 
General Theme: Pilgrims of Hope General Objective: To live with faith and hope this Jubilee Year Objective of the week: That we may grow in faith, love and hope during this second week of Lent. INTRODUCTION We are in the second week of Lent. We continue our inner preparation which is supported by concrete actions of love with people around us. Let's devote again our time to listen to God through His word to realize the deeper transformation in our lives according to His will. MONDAY “A God of Chances” Daniel 9:4b-10 I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed: “Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws. We have not listened to your servants, the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes and our ancestors, and to all the people of the land. “Lord, you are righteous, but this day we are covered with shame—the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, both near and far, in all the countries where you have scattered us because of our unfaithfulness to you. We and our kings, our princes and our ancestors are covered with shame, Lord, because we have sinned against you. The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him; we have not obeyed the Lord our God or kept the laws he gave us through his servants the prophets. Psalm 79:8.9.11.13 Do not hold against us the sins of past generations; may your mercy come quickly to meet us, for we are in desperate need. Help us, God our Savior, for the glory of your name; deliver us and forgive our sins for your name’s sake. May the groans of the prisoners come before you; with your strong arm preserve those condemned to die. Then we your people, the sheep of your pasture, will praise you forever; from generation to generation we will proclaim your praise. Luke 6:36-38 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. The Jubilee Year is a great year of mercy and compassion. The Lord is granting us pardon of sins and plenary indulgence from our forgiven sins. He is giving us an opportunity to repent and renew ourselves for He knows how vulnerable we are to sin and easily reject His commandments. We have been not honoring His passion, death, and resurrection for our salvation, because we prefer what pleases and satisfies us to the point of hurting the Lord in our brothers and sisters. It is easy to condemn and judge them. We love to say tactless words and enjoy juicy gossip rather than to be prudent and bear with the weaknesses of others. In this second week of lent, we must pause for a moment and ask ourselves how many times we failed to love the Lord by being indifferent to our neighbors because of their shortcomings and yet, we have forgotten that we too have our own imperfections in life. The Lord does not look at our imperfections and iniquities, but as beloved children of His. Nevertheless, He is much interested in our sincerity to come home to Him rather than to remain in our sins. This is truly a journey of hope, an encounter of crosses and trials that challenge our faith in God; crosses to hope in Christ who is among us and with us, ever ready to forgive and gives us another chance to set us free from our indifference to acceptance, hatred to love, and condemnation to mercy and forgiveness. Let us invite ourselves to practice these acts as our works of mercy to make the most of this holy year.
TUESDAY “In our humility, God restore us” Isaiah 1:10,16-20 Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom; listen to the instruction of our God, you people of Gomorrah! Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight; stop doing wrong. Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed.[a] Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow. “Come now, let us settle the matter,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good things of the land; but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.” For the mouth of the Lord has spoken. Psalm 50:8-9.16-17.21.23 I bring no charges against you concerning your sacrifices or concerning your burnt offerings, which are ever before me. I have no need of a bull from your stall or of goats from your pens, But to the wicked person, God says: “What right have you to recite my laws or take my covenant on your lips? You hate my instruction and cast my words behind you. When you did these things and I kept silent, you thought I was exactly[a] like you. But I now arraign you and set my accusations before you. Those who sacrifice thank offerings honor me, and to the blameless[a] I will show my salvation.” Matthew 23:1-12 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them. Our readings and the Gospel warn us against pride and the nonsense work just to show off for people to see. Pride blocks us from the truth of who we are before God. God knows and understands the true us and no need to pretend to be that someone else to merit the approval of other people. God accepts us in our shortcomings, He is hopeful of our life, he loves each one of us completely and unconditionally. We must take this truth deep into our hearts, and be always willing to be open and listen to His words and act upon it. Jesus is inviting us to repent and change our ways acceptable to God, to sincerely commit to be humble and be more compassionate to our brothers and sisters, to serve than to be served. Then he promises that he will wash away our sins and restore us beyond anything we could have hoped for.
