This first week of Lent has each of us amazed and awed by the greatness of God. in this weekly overview we really cannot go through the readings this week without realizing how much our attitude and knowledge works to bring our relationship with God so much higher.
Our 40 days can be as easy as Jesus’ was
We started on Sunday with Jesus showing us how to handle our numerous temptations with come to us The Devil twisted the Word of God.. the Word of God stayed true to itself and fended off the tempts. The temptations given were exactly the same ones we face each and every day. Earlier in the week we looked at how wily the Devil was and how dangerous He can be See Sunday’s blog on him https://deacondavestowell.com/1st-sunday-in-lent/
We can easily think, ‘Well Jesus is God and knows the Bible so well’. Jesus is the Word made Flesh so this is true, but there is no reason that we cannot try to learn the lessons of the Bible ourselves. Some people look at a specific line some people look at an entire passage. But we have to be mindful of the entire concept that God is passing on to us. He wants us to be with Him forever and the Bible is one very important tool he gives us to help us become knowledgeable about Him and His ways.
Monday gave us easy clear instruction
Throughout this week we have been amazed at the stories that we can use to bring ourselves closer and closer to God’s ways. How much more direct can we get that Monday’s reading.
“Amen, I say to you, whatever you did
Matthew 25:40
for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’
We always have to remember that Jesus commands us to treat each other the way we would treat Him. Simple everyone we meet is a reflection of Jesus. When we forget that we begin more and more to use the other person. When we use the other person they lose their dignity in our eyes and eventually we treat that other person as a non-person. Jesus tells us in real easy to understand words… ;It is me you are hurting’
Tuesday brings us to prayer
We all know the prayer and we say it in Lent and outside of Lent so it is of major importance. We have this perfect prayer which Jesus Himself taught us. We asked him how should we pray and He told us. Don’t babble , ask directly your petitions.. Ask for your needs but Keep in mind the relationship that is most important. Our Father keeps our minds trained on the important things. It is a short prayer but packed with so much power. The Catechism spends so much time explaining the beauty of this prayer. There have been countless books and writings from so many Catholic / protestant and others that bring us deeper and deeper into its meaning and our relationships
Jonah brings metanoia to the Ninevites
So how exactly do we forgive and how do we get other to love a Christ wants us to love. Jonah is probably best known for being in the belly of the Whale.. But look closer he was able with God;s help to bring an entire nation to God. The city of Ninevah was the capital city of Assyria,, the same ones that conquered the Northern tribes of Israel back in about 722 B.C. They hit hard the 10 Northern Tribes of Israel and scattered them. They scattered them far and wide, it would take a Messiah to bring them all back together. But by listening to God and letting go and letting God Jonah had the King of Assyria in ash and sackcloth.
But what are we to make of Jonah’s outrageous anger? We know this feeling all so well Our hatred and rage burn within us so deep that we cannot imagine anything greater than their destruction. Perhaps it is the cousin we gave up on; that girl who made you feel so bad in High School; That boss who fired you We hold grudges very well. But do we ever let go of those things? Lent is supposed to be a time of conversion, and that means for everyone. He is asking for our change too!
Open the Door.. to your heart
He is knocking at our door. Our weekly overview must include this All we have to do is open that door and viola all is good. But we are sometimes struggling to determine where is this door? I know this is a recurring theme in most of my ramblings, but probably because I need to keep telling myself. But we can know oh so much about Jesus. Get the facts the figures, born in 3 BC 4 AD murdered innocently in 33… But we have to open that door to our hearts and get the message of God deep inside there. our invitation to change is there and it is an ongoing process. You can’t just snap your fingers and think you know God. our minds are too clouded from original sin for that to happen. But over time we listen we learn and then we get the message. ‘Love me as i love you’
Today brings us more easy teachings
Jesus said to his disciples:
Matthew 5:20
“I tell you,
unless your righteousness surpasses that
of the scribes and Pharisees,
you will not enter into the Kingdom of heaven.
The beautiful writing of Matthew. Jesus takes the things which we thought we understood and takes it to the next level. No more guessing. Not only should you not kill even if you are just angry, you are doing a disservice to both him and you… And it appears you are also offending God! Offense to God is definitely no way to find favor. We spoke about anger a bit earlier and it did Jonah no good (nor the little shade plant) We see killing all over the place. The culture of death has surrounded people of goodwill.. Abortion legislation, Infanticide, mistreatment of refugees, war pestilence. We are allowing these evils to surround us. We need to stand up for righteousness. We ask very little of our political leaders Why do we not require righteousness from them as well? In not doing so.. we have some blame for the death all around us. For the angst and anger all around us. We need to reconcile withour brothers and sisters.
You are not going to like this but….
And of course all of those offenses that we have caused affect our relationship with God. yes he still loves each of us.. But we need to get the record straight. Jesus asks for our metanoia, for our change of heart. There is but one way to reconcile with God and that is in the confessional. Many won’t like these words. But Jesus gave us this ability to reconcile with Him Easy, simple and something even a child can do. When you look at the week we are also talking about human pride. Let go of that and get straight with God. Throughout Lent there are extra times and places for Confession and Penance. The king in Jonah’s story took away his pride and settled in ashes and sackcloth. If a King can put aside his ego… it should be much easier for us. How much do you love God?
Be good Play nice Think God!
Here is a link to the USCCB readings of the day http://usccb.org/bible/readings/031519.cfm