AS WE ENTER LENT, WE ARE ALL CALLED TO BE HOLY! WE ARE ALL CALLED TO BE SAINTS. On this seventh Sunday of Ordinary time (next week is First Sunday of Lent), we hear the end of Chapter 5 of Matthew's Gospel (Matthew 5:38- 48). This completes our reflection on this magnificent beginning of Jesus' SERMON ON THE MOUNT. Jesus is telling all his disciples, including ourselves today, what it means to be a true disciple, what it means to live a Christian life.
Jesus is not abolishing the Law of Moses; He is fulfilling it. He is making it complete. Jesus is raising the bar. He is asking us not to be angry at anyone but to reconcile with everyone. He is asking us not be vengeful, but rather to offer no resistance to one who is evil: "when someone strikes you on your right cheek, turn the other as well". (Matthew 5:39). He is asking us to LOVE OUR ENEMIES. He is CALLING ALL OF US TO BE HOLY! TO BE A SAINT: "BE PERFECT, JUST AS YOUR HEAVENLY FATHER IS PERFECT" (Matthew 5:48). How can this be? We are all sinners. We are so weak, so imperfect...Do we believe that Jesus can do it for us?
Do we have the desire to be a saint? Do we believe in the power of Our Lord Jesus Christ? Can we open our hearts to His Holy Spirit and let Him guide us?
Christian life is a daily conversion, a daily battle between good and evil. When we fail, we are invited to reconcile with God and ... go back to Confession.
Entering the 40 days of Lent is a perfect time to reflect on our desire to be holy, to be a saint, and to enter into a closer union with Jesus. Lent is a time of PRAYER, PENANCE, FASTING, ALMSGIVING. It is a time of ANTICIPATION: following the Passion and Death of our Lord Jesus Christ on Good Friday, we REJOICE AT HIS RESURRECTION on EASTER SUNDAY. Lent is not a time of despair. Lent is a time of PEACE.
Do we want to have no daily worries? Do we want to be able to accept our daily sufferings? Do we want to be joyful and at peace today? Jesus is the only way. There is no other way. Jesus is the only Hope. Have Faith in Him!
Last week, I wrote to you about the SURRENDER Prayer "O Jesus, I surrender myself to you. Take care of everything." One parishioner told me:
"Father, I keep praying. But God does not respond to my prayer. How can then Jesus take care of everything? " This is a mystery: the mystery of FAITH, the mystery of the EUCHARIST, the mystery of our ENCOUNTER WITH CHRIST, the mystery of the LOVE of GOD poured into our hearts through the HOLY SPIRIT, the mystery of GOD allowing us to SUFFER so that by accepting our sufferings we will be closer to His Son dying for us on the Cross and rising for us.
Faith is a GIFT FROM GOD. We can accept it or refuse it. When we encounter Christ, we cannot keep being lukewarm Christians. We have to give it all to Christ.
In last week's column, we quoted the first Day of the Surrender Novena. Today let us pray together the second Day (Jesus speaking to Father Dolindo):
Surrender to me does not mean to fret, to be upset, or to lose hope, nor does it mean offering to me a worried prayer asking me to follow you and change your worry into prayer. It is against this surrender, deeply against it, to worry, to be nervous and to desire to think about the consequences of anything. It is like the confusion that children feel when they ask their mother to see their needs, and then try to take care of those needs for themselves so that their childlike efforts get in their mother's way. Surrender means to placidly close the eyes of the soul, to turn away from thoughts of tribulation and to put yourself in my care, so that only I act, saying "You take care of it.”
"O Jesus, I surrender myself to You, take care of everything!" (10 times)
O Jesus, help me to enter into closer union with you this coming Lent! Help me to spend more time with you in prayer, especially in front of the Tabernacle or the exposed Blessed Sacrament. Help me to rec- oncile with all my brothers and sisters. Help me to reconcile with You in the Confessional. Help me to surrender myself to You! Help me to become a saint!
One in Christ,
Fr. Alain
Click here for the Lent 2023 Schedule