Good News Reflection
FOR NEXT SUNDAY: February 21, 2010
First Sunday of Lent, Cycle C
Parish bulletins, faith-sharing groups, RCIA:
For professionally published, printable copies of this reflection,
please go to Catholic Digital Resources:
http://catholicdr.com/calendar/Lent/Lent1.htm - Preview a sample
Next Sunday's Readings:
Deut 26:4-10
Ps 91:1-2, 10-15
Rom 10:8-13
Luke 4:1-13
http://www.usccb.org/nab/022110.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_02_21.mp3
Jesus' life is our life if we're sincere about our faith. We unite ourselves to him by receiving his body and blood in the Eucharist. We meet him in the scriptures and walk with him on the path to heaven.
During Lent, the readings that the Church gives to us for Sunday and daily Mass will help us with this journey if we listen with an ear that recognizes our personal connections to Christ.
In next Sunday's Gospel passage, we journey with Jesus into the desert. Consider your own struggles with temptation; reflect on how sin makes your life feel barren and dry like a desert.
When we walk with Jesus, we unite ourselves to his struggle with the devil and to his victory over the devil. Our temptations become his temptations, and in our efforts to remain united to him, we reject Satan and choose the life of holiness. The Church helps us do this by giving us ways during Lent to improve our self-discipline and conquer the self-centeredness that makes us vulnerable to sin: fasting and abstinence, alms-giving and reconciliation.
Every meal and meat that we give up for Lent, every sin that we confess in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, every sacrifice of time that we make to add more prayer and spiritual reading to our daily life, and every other Lenten activity is a practice of self-denial that unites us to Jesus in the desert.
Jesus fasted from food and other physical comforts during his battle with the devil, and this strategy strengthened him and prepared him for the ministry that came afterward. This is what Lent should be for us, too.
Satan is not someone to fear. Jesus already defeated all demons on our behalf, first in the desert and then on the cross. Our battle is really only against temptation and our personal weaknesses that make us vulnerable in to it.
We don't always want to follow Jesus. This is what we must surrender to God during Lent. Then Easter will be far more meaningful, because we will emerge from Lent much stronger in our faith.
To help you enhance your Lenten faith journey, each year I make my Good News reflections available as a downloadable PDF file (an e-book) that can be printed and taken with you to daily Mass or Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament or any place of meditation. It's published at Catholic Digital Resources for a small fee, but if you cannot pay for it, please select the "Alternative Ordering Methods" below the order form to request a free gift voucher, which I offer as part of my tithing to our Lord. Start here: http://catholicdr.com/ebooks/Lent.htm
Questions for Personal Reflection:
What are the temptations that are most pressing in your life? Be honest with yourself! How are you succumbing to the devil, even though he really has no power over you? Don't be ashamed. Guilt is not what Jesus wants from you. What he does want is your desire to receive his help in overcoming temptation. He's waiting for you in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
Questions for Family & Community Faith Sharing:
How do you know that the Sacrament of Reconciliation really works? How is it more than just a confession of your sins? How has it helped you grow stronger in following Jesus?
STARTING ON MONDAY, if you're a member of the "Emmaus Journey" e-group, share your answers by writing to EmmausJourney@gnm.org
* To join and become a member, go to:
http://gogoodnews.net/GNMcommunities/EmmausJourney/
© 2010 by Terry A. Modica
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