My reflections for Mar. 02, 2006 - Thursday

March 2, 2006

Reading I
Deuteronomy 30:15-20

Moses said to the people:
“Today I have set before you
life and prosperity, death and doom.
If you obey the commandments of the LORD, your God,
which I enjoin on you today,
loving him, and walking in his ways,
and keeping his commandments, statutes and decrees,
you will live and grow numerous,
and the LORD, your God,
will bless you in the land you are entering to occupy.
If, however, you turn away your hearts and will not listen,
but are led astray and adore and serve other gods,
I tell you now that you will certainly perish;
you will not have a long life
on the land that you are crossing the Jordan to enter and occupy.
I call heaven and earth today to witness against you:
I have set before you life and death,
the blessing and the curse.
Choose life, then,
that you and your descendants may live, by loving the LORD, your God,
heeding his voice, and holding fast to him.
For that will mean life for you,
a long life for you to live on the land that the LORD swore
he would give to your fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”

(Each of us makes many choices every day. However, the vast majority of these do not have any real bearing upon right and wrong, they are merely choices regarding what we wear, what we eat and so on. However, we are also confronted with having to make choices about issues of right and wrong. It is these choices of a moral dimension that determine our character and make us who we are. Moses sets before the people a fundamental choice: will they choose the ways of God or go their own way. We face this same choice today each time we perform a moral act.)


Responsorial Psalm
Psalms 1:1-2, 3, 4, 6

R. Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.
Blessed the man who follows not
the counsel of the wicked
Nor walks in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the company of the insolent,
But delights in the law of the LORD
and meditates on his law day and night.
R. Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.
He is like a tree
planted near running water,
That yields its fruit in due season,
and whose leaves never fade.
Whatever he does, prospers.
R. Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.
Not so the wicked, not so;
they are like chaff which the wind drives away.
For the LORD watches over the way of the just,
but the way of the wicked vanishes.
R. Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.

Meditation for Lent <== Click here

Gospel
Luke 9:22-25

Jesus said to his disciples:
“The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected
by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes,
and be killed and on the third day be raised.”

Then he said to all,
“If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself
and take up his cross daily and follow me.
For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.
What profit is there for one to gain the whole world
yet lose or forfeit himself?”

(In living a truly moral life according to the Commandments and will of God, we will discover that we will often have to deny our own desires as they can get out of order. This is the great challenge that we face each and every day - not just to determine that which is right and wrong in a particular instance but actually putting into practice the right that we have discerned. It is only with the help of the Holy Spirit, and with careful adherence to the Word of God that we will have any hope of being successful in this.)

God's special verse/thought for me today.

Matthew 6:25-34

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat (or drink), or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?
Look at the birds in the sky; they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are not you more important than they?

O Lord, you gave me this message because I am worried. Lord, forgive me for I have little faith. Lord, teach me how to trust you more for I know you are my only sure Hope, my only saviour, my Father in heaven who always loves me and provides my daily bread.

my reflections
think: We will often have to deny our own desires as they can get out of order.

My desires Lord is to do Your will. I'm seeking now what is Your Divine way and not my way which are my own desire that could get out of order. Your will Lord is perfect and always in the right order. I am back to You Lord with all my heart. Let my fear go away so we are not going to be apart. I am all Yours for Your disposition.

thank You Lord for: Lord for guiding me to choose Your ways.

thank You Lord for planting me near a running water so You could bless me with overflowing graces and prosperity.

thank You Lord for teaching me the benefits of denying myself and take my cross daily and follow You because losing my life for Your sake will save me.

thank You Lord for sending Your Holy Spirit to help me deny myself and lean on Your word.

thank You Lord for assuring to me not to be worried about my family's daily bread because you are a compassionate kind Father who always provides the needs of Your children.