TEMPTATION
It was F.B. Meyer, I believe, who once said that when we see a brother or sister in sin, there are two things we do not know: First, we do not know how hard he or she tried not to sin. And second, we do not know the power of the forces that assailed him or her. We also do not know what we would have done in the same circumstances.
Stephen Brown, Christianity Today, April 5, 1993, p. 17.
Ash Wednesday
Nowadays the cost of a dinner and a movie keeps going up, and a vacation can be especially expensive, but if I really want to go somewhere I just take the change out of my pocket and lay it on the desk. It's like a time machine. Each coin has a year stamped on it, and just thinking about the year helps me travel back in my memory.
Lent: Stories and Illustrations
From Father Tony Kadavil’s Collection:
1) Alluring music of the Sirens:
In Greek mythology the sirens are creatures with the heads of beautiful women and the bodies of attractive birds. They lived on an island (Sirenum scopuli; three small rocky islands) and with the irresistible charm of their song they lured mariners to their destruction on the rocks surrounding their island (Virgil V, 846; Ovid XIV, 88). They sang so sweetly that all who sailed near their home in the sea were fascinated and drawn to the shore only to be destroyed. When Odysseus, the hero in the Odyssey, passed that enchanted spot he tied himself to the mast and put wax in the ears of his comrades, so that they might not hear the luring and bewitching strains. But King Tharsius chose a better way. He took the great Greek singer and lyrist Orpheus along with him. Orpheus took out his lyre and sang a song so clear and ringing that it drowned the sound of those lovely, fatal voices of sirens. The best way to break the charm of this world’s alluring voices during Lent is not trying to shut out the music by plugging our ears, but to have our hearts and lives filled with the sweeter music of prayer, penance, word of God, self control, and acts of charity. Then temptations will have no power over us (RH).
8 Sunsay A: Trust
From Fr. Jude Botelho:
During the exile the Israelites felt abandoned by God. It was then that the Prophet Isaiah reminded them that God loved them with an unconditional love and He could not stop loving them. He compares God’s love to that of a mother for her child. Can a woman forget her nursing child? Even if she can, God cannot and will not forget us.
During the exile the Israelites felt abandoned by God. It was then that the Prophet Isaiah reminded them that God loved them with an unconditional love and He could not stop loving them. He compares God’s love to that of a mother for her child. Can a woman forget her nursing child? Even if she can, God cannot and will not forget us.
7 Sunday A: Love Your Enemies
From Fr. Jude Botelho:
Today’s first reading from Leviticus speaks of holiness. Holiness means separateness and distinctiveness from the world. The Lord says, “You shall be holy, for I the Lord, your God am holy.” Holiness is primarily the attribute of God, but by relating to God and drawing close to him, Israel too becomes holy. Holiness must flow from one’s behavior to life. If God is compassionate and loving we too must become like our God, more compassionate and loving.
Today’s first reading from Leviticus speaks of holiness. Holiness means separateness and distinctiveness from the world. The Lord says, “You shall be holy, for I the Lord, your God am holy.” Holiness is primarily the attribute of God, but by relating to God and drawing close to him, Israel too becomes holy. Holiness must flow from one’s behavior to life. If God is compassionate and loving we too must become like our God, more compassionate and loving.
6 Sunday A - I have come to fulfill the Law
From Fr, Jude Botelho:
The first reading from the Book of Sirach stresses the free will of human beings. It says that all human beings are free to choose either between good and evil. God meant us to stay in his family not by force but out of love, that is why he gave us freedom to reject the life he offers or accept it, to observe or violate the guidelines to happiness that he established for us all out of love. Today we have to make a choice of how we will live. Our happiness or unhappiness depends on our choices.
The first reading from the Book of Sirach stresses the free will of human beings. It says that all human beings are free to choose either between good and evil. God meant us to stay in his family not by force but out of love, that is why he gave us freedom to reject the life he offers or accept it, to observe or violate the guidelines to happiness that he established for us all out of love. Today we have to make a choice of how we will live. Our happiness or unhappiness depends on our choices.
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