These reflections are a result of more than 40 years of ministry as a Roman Catholic priest. Most of these years I spent in the Diocese of Charlotte which covers Western North Carolina. Now I am retired, and live in Medellín, Colombia where I continue to serve as a priest in the Archdiocese of Medellín.
You shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD. (Lev 19:1-2, 11-18)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/031025.cfm
In one sense, Lent is never about US: what I’m going to sacrifice, how much weight I’m going to lose, how much time I’m going to spend in prayer. Lent is always about OTHERS. As Jesus gently reminds us, love your neighbor as yourself is not optional. We can never love God unless we love our neighbor. We continue to pray for Pope Francis.
Then he took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a single instant. The devil said to him, “I shall give to you all this power and glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I may give it to whomever I wish. All this will be yours, if you worship me.” Jesus said to him in reply, “It is written, You shall worship the Lord, your God, and him alone shall you serve.” (Lk 4:1-13)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/030925.cfm
One of the questions from the Rite of Baptism asks, “Do you reject the glamor of evil and refuse to be mastered by sin?” If evil weren’t glamorous, we wouldn’t be taken in so quickly. The truth is that the evil one knows where we are weakest. Power and glory are addictive. It’s really sad to see it play out on the world stage for all to see.
Thus says the LORD: If you remove from your midst oppression, false accusation and malicious speech; If you bestow your bread on the hungry and satisfy the afflicted; Then light shall rise for you in the darkness, and the gloom shall become for you like midday. (Is 58:9b-14)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/030825.cfm
What God asks of us requires a whole set of values, a whole new way of thinking. Some may call it “woke” but God calls it righteousness. May Our Lady of Lourdes intercede for Pope Francis and all the sick.
This, rather, is the fasting that I wish: releasing those bound unjustly, untying the thongs of the yoke; Setting free the oppressed, breaking every yoke; Sharing your bread with the hungry, sheltering the oppressed and the homeless; Clothing the naked when you see them, and not turning your back on your own. (Is 58:1-9a)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/030725.cfm
If Lent doesn’t lead us to the poor, then we’re doing it wrong. Lent is always about what we do for others. Justice and mercy are not optional, they are essential. We continue to pray for Pope Francis and his ministry to the church.
Then Jesus said to all, "If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.” (Lk 9:22-25)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/030625.cfm
Love so amazing, so divine. Lent is not about what we do for God, but rather what God has done for us in Christ. The Lord reminds us what this journey of Lent is all about: a daily following in his footsteps. We remember Pope Francis and the Cross he bears.
