Lenten Thoughts (Day 25): Love (the) One, love all

One of the scribes came to Jesus and asked him, “Which is the first of all the commandments?” Jesus replied, “The first is this: Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.” - Mark 12:28-30

All of Jesus' teachings can be summed up in today's Gospel reading: "Love God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength, and love your neighbor as yourself." When we love God fully, we can't help but love everyone else – even the "neighbors" who make our lives difficult.

Think of the person you love the most. Is it the one who's the easiest to serve? Do you enjoy doing good deeds for him or her more than for anyone else? This generous love is a reflection of your love for God.

Now think of the person you love the least. Is it someone you refuse to serve because of how he or she has hurt you? This is also a reflection of your love – or lack of it – for God.

Jesus never said that we have to enjoy doing good to our enemies. Hey, he didn't like being whipped and manhandled and jabbed and mocked and crucified, but that didn't stop him from offering himself as a sacrifice for you and for me and for the people we dislike. Since he did that for us, we can at least do small deeds of goodness that are no fun to do?

Reflection taken from Good News Reflections.

Lenten mission: Tuning out, turning off and listening

By John Norton


Back in the late 1990s, when I was still in Rome and had just started doing some freelance writing for this newspaper, the editor at the time, David Scott, sent me a little book called “The Bottom of the Harbor.”

I’ve read it half a dozen times since, and just the other night I started it again. It is a collection of articles from The New Yorker of the 1940s and ’50s by a legendary journalist named Joseph Mitchell.

He has a remarkable eye for detail, a way of finding the interesting in the ordinary, and an ability to transport you deep into the tale he tells.

For writers like me, there’s a lot to be learned at Mitchell’s knee.

But this time I’m finding Mitchell has broader lessons to teach. In sharp contrast to our modern daily life, riddled with cell phone calls, e-mail chimes, urgency and haste, Mitchell slips some waxpaper-wrapped sandwiches in his pocket and heads out to observe, listen and learn.

Here’s how he starts one of his stories: “Every now and then, seeking to rid my mind of thoughts of death and doom, I get up early and go down to the Fulton Fish Market. ... The smokey riverbank dawn, the racket the fishmongers make, the seaweedy smell, and the sight of this plentifulness always give me a feeling of well-being, and sometimes they elate me.”

Elsewhere he talks about hiking into a swamp to look for wildflowers and birds, and spending an hour looking through binoculars at a woodpecker tearing the bark off the top of a dead tree — later describing it as one of the most spectacular events he ever witnessed.

I find it difficult to imagine having an hour alone to spend watching a bird pulling on bark. While I still have young children at home, it very likely won’t happen.

But that’s not the point. While Mitchell doesn’t talk about such experiences in explicitly religious terms, there’s something about that patient listening and watching that reminds me of the sort of prayer we should be practicing on a daily basis, and which Lent gives another opportunity to cultivate.

Sure, Mitchell lived in different times with fewer media distractions. Maybe it was easier to slow down and observe. Some of our older readers could probably weigh in on whether that’s really true.

Either way, it is a reminder that we need to make a conscious effort to quiet ourselves so we can hear God — whether he speaks to us when we’re deep in a swamp or on our knees in front of the tabernacle.

John Norton is the editor of OSV Newsweekly, a Christian publication.

Original article

Lenten Thoughts (Day 24): Going good to counter evil

"By virtuous actions break with your sins, break with your crimes by showing mercy to the poor, and so live long and peacefully." - Daniel 4:24

One of the best ways to counter our sinful ways is to do good deeds. It doesn give God more glory, but it helps to snuff the light of the devil in our lives. Are we going out of our way to improve the lives of those around us?

Connecting with the Lord

I was reading an article* on the net, and thought that it was good reading for Lent. It's written for an american audience, but parts of it makes sense for Christians as a whole. I've taken the liberty to give you a extract of the article, and I hope it edifies you:

This Lent may be a challenge to focus on what is really important, and to practice the most difficult discipline of all — a sacrificial love for others.

The three classic Lenten observances are prayer, fasting and almsgiving. It is here that we need to resist passivity and act boldly to put our trust in the Lord.

The goal is not just to give, but to connect. Looking into the eyes of the person in need, a person very much like us, is an act of Christian charity, for in looking into those eyes, we do not simply see ourselves, but we see Christ himself.

That is what Lent is, after all: an encounter with Christ. We meet him in prayer. We meet him in the denial of our appetites and wants. We meet him in the eyes of those around us. Lent is leading us to Easter, to the Resurrection, the message of eternal hope, the triumph of life over death and the assurance that our kingdom has already been won for us.

