MikeLigalig.com

Since the early centuries the Church has suggested three things that we undertake during Lent - prayer, fasting and almsgiving. It is for this reason that the Gospel text for Ash Wednesday every year is Jesus’ advice on prayer, fasting and almsgiving (Matt 6:1-6, 16-18). During Lent let us pray more, fast and help the poor.

For almsgiving or helping the poor, the Church makes it easy for us by giving us the opportunity to contribute to Catholic aid agencies. Helping the poor during Lent brings the words of Jesus to mind, “Whatever you did to one of the least of these you did to me.” (Matt 25:45)

Fasting is another task the Church encourages us to undertake during Lent. From the spiritual point of view, fasting symbolizes our dependence on God. It expresses the fact that we really are trying to put God first in our life. The Bible tells us that fasting from food must go together with fasting from violence and fasting from oppressing people (Isa 58:3-12). In other words, when we fast from food it is to be accompanied by a loving and forgiving attitude towards others. We could say that fasting from food in itself is not what is important, it is what the fasting symbolizes that really matters. So to fast in a way that is genuinely pleasing to God, can we make an effort to forgive those who have hurt us and not harbor resentment any longer? Why do we need to keep up grudges? Is it merely because we like to be in control? Perhaps to forgive, we also need to give up our need to dominate and control others. If we have a problem forgiving someone, let us share it with the Lord and ask his help and grace so that we may forgive. While we may not forget we certainly do not want to live being dominated by past wounds. We want to live in the present free of the past.



Linkback: https://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=47777.0

1st SUNDAY OF LENT

By Fr Robert Barron and Fr Julius Clavero

Welcome to the first Sunday of Lent, to the first Sunday of this blessed season of preparation for the celebration of Easter. In the long tradition of the Church, we commence this period with Ash Wednesday, these 40 days of the Lenten discipline of prayer, fasting and alms-giving.

We begin our reflection by going back to the story of creation. In the book of Genesis we are told that God made everything good. We are told that all of creation is good. Even the insects and crawling animals that we find creepy, God sees them as good.

But then sin entered into the picture. What was the first sin? It was disobedience. Obedience comes from the Latin word obedire which means ‘to listen, to abide by’. Adam and Eve refused to listen to the instructions of God. They refused to obey. They ate the fruit of the forbidden tree.

What was the result of sin? The disobedience of Adam and Eve resulted in division, mutual suspicion, separation, hatred, violence. Adam blaming Eve, Eve blaming the serpent. Cain killing his brother Abel. The first sin against God was disobedience. The first sin against a fellow human being was murder committed by no less than a brother. When we refuse to listen to God, we bring destruction upon ourselves. When we stop listening to God, everything around us falls apart.

The story of Noah in the First Reading gives us the pattern of God’s response to sin. When we sin, when we destroy ourselves, He comes to rescue us. The flood in the story represents not God’s punishment; it represents the destruction that human beings brought upon themselves. The ark is symbolic of God’s effort to rescue His creation, to save not just human beings but all of creation which he created and found good. When we sin, we destroy ourselves. The good news is: God always comes to rescue us, to bring us the ark, to offer us salvation.

Because of sin, the Garden of Eden lost its glory. Because of sin, the garden becomes a desert. Sin always destroys beauty and goodness. Interestingly, the Gospel today says the Spirit drove Jesus out into the desert. Why to the desert? The Spirit brought Jesus to the desert so that He can transform the desert created by sin into a garden again. Such has always been the movement of God. Whenever we destroy something, He comes to create it again.

What is the invitation for us, especially during this blessed season of Lent? Certainly, it helps to go back to the tradition of prayer, fasting and alms-giving. Most people are comfortable with the first and the last but abhor the middle. They think that fasting is, in the favorite words of Justice Cuevas, “irrelevant and immaterial” to the Christian life. On the contrary, the practice of fasting has always been regarded, especially by ancient cultures, as crucial in keeping an ideal alive. The Egyptians, for example, fast in order to preserve their youth. The Greeks fast in order to stay mentally sharp and alert. The American-Indians do it in order to remain brave. We Christians fast because we believe that it is an integral component of the spiritual life. We fast because we want to create a space within us, because we want to create a hunger that is not just physical but spiritual, so that we can pay attention to God, so that we can listen to Him intently again.

In this mass we pray: Lord, help us to create a space within us. Help us to acquire a profound hunger in our hearts, so that we can again listen to you, and obey your Word, because apart from you there is no life, only destruction. Amen.

                                                             

                                                             

Linkback: https://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=47777.0