WEDNESDAY “Hope in Uncertainty” 2 Samuel 7:4-5a.12-14a.16 But that night the word of the Lord came to Nathan, saying: “Go and tell my servant David, ‘This is what the Lord says: Are you the one to build me a house to dwell in? When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him with a rod wielded by men, with floggings inflicted by human hands. Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me[; your throne will be established forever.’” Psalm 89:2-3.4-5.27.29 I will declare that your love stands firm forever, that you have established your faithfulness in heaven itself. You said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one, I have sworn to David my servant, ‘I will establish your line forever and make your throne firm through all generations.’”[a] The heavens praise your wonders, Lord, your faithfulness too, in the assembly of the holy ones. And I will appoint him to be my firstborn, the most exalted of the kings of the earth. I will establish his line forever, his throne as long as the heavens endure. Romans 4:13.16-18.22 It was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.”[a] He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not. Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.” Matthew 1:16.18-21.24 and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah. This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about[a]: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph, her husband, was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,[c] because he will save his people from their sins.” When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. The promise that God is with us is always our source of great comfort and hope. It is a constant reminder that no matter the circumstances, God will always be with us, to guide and sustain us in every step of the way. Both David and Joseph were just ordinary men, transformed by faith to play crucial roles in God’s plan. Through this, we are reminded that God can use anyone, regardless of background, to accomplish the salvation He has promised.
THURSDAY “Be generous as God is generous” Jeremiah 17:5-10 This is what the Lord says: “Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the Lord. That person will be like a bush in the wastelands; they will not see prosperity when it comes. They will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives. “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.” The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? “I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.” Psalm 1:1-2.3.4.6 Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his Law Day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither-- whatever they do prospers. Not so wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away. For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked leads to destruction. Luke 16:19-31 “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores. “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’ “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’ “He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’ “Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’ “No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’” The Gospel of the rich man and Lazarus helps us to reflect our very own life in front of God, that is, what richness that blinds us to see the needs of our brothers? The Rich man treasured his wealth and comfortable life each day of his life while watching Lazarus die in hunger at his gate. He has so much material abundance, which is in stark contrast to that of Lazarus, who is very poor. However much the rich man has, in fact many of which are already in excess, he did not give any to Lazarus. This goes to show that when we are consumed with our very own pleasures and comfort, our sensitivity to be generous to others shuts down. Treasures however, are not only limited to money or wealth but to everything that robs us from being generous to others. For example, failing to listen to someone who needs sympathy because we do not want to give our time or when we withhold our appreciation to a friend out of envy, or our forgiveness because of hatred: these are just some of the many situations that show that the false treasures that we hold on to, make us like that of rich man who is greedy. The passage on Jer 17:10 reminds us of our accountability before God on this aspect, “I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve”. Let this season of Lent be an examination of conscience so we can see our lack of generosity to the needs of others, as we continue to journey as pilgrims of hope this Jubilee year.
FRIDAY “The Cross....the Real Path to LOVE” Genesis 37:3-4.12-13a.17b-28a Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because he had been born to him in his old age; and he made an ornate[a] robe for him. When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him. Now his brothers had gone to graze their father’s flocks near Shechem, and Israel said to Joseph, “As you know, your brothers are grazing the flocks near Shechem. Come, I am going to send you to them.” “They have moved on from here,” the man answered. “I heard them say, ‘Let’s go to Dothan.’” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them near Dothan. But they saw him in the distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him. “Here comes that dreamer!” they said to each other. “Come now, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns and say that a ferocious animal devoured him. Then we’ll see what comes of his dreams.” When Reuben heard this, he tried to rescue him from their hands. “Let’s not take his life,” he said. “Don’t shed any blood. Throw him into this cistern here in the wilderness, but don’t lay a hand on him.” Reuben said this to rescue him from them and take him back to his father. So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe—the ornate robe he was wearing— and they took him and threw him into the cistern. The cistern was empty; there was no water in it. As they sat down to eat their meal, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were loaded with spices, balm and myrrh, and they were on their way to take them down to Egypt. Judah said to his brothers, “What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? Come, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him; after all, he is our brother, our own flesh and blood.” His brothers agreed. So when the Midianite merchants came by, his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern and sold him for twenty shekels[a] of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt. Psalm 105:16-17.18-19.20-21 He called down famine on the land and destroyed all their supplies of food; and he sent a man before them-- Joseph, sold as a slave. They bruised his feet with shackles, his neck was put in irons, till what he foretold came to pass, till the word of the Lord proved him true. The king sent and released him, the ruler of peoples set him free. He made him master of his household, ruler over all he possessed, Matthew 21:33-43.45-46 “Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place. When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit. “The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. Last of all, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said. “But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.’ So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. “Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.” Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: “‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes’[a]? “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they knew he was talking about them. They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet. Today we are invited to fix our eyes on the Cross of Jesus our Christ. For this is what true loving is all about. The Cross where Jesus is nailed is the concrete expression of God's love for us. Through Jesus Christ we are saved as beloved children of God. Have you been able to ask yourself this question, why does God allow suffering to exist in the lives of people here on earth? Bear in mind that suffering does not literally come from God. It is the consequences of our wrong decision and sin. Though God allows us to suffer, through our suffering we become closer to Him. For God does not allow us that we will be separated from Him. When we suffer, our eyes are opened to see His great concern for the whole of humanity. In Ps. 105:16 says, " The Lord sent famine to their country and took away all their food."Why? Because in the absence of earthly materials will make us open to His providence. Does God really turn his back on us when we are in suffering? Ps 105:17 says, " But he sent a man ahead of them, Joseph who had been sold as a slave." To hope in the Lord with strong faith is the best step in order to recognize the beauty of God's love for us. For He never abandoned us. Instead, He always prepares what is best for us. Just like what to Jesus who resurrected after his passion and death and conquered sin and death. From that resurrection we are also receiving "eternal life" , a great privilege being children of God. As Matthew 21:42 says, Jesus said to them, "Haven't you ever read the Scriptures say? The stone which the builders rejected as worthless turned out to be the most important of all. This was done by the Lord. What a wonderful sight it is!"
