Friday 31 March
Friday of the 5th week of Lent First reading - Jeremiah 20:10-13 “Sing to the Lord, praise the Lord, for he has delivered the soul of the needy from the hands of evil men”. This is very specific deliverance which we read in the First reading today. This is the deliverance from those who awaits our fall. From those who are looking for our errors and mistakes. This is a very normal human experience we have from others. We feel that some are waiting to see we make mistakes. But God is not like that. Jeremiah says, “But the Lord is at my side, a mighty hero”. When others see my mistake, God sees the need of my heart and deliver me from the accusations of others. Because with all my weaknesses, “I have committed my cause to God”. Committing our cause to God means we are relinquishing control of our life and placing our trust and faith in God to guide us in our endeavors. Once we are able to do this, we can say like Jeremiah, “But the Lord is at my side, a mighty hero”. Often what happens is that, between our fear about the look of others and our anxiousness in defending ourselves, we forget to commit our cause to God. Let’s reflect: Lent is a time to commit our cause to God instead of defending ourselves before others.
Thursday 30 March
Thursday of the 5th week of Lent First reading - Genesis 17:3-9 Change of name from “Abram” to “Abraham” is very significant. It’s the sign of the covenant of God with him. He is becoming the father of a multitude of nations. Only one nation but a multitude of nations. This is the change. The covenant with God opens the fatherhood of Abraham to multitude of nations. The relationship with God is that which opens our heart to more people. This is not something which closes you up. On the contrary, the relationship with God opens you up. Your heart becomes bigger so that you can welcome more people, more differences, and diversities. And God becomes the God of that heart which is open for a multitude of nations. Let’s reflect: Lent is a time to open our heart to more people and not to close it.
Wednesday 29 March
Wednesday of the 5th week of Lent First reading - Daniel 3:14-20,24-25,28 “I can see four men walking about freely in the heart of the fire without coming to any harm”. This is what happens whenever we are walking in fire with faith. Faith like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who were absolutely confident that God will save them from the furnace. That was not an empty confidence. With this confidence they were ready to be thrown into the furnace which was seven times hotter than usual. So, when things are difficult, seven times more difficult than the normal, that is when we need this absolute confidence in the help of God. The saving hand of God accompanies us. Instead of succumbing to the decree of the King to worship the statute they maintained their faithfulness to the Lord. Their faith and confidence even converted the King. He accepts the fact that God sent the angel to rescue His servants who, putting their trust in Him, defied the order of the king, and preferred to forfeit their bodies rather than serve or worship any god but their own. This concrete confidence in God demonstrated in their faithfulness to the Lord is our model. Faith and Faithfulness go hand in hand in our life of faith. More the faith you have in the Lord, the more faithful you become to the Lord. The more faithful you are to the Lord, more faith you have in the Lord. Let’s reflect: In my spiritual life, are faith in the Lord and the faithfulness to the Lord going hand in hand?
Tuesday 28 March
Tuesday of the 5th week of Lent First reading - Numbers 21:4-9 This episode in the book of numbers represents our spiritual life. The people lost patience. They spoke against God and against Moses. They questioned their own liberation. They gave more importance to the taste of food than the taste of the liberation given by God. Then they were bitten by fiery serpents which brought death. Seeing the death, people repented and confessed. Lord gave the remedy to make a fiery serpent and to put it on a stand. If anyone was bitten by a serpent, he looked at the bronze serpent and lived. Our spiritual life is the same. We lose patience because things are not happening according to our wish. And our wish is to give importance to what is tasteful to me. It’s not about the will of the God but it’s about my taste. I want things as I like. This is the moment of losing our patience and sin against God. We don’t understand the grace of God, the love of God, the liberation which God gave us. We undermine all these. When we undermine these divine things, these sacred things, that is the moment when we are bitten by the fiery serpent which brings death. The fiery serpent is our own freedom which choses mundane things over divine things, earthly things over heavenly things, abominable things over sacred things. This brings death. Everything loses its meaning. A dissatisfaction, a discontent prevails in the heart. We become moody and angry. We spread darkness around. That is the moment we go to the Church for the repentance and confession, for communion. There the same fierce serpent becomes the point of salvation. The same our freedom raised above the earthly things to chose divine things. Let’s reflect: Lent is the time to recognize the right use of our own freedom despite difficult moments.