This Lent, may we encounter a dying to self and a rising with Christ that is at the heart of this Lenten experience.

* Lent 2010: Do we really have to get more penitential?

Lenten Thoughts (Day 23): What is keeping you from God today?

"The wicked placed a trap for me,
but I did not wander from your commandments.
Your decrees are my inheritance for ever,
they are the joy of my heart:
my heart is set on carrying them out,
for ever, until the end."
- Psalm 118 (119): 110-112

Let's set aside the next 60 seconds to think: What kind of "traps" have the world set for me today?

Even a brief reflection will provide a list of things that tempt us away from God, whether it's in school, at work or at home.

Whether or not you set the minute aside earlier, take 10 now becoming aware of the things that draw us away from God. Awareness is half the battle. But when we're not even aware of the devil's presence, how do we expect to stop him?

Lenten Thoughts (Day 22): What satisfies you?

"The disciples were urging him, ‘Rabbi, do have something to eat; but he said, ‘I have food to eat that you do not know about.’ So the disciples asked one another, ‘Has someone been bringing him food?’ But Jesus said: ‘My food is to do the will of the one who sent me, and to complete his work'. - John 4:31-34

Jesus shows a great reason for giving up food. He once again is the great example to follow. The question we must ask ourselves is: when I give up food or chocolate or TV, am I feasting on the greatest thing - am I "[doing] the will" of God? Does doing God's will fill me up?

Healing, not punishment

"We must remember the original meaning of Lent, as the 'ver sacrum', the church's 'holy spring'. Lent is not, then, a season of punishment so much as one of healing." - Thomas, Merton, (1915-1968), Priest and monk

Acts of penance are pointless if God does not exist (a sharing by Alphonsus Soh, Singapore)

It’s the third week of Lent, and another 25 days from now we will be celebrating Easter. This Lenten season I decided to go running, receive Holy Eucharist every day, and fast during lunchtime.

Yes, it’s difficult to fulfill, yet, only with the help of God, I have kept my Lenten resolutions. You see, I mentioned going Mass every day; but the funny thing I encountered is that I’ve ended up asking myself: “Why do i go to church?”, “Why do I need to believe in God?”

It was a sudden change of thinking one day, but it was so dramatic that I even thought of leaving the Church and just living my life. Why did I even think this way? I had met someone who doesn’t believe in the existence of God. That person’s character, attitude and everything else about him/her, however, is so much different from people from Church. I wanted that person as my role model because that person shows politeness and humility.

After attending my monthly retreat with my community, though, I came to a realisation that God didn’t call me to be someone great, but to be faithful just like what Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta said “God did not call me to be successful but to be Faithful”.

As we draw near to Easter, may we hold fast to the weapon the Church gave to us and be faithful to Him who has never fails to be unfaithful.



Alphonsus, thanks for sharing the mini-crisis you went through. I’m glad your community retreat has helped you. I believe these periods of doubt are signs of a good Christian. It is certainly better to ask why we worship “God” and to ask if God exists than to go to every Sunday without ever questioning anything. I believe a true and honest search is every human being’s duty, and every true and honest search will lead us there. Ask, seek, knock. That’s the challenge of Christ.

There is, of course, much to day on God’s existence. It’s hard to take it that God’s followers are bad examples. But a migrane does not make a person terminally ill. In truth, the behaviour of Christians should not matter in the objective questioning His existence. Would we say that the math professor faked his degree just because his student failed every math test? In reality, there is much stronger evidence that He exists than there is evidence that He doesn’t.

It is my prayer that each Christian, or would be Christian reading your reflection will begin the quest to ask and seek. I pray that all of us be objective, and when the evidence shows itself, that we be humble to accept the grace God offers.

Please feel free to comment on Alphonsus' sharing; better yet, share with us all your journey in Lent so far - experiences, difficulties, encounters with God, etc...

Lenten Thoughts (Day 21): Are we prepared to see God?

"[Moses] led the flock to the far side of the desert and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, 'I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.' When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, 'Moses! Moses!' And Moses said, 'Here I am.'

'Do not come any closer,' God said. 'Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.' Then he said, 'I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.' At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God."

- Exodus 3:1b-5

Many of us would like to see God, but the same many would not deny it's hard. Sometimes we think that God does not appear to us anymore, or that He isn't really keen to show Himself to us these days. That is not true.

