My reflection for Mar. 03, 2006 - Friday

March 3, 2006

Reading I
Isaiah 58:1-9

Thus says the Lord GOD:
Cry out full-throated and unsparingly,
lift up your voice like a trumpet blast;
Tell my people their wickedness,
and the house of Jacob their sins.
They seek me day after day,
and desire to know my ways,
Like a nation that has done what is just
and not abandoned the law of their God;
They ask me to declare what is due them,
pleased to gain access to God.
“Why do we fast, and you do not see it?
afflict ourselves, and you take no note of it?”

Lo, on your fast day you carry out your own pursuits,
and drive all your laborers.
Yes, your fast ends in quarreling and fighting,
striking with wicked claw.
Would that today you might fast
so as to make your voice heard on high!
Is this the manner of fasting I wish,
of keeping a day of penance:
That a man bow his head like a reed
and lie in sackcloth and ashes?
Do you call this a fast,
a day acceptable to the LORD?
This, rather, is the fasting that I wish:
releasing those bound unjustly,
untying the thongs of the yoke;
Setting free the oppressed,
breaking every yoke;
Sharing your bread with the hungry,
sheltering the oppressed and the homeless;
Clothing the naked when you see them,
and not turning your back on your own.
Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
and your wound shall quickly be healed;
Your vindication shall go before you,
and the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.
Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer,
you shall cry for help, and he will say: Here I am!

(The truest fast in which we all must partake is the fasting from doing evil,. That is sin! If only we were all more successful at doing this, the need for corporal penances such as fasting from food or something else would not be necessary. It is the discipline of such a practice that is most helpful to our spiritual journey. Fasting teaches us that it is possible to control the various appetites of our bodies.)

Meditation for Lent <== Click here

Responsorial Psalm
Psalms 51:3-4, 5-6, 18-19

R. A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.
Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;
in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense.
Thoroughly wash me from my guilt
and of my sin cleanse me.
R. A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.
For I acknowledge my offense,
and my sin is before me always:
“Against you only have I sinned,
and done what is evil in your sight.”
R. A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.
For you are not pleased with sacrifices;
should I offer a burnt offering, you would not accept it.
My sacrifice, O God, is a contrite spirit;
a heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.
R. A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.

Gospel
Matthew 9:14-15

The disciples of John approached Jesus and said,
“Why do we and the Pharisees fast much,
but your disciples do not fast?”
Jesus answered them, “Can the wedding guests mourn
as long as the bridegroom is with them?
The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them,
and then they will fast.”

(It is as though Jesus is saying that His presence is enough to inspire His disciples to order their lives and their appetites in a good manner. However, the day will come when personal discipline will become a bigger issue for them and they will discover the necessity of fasting themselves. I hope and pray that we all recognize the great benefits that corporal penances bring our spiritual lives when they are entered in a healthy way.)

God's special verse/thought for me today.
Take up your cross, the Savior said, if you would my disciple be.
Take up your cross with willing heart, and humbly follow after me.
Take up your cross, then, in His strenght, a calmly every danger brave.
It guides you to abundant life, and leads to victory over the grave.
Teach us to deny ourselves that we may know God's love.

Yes Lord, with Your given courage to me, I'll take up my cross because I want to be your disciple my Savior. With my willing heart, I am humbled to follow you. I trust in You Lord that You give me Your strenght to face any adversities and it will lead me to an abundant life.
I deny myself Lord for I don't know myself anymore but I do know that You know me more than I do. I only desire to know Your love because it is the greatest thing of all.

my reflections
think: The truest fast in which we all must partake is the fasting from doing evil.
O Lord my forgiving God, forgive me for all my sins and help me not to sin again. I know that my sins separates You from me. Therefore; I want to sin no more because I want to be closer as much as possible to You my Lord and my King because it is the ultimate goal of every mankind.

thank You Lord for: teaching me what is the true meaning of fasting.
thank You Lord for showing me how to empty my heart to make a room for you and your love.
thank You Lord for accepting my fasting which is giving my whole being for your disposition.
thank You Lord for not spurning my contrite and humbled heart.
thank You Lord for showing me how to become your disciple by taking up my cross.
thank You Lord for giving Your strenght to face my adversities.
thank You Lord for showing how to know Your Love by denying myself.
thank You Lord for the abundant blessings my ever compassionate and loving Father in heaven.