Reflection: Luke 18:9-14

Saturday of 3rd Week of Lent - Luke 18:9-14


In today’s passage, Luke writes that Jesus addressed this parable “to those who were convinced of their own righteousness” and who also despised everyone else.  Jesus began the parable with the words: “Two people went up to the temple area to pray; one was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector.”

The Pharisee prayed, “O God, thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity: greedy, dishonest or adulterous!  I am grateful that I am not like the tax collector.”  The Pharisee then said to God, “I fast two times a week and I pay tithes on my income.” Clearly the Pharisee believed that he was superior to most people and was confident that God was very pleased with him also.

The tax collector found a quiet place to pray.  The man was so humble that he did not raise his eyes to heaven.  Rather he beat his breast and prayed, saying: “O God, be merciful to me, a sinner.”  The tax collector was not demeaning himself but spoke the truth: “I am a sinful man.”  Jesus then said to his disciples: “Those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

In many arenas of today’s world, humility is a quality that often is not appreciated.  Every day we hear from the political candidates who are running for the office of the President of the United States.  They tell us of their strengths and the vision that they have for our country.  Some of the candidates are humble, yet other candidates believe they have all the answers for our country.  Humility is a quality that all leaders need to possess, at least to some degree.  No one person has all of the answers or all of the wisdom.  This is true also in families, churches, organizations, teams, corporations, and in any group of people who come together for a purpose.  

Humility does not mean that we demean ourselves or pretend to be less than we are.  True humility means that we recognize and acknowledge our limitations as well as our gifts and our talents.  No one person has all the answers.  Humble people will freely ask for advice or wisdom and will acknowledge when they need help.  

Jesus does not want us to demean ourselves, nor does he want us to exalt ourselves.  Jesus has gifted each and every person with many gifts and talents; however, Jesus also realizes that we also have limitations and faults.  Today I invite you to be mindful of when it is time to share your gifts and talents.  and when you could use some words of wisdom or insight from another person.  Give thanks for the many gifts you have to share and give thanks for the many people who share their insights and talents with you.  Together, we can enrich our world and make it a loving and peaceful place!

Reflection: Mark 12:28-34

Friday of the Third Week of Lent  - Mark 12:28-34

Today a Scribe approached Jesus and asked him: “What is the first of all the commandments?” Naturally, Jesus replied what he had learned as a small child: “The Lord our God is Lord alone” and we are to “love the Lord our God with our whole heart, soul, and mind.”  Jesus goes on to say, “The second is this:  You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

I assume these words are very familiar to you.  For most of us, these words were etched on our minds and hearts at a very young age.  Hopefully, this continues to be true today. However, these words are so very familiar to us that we may not even “hear” them!  In essence, Jesus asks only two things of us: to love God with all our hearts and to love our neighbor as ourselves.  Sounds simple, doesn’t it?

The challenge in this statement may be our ability to love ourselves as well as we love our neighbor. Most often I find it easier to love and accept another person as they are. However, I often struggle to love myself as I am.  Perhaps I am alone in that.  However, I believe that many, if not most of us, struggle to love and accept ourselves as we are.  It often becomes automatic to criticize ourselves. Take a moment and list how you criticize yourself.  About what do you tend to criticize yourself: looks, choices, abilities, intelligence, or something else?

Today I invite you to examine the many ways you strive to love your neighbor, then examine the ways you love yourself.  Are you as loving and understanding with yourself as you are with your neighbor?  If not, I invite you to be loving, accepting, and gentle with yourself today. You may find out that you will have a much better day when you maintain a loving stance toward yourself.  Try it!  You may find out not only that you like it, you also may realize that loving yourself makes life more grace-filled and peaceful.  What a wonderful gift to give yourself as well as to others!

Reflection: Luke 11:14-23

Thursday of the Third Week of Lent - Luke 11:14-23

This Gospel opens with Jesus driving the demon out of a man who was mute.  Quite naturally, the crowds were amazed at the healing power of Jesus.  However, some of his critics believed that he was able to do this only through the power of Beelzebub, the “prince of demons.”  What was it about Jesus that gave them this idea?  Jesus healed the sick, comforted the mourning, taught about love for God and one another.

Were his critics afraid of him? We know from the Gospels that the Pharisees were watching Jesus constantly. Were they concerned that Jesus was gaining too much popularity with the people? Were they worried that they might lose their power with the people? Were they hoping that he would break Jewish law and thus give them good cause to criticize him?

How sad it is that the Pharisees would not give Jesus a chance.  From the very beginning they were frightened of Jesus and rejected him.   Did they truly believe that Jesus was in league with Beelzebub or were they trying to ruin Jesus’ reputation because of their jealousy of his popularity with the people.   No matter what Jesus did, his actions were wrong and sinful in the Pharisees’ eyes.

