First Saturday of Lent

Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father.

It is easy to love those who love us, but much harder to love those who persecute us. These enemies may attack us physically, intellectually, emotionally, or spiritually. In the face of such assaults it is difficult to recognize our foes as fellow children of God and co-bearers of the Divine Image. However, these are the people in our lives most in need of charity. They are the ones who test the mettle of our love. Is our charity weak and brittle and unable to withstand the resistance of others? Or is it strong and durable? It is up to us to decide. That being said, we must recognize that we cannot win over the hearts of all our enemies with love. Sometimes it is best for us to retreat from someone who is mistreating us and pray for them from a distance. Prudence should guide our love so that we recognize when a relationship is too toxic for our own good. But that is the wonderful thing about prayer and love, they can be offered even from afar.

Who are the people in our lives whom we have the most difficulty loving? What can we do to love them in spite of our antagonistic relationships? Are we willing to sacrifice our pride in order to love our enemies?

O Lord, help us to love our enemies and pray for them for even they are your beloved children.

Amen.

First Friday of Lent

Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift.

Forgiveness is a three-way street between us, our neighbors, and our God. We are not only judged by how we seek forgiveness for our own sins from God, but also on how we forgive others when they seek our forgiveness. It is much easier for many of us to ask for forgiveness than to truly grant our forgiveness to those who have harmed us. However, this act of mercy is exactly what God wants us to do. By petitioning God for forgiveness we show our faith, but by giving it to others we reveal our good works to the Lord.

Do we have anything against someone else? Does anyone have anything against us? What are we going to do about it?

O Lord, grant us the grace to be reconciled with our brothers and sisters.

Amen.

First Thursday of Lent

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.

When we ask with faith, seek with love, and knock with hope, we will always find our Heavenly Father ready to give us good things. He gives us a model of living based on charity toward others and we ought to imitate Him. We need to help those, who like us, are asking, seeking, and knocking. We can become the answers, the treasures, and the opportunities they need to become good and faithful children of Our God.

What do we do when people ask us for something? Do we help others to find what they are seeking? Are we willing to open doors for others?

O Lord, grant us the grace we need to continue asking, seeking, and knocking.

Amen.

First Wednesday of Lent

At the judgment the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation and condemn it, because at the preaching of Jonah they repented, and there is something greater than Jonah here.

Jonah told the people of Nineveh that in forty day their city would be destroyed and they responded by proclaiming a fast. There was no guarantee that God would relent and forgive them, only a hope that they might not perish. This act of penance and faith convinced God to spare them. When we commit sins, we act like the people of Nineveh before Jonah prophesizes to them. However, unlike them we have Christ as a constant reminder of our need to repent and an endless source of God’s mercy. Nineveh had only one chance to seek forgiveness from God and then only by proclaiming a fast. We, on the other hand, have access to the sacrament of reconciliation and its justifying grace whenever we want to seek it out. As long as we are contrite and accepting of God’s mercy we are forgiven of our sins.

Do we take advantage of the immeasurable gift we have been given in the sacrament of reconciliation? Do we ever call a fast, be it from food or other things, to manifest our contrition before God? When we look upon the cross do we not only see a warning against sin, but also the promise of God’s forgiveness?

O Lord, help us to fast from our sins and see you as the Great Sign of Mercy.

Amen.

First Tuesday of Lent

In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus gives us the perfect prayer—the Our Father. In this simple prayer we are given a microcosm of our faith. We recognize God as Our Heavenly Father and hallow his name. We remind ourselves that the focus of our faith should be on the second coming and doing God’s Will on earth. We ought to desire the daily bread of the Eucharistic celebration, but also the future bread of the heavenly feast. We ask for the forgiveness of our sins and the grace to forgive others. Finally, we petition God to protect us from temptation and evil. This single prayer encompasses the petitions at the heart of our faith and every time we pray it we unite ourselves to Our Father and all of His beloved children.

Do we meditate on the Our Father when we pray it or do we just say the words? What can we do to take these words into our hearts and live them? What petitions do we have for God today?

O Lord, when we pray the Our Father grant us the grace to ask you for what we really need, and not just what we want.

Amen.

First Monday of Lent

Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.

Jesus gives us a litany of merciful acts in today’s gospel. He lays out for us what it means to be a sheep in his flock. It is not an easy life, it is a life of sacrifice and self-gift. Each of us is called to empty ourselves in different ways, some of us to feed the physically needy, while others to give drink to the spiritually wanting. Everyone we meet is in need or want of something, sometimes it is obvious and other times it is an enigma. However, when faced with our fellow children of God, we ought to love them to the best of our abilities. Only then will be able to inherit the kingdom and enjoy the heavenly feast.

How have we succeeded and failed to feed, welcome, clothe, care for, and visit those in need? What acts of mercy can we do today? Do we keep those in most need of these acts of love in our prayers?

O Lord, we want to be a blessing for the needy and worthy of inheriting your kingdom.

Amen.

First Sunday of Lent

The Spirit drove Jesus out into the desert, and he remained in the desert for forty days, tempted by Satan. He was among wild beasts, and the angels ministered to him.

Sometimes the Spirit of God drives us to risk ourselves. He asks us to go out into the desert of the great unknown and leave behind our lives of comfort for something greater. When we are called in such a manner we must imitate Christ and be ready to go, even to those places where we might not want to travel. When we make such a major change in our lives we will be tempted by Satan to turn back, to give up, and let someone else do it. We will run into people who turn on us like wild beasts and say to us: Are you crazy? Why do you want to do that? Why waste your time? However, if we pray about these decisions and discern a call to ministry whether it is official or volunteer, then we should not be afraid to walk into the unknown secure in the knowledge that we are doing it because we love God and want to express our love by serving our neighbor.

Have we ever had a moment in our lives where we felt driven by the Spirit to say or do something? If so, then what thorns did we have to face and what fruits came from our work? Are we willing to leave everything behind and walk into the desert with Jesus?

O Lord, let your Spirit drive us to where you need us to be.

Amen.