Holy Week Lent Reflections

 Lent is about embarking on journey toward the risen Christ. The period is marked by fasting and meditation with intentional spiritual focus. A period of preparation and reflection. Do not test the Lord your God!  Instead, entrust your faith entirely in Him.  Placing your entire trust in God brings you a peace not of this earth.  Have you ever experienced God’s peace?  
  
Reflection
The readings for each of the days in the first half of Holy Week place us on the edge, the rift, the tipping point. There is a sharp disconnect between light and darkness; betrayal and constancy; death and glorification. Today, in particular, there is a sharp turn at the very center of things. The first reading is full of promise as we read Isaiah foreshadowing Jesus, not just a Servant of God, but a Light to the Nations, the One who brings salvation. The Psalm takes up the refrain of trust in God’s rock-solid protection.

An authentic faith – which is never comfortable or completely personal – always involves a deep desire to change the world, to transmit values, to leave this earth somehow better that we found it. We love this magnificent planet on which God has put us, and we love the human family which dwells here, with all its tragedies and struggles, its hopes and aspirations, its strengths and weaknesses. The earth is our common home and all of us are brothers and sisters. If indeed "the just ordering of society and of the state is a central responsibility of politics", the Church "cannot and must not remain on the sidelines in the fight for justice".

 This upcoming Friday, we will recall this selfless act that Jesus went through in order to ensure that we will have everlasting life. As a Christian, it is incredibly important to share the love and light that Jesus gave to us with others. Jesus’s love is meant to be shared with everyone. Jesus brought a light to those in darkness, so how can we as Christians bring light to those in darkness? We often focus on the large deeds that Jesus did, like dying for us, healing Lazarus, allowing the blind to see, but the light we bring to this world, does not always have to be so powerful. Donating food to the hungry, talking to someone who seems lonely, etc. Sacrificing an hour of time to spend with a child or adult in need, can bring so much light to someone’s life. Jesus died for us all, so we could live forever! Share His love and be the light of the world.
 Prayer

“In you, O Lord I take refuge…Be my rock of refuge;

A stronghold to give me safety, for You are my rock and my fortress.” (Ps.71 1;3)

O Lord, grant that, even in dark times of pain and betrayal, we may find the strength to move forward with the promise of glory ringing in our ears and confidence in God our Father/Mother in our hearts.