"God manifests himself in different ways also in each of our lives," Pope Benedict XVI said in a recent homily. For Moses, God chose to appear in a simple burning bush. For us, it could be anything from a moving bus, to a friend speaking with us or a piece of news in the papers.

Pope Benedict continued: "To recognize his presence however we must draw near to him aware of our misery and with profound respect. In any other way we would make ourselves incapable of meeting him and of entering into communion with him. As the Apostle Paul writes (1 Cor 10:11), this event too is told about for our edification: It reminds us that God does not reveal himself to those who are pervaded by sufficiency and frivolity, but to him who is poor and humble before him."

The ability to see God when He appears to us is highly dependent on our disposition. Are we poor in Spirit, and do we see ourselves truly in need of Him in our lives? Do we really want Him to appear in our lives, to be part of it and to be the King?

Fasting faster go away? (a sharing by Priscilla Chua, Singapore)

Fasting on Ash Wednesday as well as the commitment to fast every Thursday have seen me giving up dinner and going to bed hungry. So every Thursday night, I can't wait for the next day to come so that I can eat!

Reflecting on that, I realised that I have the luxury of waiting for tomorrow to come, knowing that food will be easily accessible - to cook, to snack on or just buying it from the two kopitiams (eating places) downstairs. But not everyone is able to enjoy this comfort that we take for granted.

Some poor kid elsewhere may only have the remnants from fast-food restaurants once in a while for their meals and may not even come in contact with clean water for consumption. But I've been given a chance to suffer with them during this Lenten journey, even if whatever that I'm experiencing every Thursday is nothing compared to theirs.

Prayers and the right intentions would make fasting easier to go by and I believe God will give me the grace to strengthen me during the period of dying to self. Most importantly instead of some psycho effects such as "I'm not hungry I'm not hungry", I tell myself "I'm hungry but this if for God".



Thanks Priscilla for sharing this! I'm moved that you have taken upon yourself to stay strong to this commitment especially because you find it hard. It's amazing, the will of a human being searching to unite oneself with God. Nothing binds friends together like suffering does. I hope this Lent, you've grown that much closer to God in the suffering you have experienced. God will bless the kid in the street because He sees how you have lifted up your pains in union with those of the poor. You make so much sense when you say it's not about bluffing yourself psychologically (telling yourself that you're not hungry), but it's offering up the hunger to the Lord. God bless you the way He has blessed us all through your words!

Everyone else, do feel free to comment on Pris' sharing; better yet, share with us all your journey in Lent so far - experiences, difficulties, encounters with God, etc...

Lenten Thoughts (Day 20): Take over, Lord

When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. "Lord," he said, "my servant lies at home paralyzed and in terrible suffering."

Jesus said to him, "I will go and heal him." The centurion replied, "Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and that one, 'Come,' and he comes. I say to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it."

When Jesus heard this, he was astonished and said to those following him, "I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith" ... Then Jesus said to the centurion, "Go! It will be done just as you believed it would." And his servant was healed at that very hour. - Matthew 8:5-10,13

The acknowledgment of the centurion here is marvelled at by Christ Himself. The man of influence understands what it's like to be a commander, a leader; yet he knows his limitations, and here readily gives Jesus the authority to take over.

Many times, we try too hard to handle our own problems. Let's learn to be like the centurion. Let us put in our due efforts, and ask Jesus to take over whatever we cannot handle ourselves.

Lenten Thoughts (Day 19): Let us stand and testify

"Many Samaritans of that town had believed in him on the strength of the woman’s testimony when she said, ‘He told me all I have ever done’, so, when the Samaritans came up to him, they begged him to stay with them. He stayed for two days, and when he spoke to them many more came to believe; and they said to the woman, ‘Now we no longer believe because of what you told us; we have heard him ourselves and we know that he really is the saviour of the world.’" - John 4:39-42

John adds in this portion after disclosing the story of Jesus meeting the Samaritan woman. This segment has nothing to do with the actual story, yet John found it important to add this on. Perhaps the Gospel writer was trying to highlight the woman's key role of sharing her experience.

Some of us have really tried to deny ourselves in this period. Along the way, we might have grown closer to God, or maybe even had a deep spiritual experience. As Christians who have experienced Christ one way or another, it is our duty to share with everyone we know how Jesus came to save us all. It is NOT out duty to convert - that job belongs to the Holy Spirit. But like the woman, we have the key role of introducing people to Christ.

One day, these people we reach out to, will believe based on their knowledge and experience of God, but in the mean time, they could "[believe] in him on the strength of [our] testimony" (v.39).