23/02/2023

Jesus quietly tells the disciples that he will have to suffer ignominiously before he completes his mission. Then he speaks to all of us. We all know what "take up the cross" means. We all have experience of some sort of suffering that must be borne. We all know Jesus as the ultimate example of undeserved suffering. Did the people who were listening to him before the Crucifixion have any idea what he could mean?

Moses speaks to the wanderers who are about to enter the promised land. God has prepared for each of us a "promised land" which is located nowhere in this world. Each day we have to keep the words of Moses in mind for they are the words of God to each and every one of us. As we continue to live our daily lives there are always terribly important choices that we have the freedom and the responsibility to make.

Nothing is more important for us than living according to the word of God for there we can enjoy the Grace that is the never ending Love, our free gift from Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We are all known as we know ourselves. God has prepared a dwelling place for all his children and from the depths of his being he pours out his Mercy onto each of us in our individuality.

God wills only what is good. Our choice is stark. Life or Death. World or Heaven. Good or evil.

God knows by experience all about how it is to be human and so does not offer instant rewards or punishment. Our lives are our opportunity to make the right choices by making use of the redemption won on the cross, hanging from nails, scoffed at by his chosen people, crowned with hateful thorns, deserted by most of his friends, by a man who gave up his own life so that the whole world could be saved.

Dear Lord let me not be overcome by pride. let my prayer be humble knowing that it is you who pull the words out of my heart. May I be supported by Mary and all the saints in heaven to make this Lent a holy one so that I can begin to atone for all the sins of my life that I have now forgotten or pushed to the back of my mind.