Sunday 19 March
4th Sunday of Lent (Laetare Sunday) First reading - 1 Samuel 16:1,6-7,10-13 “God does not see as man sees: man looks at appearances but the Lord looks at the heart”. How wonderful this is! The Lord looks at the heart and not at appearances. Imagine, how much time we spent to make our appearances appealing to others. In many circumstances, our only worry is about the judgement of others. The Lord looks at the heart because it is through the heart He works. We can become His instruments only if our heart permits Him to work through us. In the reading we read, after the anointing “the spirit of the Lord seized on David and stayed with him from that day on”. That is what happens when our heart is ready for the Lord. The Lord seizes on us and works through us. So, let’s prepare our heart in humility, in caring the other, in looking after the weak. Our heart becomes ready to the Lord when we try to love, when we love. The capacity to love is the capacity of the heart to be an instrument of the Lord. This we understand when we see as God sees and not as men see. Let’s reflect: Lent calls us to see as God sees us and others.
Saturday 18 March
Saturday of the 3rd week of Lent Saint Cyril of Jerusalem, Bishop, Doctor First reading - Hosea 5:15-6:6 “what I want is love, not sacrifice; knowledge of God, not holocausts”. We can know the Lord when we set ourselves to know the Lord. “Let us set ourselves to know the Lord; that he will come is as certain as the dawn his judgement will rise like the light, he will come to us as showers come, like spring rains watering the earth”. The first step before knowing the Lord is the faith that He will let Himself known to us. The certainty that Lord will help us to know Him. This certainty is the steppingstone to know him more. Before His certainty we fill find our uncertainties. “This love of yours is like a morning cloud, like the dew that quickly disappears”. Our love is a passing love, and we try to compensate our passing love with the sacrifices. That is why the Lord is saying, ““what I want is love, not sacrifice; knowledge of God, not holocausts”. The Lord wants our love and not our meaningless devotions which we do to compensate our uncertainties. The knowledge of God is better than rituals because knowledge of God results from relationship, whereas the rituals could be an expression of our selfishness. God can be related to only by love and not by rituals. Let’s reflect: Lent is relating with God in love and not with rituals.
Friday 17 March
Friday of the 3rd week of Lent Saint Patrick, Bishop, Missionary First reading - Hosea 14:2-10 In these words of Prophet Hosea, we can see the unconditional love of God. The love of God despite our sins and our shortcomings. The forgiving Love. I will heal their disloyalty, I will love them with all my heart, for my anger has turned from them. The healing love of God which will heal our disloyalty. And this love is without any reservations because of our past sins. But He will love with all His heart. How beautiful and unconditional! Not only that He want to fall like dew upon us. He wants to give His grace, so that we shall flourish in all senses. He shall bloom like the lily, and thrust out roots like the poplar, his shoots will spread far; he will have the beauty of the olive and the fragrance of Lebanon. They will come back to live in my shade; they will grow corn that flourishes, they will cultivate vines as renowned as the wine of Helbon. The love of God is unconditional in forgiving and in giving. This love is that we must understand and repent if we have sinned. We must say, “Take all iniquity away so that we may have happiness again and offer you our words of praise”. Let’s reflect: Lent is the time to understand the unconditional forgiving and giving love of God and repent our sins.
Thursday 16 March
Thursday of the 3rd week of Lent First reading - Jeremiah 7:23-28 In the words of Jeremiah, we can read how one can go against God. But they did not listen, they did not pay attention; they followed the dictates of their own evil hearts, refused to face me, and turned their backs on me. Not listening, not paying attention, following the dictates of their own evil hearts, refusing to face God, and turning the back on God. These are the actions by which we move away from the way God indicates us. Begins by not listening to the Word of God, not reading nor listening. Then the second step is not to pay attention to the Word of God. Listen but without attention. This becomes clear when we continue to act in the way our evil hearts dictate and not according to the Word of God. We follow our selfishness. When we follow our selfishness, we can never face God. We refuse to make changes, to repent, to do penitence. And finally, we turn our back on God. We turn towards our selfishness and our ego, turning our back on God. The Lent is the time to analyze our actions and to find out whether we are in any of these steps or whether elements of these steps are in our actions. Let’s reflect: Lent is the time to analyze our attitude towards the Word of God.