Saturday March 7 & Sunday March 8, 2009 Reflections

Saturday March 7, 2009 of the 1st week in Lent
Readings Deuteronomy 26: 16-19 Psalm 119 Matthew : 43-48
Psalm Response: " Blessed are they who follow the Law of the Lord"

In Moses' final discourse to the Hebrew people, he instructs them/us in the way God enjoins us to become mature servants of His. His commandments waste no language. Anyone of average intelligence can commit them to memory with full uinderstanding and rationale.
To love God, our creator, is as natural as to love the one who bears us; no one would demean his mother! ;
Setting aside one(1) day out of seven(7) to devote ourselves to thanksgiving and praise doesn't call for anything but love;
When we honor our parents, we remotely honor God. As He is our Creator, they are the means of our lives;
As yesterdays Gospel relates hate with murder, avoid both;
Our lifelong commitment to one spouse is just that; no other can satisfy;
Instinctively, the property of others isn't ours!;
Honesty in speech and manner, speaks volumes of our character;
Another's wife and goods are theirs not to be shared with anyone but God.
PRETTY SIMPLE!

This longest Psalm makes God's Laws sacrasinct, not to be avoided, but to be an anchor of our lives.

When Christ equates our actions to those of sinners, can we do less than His best? Love of neighbor is natural. To disdain someone not intimately part of our near family is to neglect another creature created in His likeness. The lesson for today is Love. All problems cease if love is the basis for our actions!

Sunday March 8, 2009 Second Sunday in Lent

Readings: Genesis 22:1-2, 9a, 10-13, 15-18, 26b Psalm 116: 10, 15,16-17, 18-19 Response: “ I will walk before the Lord, in the land of the living.” Romans 8:31b-34 Mark 9: 2-10
Depending on the mood of the celebrant, the theme of the Mass begins with a request for Mercy or, a request to be before the Lord in His Heavenly Kingdom.
The opening prayer continues the plea for a sure way to God's Son. Darkness has fallen upon the nations of the world with the threat of war and the light will only come forth through the pleasure of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Some Christians wonder why we would consider the story of Abraham's faith compelling in our day. Abraham and Sarah were childless most of their lives. Isaac came along with God's intercession when both were beyond the capacity to bear children without Divine prerogatives. This story of faith is to remind us, even in the most dire of circumstances, we are to obey the calling of God. The missing verses from this pericope tell a tale of a frightened boy carrying the wood for the sacrificial fire on his own shoulders. When Abraham told the boy, "God would provide", he already knew what the sacrifice was to be. How it must have torn at his heart to know the victim would be the son he loved, his only son. When, in the final analysis, his faith was manifest, we may fast forward to the Passover many years ahead when God did not withhold His only Son so we might live.
The Psalmist might have been thinking of his father Abraham when he wrote this poem of love. He believed, even at the point of great affliction. Never questioning the request for the sacrifice of his son, Abraham gained the trust of the Lord so all nations would bless him and all three great religions would honor him as their progenitor.
Paul puts into perspective the point of God's love. "If God is for us, what does it matter if the rest of the world is against us? We must recognize God could have selected many ways of offering His salvation. When He sent His Son, it was not His intent for Him to die on the cross. It was the circumstance many field generals face when they know a mission is dangerous and someone must be sent to perhaps sacrifice his life for the benefit of all. However, God did not hesitate. Otherwise, the opponent, the devil would have won.
Mark shows Jesus' Transfiguration as evidence of His Divinity. The appearance of Moses and Elijah, representing the Law and The Prophets in the Glory of Heaven, not only helped them better understand His mission, but, it also permitted them a vision of the future when Christ, our Light, would reign with them as His Emissaries. When He told them, after their heavenly experience, He would be raised from the dead, their minds must have gelled. What did this mean? To them it was an irrational statement. To us, it is our reason for following in His footsteps!