No one knows what Jesus wrote on the ground. On this Fifth Sunday of Lent, let us reflect on how Jesus restored us from our brokenness. May we truly celebrate God's mercy during this final week of our Lenten journey, so that as we enter Holy Week we can be one with Jesus in his suffering and death. Only then can we be with him in his resurrection.
The gospel today presents us a very interesting contrast between the Pharisees and Jesus. When the woman was caught in the act of adultery, the Pharisees were only interested in the woman's sin. They had no regard for the woman herself - as a person, as a human being. They were only interested to use her as a trap for Jesus. But Jesus was full of compassion. He restored the woman spiritually by forgiving her and telling her to go and sin no more. He restored her to society by saving her life.
No one knows what Jesus wrote on the ground. On this Fifth Sunday of Lent, let us reflect on how Jesus restored us from our brokenness. May we truly celebrate God's mercy during this final week of our Lenten journey, so that as we enter Holy Week we can be one with Jesus in his suffering and death. Only then can we be with him in his resurrection. As we approach the culmination of the Lenten season, we are presented in the gospel today the immensity of God's love. It tells the story of a forgiving father and his two sons - one wayward and the other somewhat self-righteous. The parable of the prodigal son is sometimes called 'a gospel within the gospel', perhaps because it talks so much about the good news of God's loving forgiveness.
In our journey towards conversion, we can identify ourselves with either the wayward son or the self-righteous one, both needing the mercy and compassion of God. On this Fourth Sunday of Lent, let us continue to reflect on the generosity God has for us. In spite of our shortcomings, God is still willing to forgive us, to embrace us, to wait for us patiently, and to welcome us back into His loving arms. May our Lenten journey become a fruitful and significant move towards our own conversion. Let us remember that true love is forgiving, and that there is no better way to experience that love than to receive God's forgiveness. On this Third Sunday of Lent as we continue our journey towards the commemoration of the passion and death of Jesus, we are once again called to repentance. We are not, however, only called to conversion, but we are assured of the unfailing love of God if we seek Him with all of our hearts.
One of the desires of our Holy Father, Pope Francis, for this season of Lent is that this year "should also be lived more intensely as a privileged moment to celebrate and experience God's mercy". I would like to support this desire of the Holy Father that we should all focus on this aspect more than we think of our various Lenten practices or even our weaknesses or sinfulness. We should concentrate more on our experience of God's mercy in our lives. Let us reflect on the many times God has showered His compassion upon us. There is something special about knowing a person. You get to see that person's true self and identity. The longer you are with the person, the better you get to know them. St. Paul, in today's second reading, speaks of discovering our identity as citizens of heaven through knowledge of Christ.
In the gospel, we see that the apostles took a long time to get to know Jesus. Their eyes of faith were open when they saw the splendor of Jesus at the transfiguration. In their relationship with Jesus, the apostles got to know Jesus better by listening to His words. That is what Lent is all about - listening to Jesus. On this Second Sunday of Lent, let us ask ourselves, "am I giving God sufficient time to speak to me?" May we find in our hearts the desire to listen more intently to the voice of Jesus in our daily lives. Today, the first Sunday of Lent, we are given an opportunity to heed Christ's call for conversion. In Luke's gospel today, Jesus emerged out of the water - freshly baptized, called, named, claimed, and set apart - and went out into the desert to gain clarity as to what his mission was to be about.
Lent is an occasion for us to reflect on our mission as a disciple of Christ during these modern times. Let us be aware of the many instances where God calls us to be a reflection of His great love and mercy to others. May the mark of the cross that we received on Ash Wednesday remind us of our baptismal promises and our commitment to the Gospel. Our lives are made up of defining moments, many of which are built around our mistakes and failures when we learn that we are all too human. In our readings today we meet three characters - Peter, Paul and Isaiah - each of whom had their own defining moments, which teach us that God is love.
Today, as we continue on our journey in this Year of the Eucharist, let us reflect on some of our defining moments and how God has embraced us during these times. Let us remember that God is passionately in love with us and wants to be present in every moment of our lives. Today's gospel brought us to Jesus' hometown where He had His "inaugural speech." In his home synagogue, Jesus was well received. Everyone spoke highly of Him. But this turned around in an instant when Jesus spoke of the truth - the truth that people did not want to hear. We are also told that people brought Jesus to the edge of the cliff and attempted to throw him over.
How do we often react when someone has told us the truth? We always say that we want to hear the truth, but is this really what we harbor in our hearts - to hear the truth? Or are we like the people in Jesus' time, who became angry when confronted with the truth? In this Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, let us ask ourselves if we can accept the truth that is being taught to us by the Church. Let us ask the Holy Spirit to open our minds and hearts to the One who is the Way, the Truth and the Life - Jesus Christ, our Lord. The first reading today speaks of the different members of the One Body of Christ. Some are prophets, apostles, healers, and teachers. We can also add mothers, fathers, ministers, artists, handymen, care providers, bankers, service men and women, and so on - the list is endless. All are different but everyone is necessary. Together we are all part of the great plan of salvation. We each have our own role to fulfill and no role is insignificant. Together we make up the Body of Christ.
Today, on this Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, let us celebrate our diversity and affirm our unity as part of the family of God. By baptism, we became children of God and became members of the Body of Christ. Let us pray for the courage to embrace our unique role in the Body of Christ, and may we use what God has given us to help those members of this One Body become well and alive. We begin our new year with high hopes that 2022 will be better than 2021. With all of the dismal news in 2021, let us remember to put our continued trust in God that He will hear our prayers, particularly for peace and security.
In this Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, the gospel presents to us a story that surely gives us a greater sense of hope and trust in God's providence. Jesus turned water into wine at the wedding in Cana upon Mary's plea. When we are experiencing times of confusion and hopelessness, let us remember that Jesus will turn our sorrow into joy, but we must obey Him as Mary said in the gospel, "do whatever he tells you". May we keep an open heart as we listen to the words of the gospel, so that we can be filled with the gifs of the Holy Spirit and respond to Jesus's miracle of turning our water into wine with deeper faith and trust in His divine providence. Today, we celebrate the feast of the Baptism of the Lore, which signifies the beginning of Jesus's public life. This was the beginning of Jesus's Messianic mission to preach salvation. John the Baptist, the catalyst for this mission, acknowledged his role in the life of the Messiah by making way for the coming of the one who is sent to save His people.
Jesus's baptism in the river Jordan invites us to examine our commitment to fulfill our mission to become heralds of the good news brought about by Jesus's passion, death and resurrection. Let us be mindful today of how we respond daily to the challenge of our Christian faith to love God and our neighbor. |
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