Take a moment and ask yourself:   Who is a person in your life with whom you struggle?  Who is it you dismiss or perhaps reject at times? What is it they do or don’t do that triggers this reaction in you?  I am sure we all have at least one person who irritates us. It may be someone who gets on our nerves and we are irritated when they are around us or it might be an individual who has hurt, criticized, or ignored us at some point.

No matter what the situation is, Jesus continually challenges us to be open and loving with others — ALL others!  As we know, this is not an easy call.  However, if we profess to be followers of Jesus, then we must follow in his footsteps, even when it is difficult or challenging.  Today may we pray for one another.  Let us support each other with prayer, asking Jesus to give each of us the grace we need when we see someone coming down the hall whom we would prefer not to encounter.  Hopefully, if we strive to do this, the people who struggle with us may sense a difference in us and experience an authentic welcome rather than a “token hello.”

We all have heard the question: “What would Jesus do?”  Today if we get irritated or angry, may we pause for a moment and simply breathe in the presence of Jesus for a few seconds.  If we do this, Jesus will help us respond with love.

Reflection: Matthew 5:17-19

Wednesday of the Third Week of Lent - Matthew 5:17-19

The Gospel today is only three verses long; however, it is a very powerful passage.  Jesus begins by telling his disciples that his purpose is not to abolish the law or to criticize what the prophets proclaimed and taught.  Jesus’ intent is to fulfill the law.  Jesus also emphasizes that keeping the commandments is essential.

In the eyes of the Pharisees, however, Jesus frequently disobeyed Jewish law. They often criticized him for not following the law – at least as they believed it should be obeyed.   The Pharisees lived by the letter of the law, so they thought that they had grounds for their criticism of Jesus.   For Jesus, the law of love was primary, and he responded to people and situations with love and compassion rather than legalism.

We also can become legalistic as the Pharisees were.  We may observe another person doing something that we may judge as not correct. Yet, who are we to judge?  We don’t know why the person is doing what he/she is doing.  The bottom line is that it is not our place to judge.  God is the one to judge.   While we don’t like or appreciate when another judges us, at times we fall into judging – perhaps before we even know it.

The grace is that we can pull ourselves back from our judgment — if we desire to.  If we practice doing this often enough, we may find that we don’t jump to judgment as automatically as we once did!

Today I invite you to be aware of your thoughts and especially your judgments.  Pay close attention to your interactions with the people you may not like very much or who get on your nerves.   We may be more likely to find fault with them than with someone we like or love. 

We will never be perfect in keeping the commandments; However, each day, each hour, we can strive to love others more fully and without judgment.  This is all God asks of us.

Reflection: Matthew 18:21-35

Tuesday of the Third Week of Lent – Matthew 18:21-35

Today we have another challenging Gospel. Peter comes to Jesus and bluntly asks him how many times he needs to forgive another, be that his brother, his sister, friend or co-worker. Peter asks if he should forgive the other person seven times?  I wonder if Peter had a family member, a spouse,  or a friend whom he had wounded multiple times.   Or was Peter simply asking the question because he wanted to hear how Jesus would answer it?

As often is the case, Jesus does not answer Peter’s question directly. Rather Jesus bluntly tells Peter that he should forgive the other person, not just seven times, but 77 times.  That is a lot of forgiveness!  It is easier to forgive another if the hurt or insult is minor.  However, when a person has been betrayed or slandered us, we may find it more difficult to forgive the individual.  This is understandable because our trust has been betrayed.

Was Peter surprised by Jesus’ answer?  Was Peter thinking of a family member or friend that he needed to forgive or was he remembering someone he had hurt or wounded? Was Peter hoping that, at some point, he would be forgiven?

Hopefully, over time, we will forgive the person who wounded us and, in this process, we will free ourselves also of the heavy burden we have been carrying.  Lack of forgiveness usually has more effect on us than on the individual we need to forgive.  Resentment and anger poison us. True, it is not easy to let go of our anger and hurt.  If we can place our anger, hurt, and resentment into God’s hands, God will heal us.  It may take a long time.

The grace is Jesus does not expect us to deal with these hurts and resentments alone.   Jesus walks with us, encourages us, and gives us the grace to let go and to forgive those who have hurt us. We have to be patient with this process and we need to keep coming back to Jesus and asking him to help us forgive. Jesus wants us to ask him to free us of this burden, this pain. Jesus is with us and He will answer our prayers!

Today may we place all our burdens, our anger, and our pain in Jesus’ hands. This will lighten our loads immensely and will free us also.   Will we, do we, trust Jesus?