still want to get well after being sick for a long time. You could just get used to it — day in, day out, year in, year out.

The man is pitiful. Because he is crippled, he is slow to move when the mysterious waters are stirred. The moment the waters move, he starts to get near the pool, only to find someone else before him. Jesus meets him, tells the man to rise and the man is well again. The man experiences a resurrection. Life is given to him again. He is now happy and able to move in freedom from pain and illness.

However, that is not the end of the story. The Jews are horrified when they see the man carrying his mat. He is seen as a lawbreaker and a sinner in the eyes of God for profaning the Sabbath. He is interrogated for this action, which is an unlawful thing to do on Sabbath.

We can imagine how delighted the man was in receiving this incredible healing. I wonder if his spirit was dampened at hearing the disgust of the Jews. Isn’t it the same with us? We receive some good news, experience a healing or an answer to a prayer. But when it seems that just when we are at our best, something happens and robs us of our joy. However, sometimes we can be like the man — in the pain of sin, habit or affliction for many years. The problem is that we can be used to sin. We allow sin to make its home in us because it is too hard to do anything about it. “I will never change.” “It is always the same.” “It is too hard.” These mind games play within our thoughts.

We need to hear Jesus telling us to get up and walk. We need to imitate the obedience of the crippled man that heard the word of Jesus and put it into action. No questions, no doubts, no hesitation. He simply got up and walked.Fr. Brian Steele, MGL

 

Reflection Question:

Do you want to be well?

 

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, have mercy on me, a sinner. Amen.

 

St. Albert of Montecorvino, pray for us.

YOUR SON WILL LIVE

 

We read in the Gospel that this is the second sign Jesus performed in Galilee. What was the first? You will remember that it was when He changed water into wine at the wedding feast.

Jesus seems to dismiss the request of the official: “Unless you see signs you will not believe.” Signs and wonders were common in the life and ministry of Jesus. They were there to confirm the faith of the believer. Signs still exist today. They are not old-fashioned events that are part of a bygone era. However, signs should not be the “be all” and the “end all.” There is more to faith than signs and wonders.

The sign that the Messiah has come and that the Kingdom of God is near is in the person, life and ministry of Jesus. No other sign needed. St. John of the Cross says God has spoken and there is no other word needed to be spoken. Jesus, the Word made flesh, is the final and definitive sign and word for all.

The faith of the royal official is to be noted here. He does not ask anything spectacular from Jesus, only that He come and visit his son and heal him. As a commander used to giving and receiving commands, he simply heeds the words of Jesus and believes that his son will live. On the way home, he discovers that his son is truly alive, thanks to the word of Jesus. What a tremendous faith this man exhibits before Jesus. He takes Jesus at His word and his son is freed from sickness. Because of this, his entire household came to believe in Jesus, their faith confirmed through the witness of the son’s health and the testimony of the official.

These days, we need to ponder the words of Jesus. His words are spirit and life. We need to heed the words of Jesus to speak life into us. As we practice our disciplines of Lent, let us ask the Lord to heal us. Let us hear again His words of life: “You will live.” Fr. Brian Steele, MGL

 

Reflection Question:

Jesus is the Lord of life. Where must He breathe life into you?

 

Lord, speak Your word of life to me that I may live again. Amen.

 

St. Plato, pray for us.

CONQUER OUR PRIDE

 

Pride is a killer, do you agree? It is pride that caused Satan and his angels to fall from the heights of heaven and it is pride that we are called to conquer in this Lenten season. Pride is all about selfishness, making the self number one. Both readings in today’s liturgy speak about pride. The Israelites in the first reading were patting their back and congratulating themselves on the recent victories they had won in war. The Pharisee is boasting to God of all the wonderful things he has done.

Jesus, the great storyteller, illustrates for us the effects of pride. Pride raises its ugly head in all kinds of circumstances. The two men He mentions are faithful Jews in their own ways but there are striking differences.

Firstly, the Pharisee takes his position, stands up front and prays to himself. The tax collector stands at a distance, not even raising his eyes, and prays to God.

Secondly, the Pharisee reminds God of the things he has done. The tax collector simply tells God what he has not done.

Thirdly, the Pharisee makes a judgment of the rest of humanity. The tax collector asks God for mercy and pardon.

Jesus tells His audience that the tax collector returns to his home more justified because of his humility. God turns His eyes and shuts His ears from the so-called self-righteous. They are always boasting about what they have done. Moreover, they make you feel you are the worst person on the face of the earth because of their mighty deeds.

In the Lenten prefaces (Lent III), the priest prays that we wouldmaster our sinfulness and conquer our pride. This is challenging and hard work indeed. Everyone wants to be seen as Mr./Ms. Right. Everyone wants to be in the top position. What a difference the life of Jesus teaches us: He who came not counting His equality with God but emptying Himself. This is the kenosis (selfemptying) of God through the death of His Son. Through this self-emptying of Jesus, God was able to exalt Him and give Him a name above all other names. Fr. Brian Steele, MGL

 

Reflection Question:

Where does pride reveal itself in my life?

 

Help me, Lord, to master my sinfulness and conquer my pride with the grace and mercy of Your love. Amen.

 

St. Theodosia, pray for us.