Something New?

Are you having the BEST Lent ever? What is making it the best? What do you have to leave behind for it to be the BEST?

In the first reading from Isaiah, God says, “Remember not the things of the past, the things of long ago consider not, see, I am doing something new!”

Often we get so stuck on the habits and sins of the past that we just keep right on repeating them. Or we might let one great offense fester in us and grow instead of letting it go. Sometimes it is about how we see the sin in others, for example, the woman in the Gospel this weekend, that we forget about what is going on in us. 

Jesus reminds us that our sinful habits are the result of losing our focus. When sin or bad habits might condemn us, turning to Jesus we can hear, “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin any more.”

It is only in following Jesus that we can forget what lies in the past and yearn forward to the “new life”—leaving the darkness for the light of Christ! On this the fifth week of Lent, we come before Jesus, asking for healing and merciful love that changes our hearts. And we boldly ask God to create something new in us! Will we know it when it happens? Will we see it in each other? With God all things are possible! Easter joy and hope await us all!

Welcome Home

The Gospel story of the Prodigal Son is well-known. We hear it often and each time, we probably pay attention to different details of the story. Today I invite you to reflect on one of the characters in the story and ask yourself which one you identify with the most? Why?

The father looked for his son, the one who had left home. His persistent looking and caring led to his running towards the “lost one.” He doesn’t wait for the son to come back hanging his head or asking forgiveness. Forgiveness was already there! 

When are we like that father? When do we embrace those who wrong us? Or how do we welcome those whom we perceive to be taking something away from us? 

No matter what we have done to stray from the path, the “coming home” is always available to us. And our “welcome home” messages to others are often the end of separation and the beginning of a new belonging that all of us crave. Are you having the BEST Lent ever?

Just How Thirsty Are We?

The Samaritan woman is alienated from her community. The Jews considered the Samaritans less than human. Her relationships with others are all messed up. She needs water and to avoid contact with others, she goes to the well in the heat of mid-day. There she encounters a man who asks her for a drink. Men aren’t supposed to speak to women in public. It is Jesus who acknowledges her presence and her need. And he tells her that he needs her. Imagine! He asks her for a drink. 

What follows is a dialogue. The woman is curious. She questions and she persists in her wonder about this man who is speaking to her, understands her and reveals himself to her in a way she least expected. No longer feeling marginated, she instead experiences belonging. She leaves the well excited, rushes home and boisterously, boldly tells the story of her experience. She has been promised living water. Out of her vulnerability—the dryness and the brokenness of her life—she has experienced the revelation that Jesus is the Messiah. Because of her and the telling of her story, many came to believe.

What’s dry and parched in our lives? For what are we thirsting? Do we seek the water that leads to eternal life? 

Who are the alienated among us, who seek belonging? How do we use dialogue and presence, curiosity and persistence in understanding those who are not like us? Just how thirsty are we? What are we willing to risk in order to receive “living water?”

Me, Transfigured?

What really happened on that mountain top? We read that Jesus took his companions to the mountain to pray. And what happened is described as a glimpse of eternal life, the glory of God, and the life of the world to come. It reminds us of our purpose on earth—to know, love, and serve God AND to be happy with God in heaven.

This gospel coincides with the Period of Purification and Enlightenment in the RCIA process. The whole Church joins in a season of asking for insight into what in our lives need “enlightenment” or focus. What needs to be purified? What do we wish to see more clearly? What are the hungers and thirsts in our lives? What keeps us bound and unfree?

This weekend we are invited to reflect on a time(s) in our lives when we entered the clouds and fogs of life and found clarity and hope. Notice the many ways we ask for that clarity in our prayer at Mass this weekend and throughout our 40-day observance of Lent. When Jesus’ followers looked at the transfigured Jesus, what did they see? In our praying, in our spending time in the silence of Lent, are we beginning to see ourselves as the beloved daughters and sons of God? Are we paying attention and listening? Are we too preparing to be happy with God in heaven?

Full and Hungry Too

When do you experience temptation? What do you do to resist? Can you resist? Do you have a proven strategy? What would you most need in order to not give in to temptation?

“Be with me Lord when I am in trouble.” That’s my usual go to prayer when I am tempted. I usually know when I am in trouble. Sometimes, I simply say, “Lord, help me!”

In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus gives us the example in his encountering temptations. Eleanor Stump explains both the temptations and Jesus’ ability to resist in this way:

Jesus’ rejection of Satan’s urging gives us a pattern for our lives. In our suffering, when those things we think we need in order to live are denied us, we do not have to be desperate. When we are hungry for what we do not have because our Father God has not given it, we still have the Word of God, which comes into us and can fill us. Jesus, who is the cornerstone of the Church, is our bread at the same time. And so we can be like him: full—even when, in the stony parts of our lives, we are hungry, too.

http://www.liturgy.slu.edu/1LentC031019/reflections_stump.html

What’s in Your Heart?

The Gospel for this Sunday ends with these words: “from the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks.”

The other Scripture readings remind us that “the fruit of a tree shows the care it has had, so too does one’s speech disclose the bent of one’s mind.”

I am very fond of words. Words can be very powerful. Words can be used for good or for evil. Words can praise and words can hurt. We often use the expression “Actions speak louder than words.” But that doesn’t erase the power of words.

Our words say so much about us. What will your words say about you this week? Are the words you speak coming from what is in your heart? 

And so we pray: Holy God, help me to examine the words I use in conversation with my family, my friends, my co-workers, and anyone you place in my path.