Daily Reflection By Deacon Greg
It wasn’t that long ago we were celebrating Christmas. We can’t pass that holiday without someone hearing: “It’s the thought that counts.” I don’t know where the saying came from, maybe from a frazzled department store employee at the return counter, but as we begin our Lenten journey we’re being told again, it’s the thought that counts!
Joel’s people are living in a time when a vast plague of locusts devastated their land. Things were turning out real bad for them. The prophet’s vision is a call of the people to put aside their sinful ways in preparation of the Lord’s coming to judge the lands. Turning back to God will be the only way to avert condemnation and destruction. There is a real sense that hearts and minds need changing. Sincerity must be real; they have ignored matters way too long. Changing a lifestyle starts not at the curb, but in the center of our being. No one is exempt: the urgency touches all.
Matthew too, calls for our intentions to be sincere, that our thoughts count! The traditional acts of piety, prayer, fasting and almsgiving are not intended to impress our family and friends, but are meant to impress on us the fragility of our lives and our dependence on God. Each act on its own has worth, and offers us a chance to grow closer to God in thought and deed. But going through the motions won’t do, not because it affects God, but that our response affects what and how we are.
We see in Paul’s writing to the Corinthians, the fullness of that response. Jesus came for us that through his life, death and rising, brought for us the gift of salvation; that we too may have life that won’t end. We shouldn’t pass up the chance to say yes, and that there is no better time than the present.
As we begin our Lenten journey this day, let our prayers ask God to touch our hearts and open them up for God’s love and mercy. Our gift of faith is not meant to be left to waste, but meant to blossom and grow. Just as the earth will change from the bleakness of winter to the warmth of spring, may our lives also be transformed right now, this season. Let sincerity reign in our hearts. Remember, it is the thought that counts!
Daily Reflection By Linda Bishoff
As we enter the Lenten season, we read of God through Moses, speaking to the Hebrews as they prepare to enter the Promised Land. They have been told what the Lord their God expects of them. The laws are clear and straightforward, yet we know that they frequently fell short in their daily lives as individuals and as a community. We also have a covenant with the Lord our God through those same laws set down for the Israelites. God offers to us today, just as He did then, the opportunity of repentance, and a returning to God with all our hearts.
Lent is a good time to examine the other “gods” of our lives. They may be things of substance, such as money or possessions, or intangible gods such as failure to forgive, jealousy or pride. Each of us carries our won baggage, but through repentance, we have the Lord our God to ease the burden and lead us to our own promised land.
Psalm 1 tells us that if we follow the laws of the Lord, we will be like trees planted by streams of water. These trees will have very strong root systems form constant feeding, It reminds me of the spiritual, “Like a Tree Planted Near the Water I Shall Not Be Moved,” which is based on this Psalm.
In our Gospel passage today, Jesus for the first time reveals the nature of his death. He instructs us to take up our cross and follow Him. This is our Lenten task.
Father, may we be led to the flowing water of your grace that we would drink heartily of it, and joyfully shout: “I shall not be moved.” Amen
Daily Reflection By Deacon Greg
Anyone who has spent even an hour working out at the gym realizes what sacrifice means. Time, effort, pain, exhaustion are all part of the mix. Yet by taking away the built-up excesses that accumulate around our waist, we’re also adding something to our bodies. Strength, stamina, confidence are all part of the trade-off. At the end of the day, lower blood pressure and a sense of accomplishment bring us back for more.
The passage from Isaiah today is all about loosing a little and gaining a lot. It’s also a much harder routine than anything you can undergo at the best of gyms or spas. It’s about a call to transform not the body, but the spirit.
Taking off a little selfishness, a little apathy, a little ego can lead to building up a new self rooted in love and compassion. A bit of sacrificing self-interest for self-improvement rooted in God’s love and mercy is a transformation that will be for us a makeover like none before.
We sit at our TV’s and wonder why the world is like it is. We see the pain of wars, violence, and hatred tearing nations and peoples apart. Injustice and greed are rampant and it’s as if there’s little we can do. But we do have the chance to begin to make it work. We can make this a season to remake ourselves and in doing so, move the world in the process. We put our trust in the trainer to guide us to the body we want to have. Lent gives us the chance to put our trust in Jesus and to allow Him to lead us to become a better, more complete and prayerful person. It worked for those tax collectors. It’ll work for us.
Dear Jesus, help me to have the trust to put my life in you hands that I may be healed this Lenten season and to strive to make your creation a place of peace and joy.