READINGS FOR THE THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT (MARCH 23, 2025) Exodus 3:1-8a, 13-15; Psalm 103; 1 Corinthians 10:1-6,10-12; Luke 13:1-9 A SPIRITUAL REFLECTION BY POPE FRANCIS FOR THE THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT Let us repent, for it is our sin that causes misfortunes, not the God of mercy Dear brothers and sisters, happy Sunday! We are at the heart of our Lenten journey, and today the Gospel begins by presenting Jesus who comments on some news of the day. While people still remember the 18 who died when a tower collapsed on them, they tell him about some Galileans whom Pilot had killed (cf. Lk 13:1). And there is a question that seems to accompany these tragic affairs: who is to blame for these terrible events? Perhaps those people were guiltier than others and God punished them? These are questions that also come up today. When crime news weighs on us and we feel powerless before evil, we often ask ourselves: is it perhaps a punishment from God? Did he bring about a war or a pandemic to punish us for our sins? And why does the Lord not intervene? We must be careful: when evil oppresses us, we run the risk of losing our clarity and, in order to find an easy answer to what we are unable to explain, we end up putting the blame on God. And very often the bad habit of using profanities comes from this. How often do we attribute to him our woes and misfortunes in the world, to he who instead leaves us always free and hence never intervenes by imposing himself, but only by proposing himself; He who never uses violence and indeed suffers for us and with us! In fact, Jesus rejects and strongly contests the idea of blaming God for our evils: those persons who were killed by Pilate and those who died beneath the tower were not any more at fault than others, and they were not victims of a ruthless and vindictive God, which does not exist! Evil can never come from God because “He does not deal with us according to our sins” (Ps 103:10), but according to his mercy. This is God’s style. He cannot treat us otherwise. He always treats us with mercy. But rather than blaming God, Jesus says we need to look within ourselves: it is sin that produces death; it is our selfishness that tears apart relationships; it is our wrong and violent choices that unleash evil. At this point the Lord offers the true solution. What is it? Conversion: He says, “unless you repent you will all likewise perish” (Lk 13:5). It is an urgent call, especially during this time of Lent. Let us welcome it with an open heart. Let us convert from evil, let us renounce the sin that seduces us, let us be open to the logic of the Gospel because where love and fraternity reign, evil no longer has power! But Jesus knows that conversion is not easy, and he wants to help us here. He knows that we often repeat the same mistakes and the same sins; that we become discouraged, and perhaps it may seem that our commitment to do good is useless in a world where evil appears to rule. Thus, after his appeal, he encourages us with a parable that tells of the patience of God. We must keep in mind God’s patience, the patience he has for us. He offers the comforting image of a fig tree that does not bear fruit during the accorded season, but is not cut down. More time is given to it, another possibility. I like to think that a nice name for God could be “the God of another possibility”: God always gives us another opportunity, always, always. That is what his mercy is like. This is how the Lord is with us. He does not cut us out of his love. He does not lose heart or tire of offering us his trust again, with tenderness. Brothers and sisters, God believes in us! God trusts us and accompanies us with patience, the patience of God with us. He does not become discouraged, but always instils his hope in us. God is Father and looks after you like a father. As the best of fathers, he does not look at the achievements you have not yet reached, but the fruits you can still bear. He does not keep track of your shortcomings but encourages your potential. He does not dwell on your past, but confidently bets on your future. This is because God is close to us, he is close to us. Let us not forget that the style of God is closeness. He is close with mercy and tenderness. In this way, God accompanies us: with closeness, mercy, and tenderness. Thus, let us ask the Blessed Virgin Mary to fill us with hope and courage, and kindle in us the desire for conversion. THE JUBILEE PRAYER Father in heaven,
may the faith you have given us in your son, Jesus Christ, our brother, and the flame of charity enkindled in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, reawaken in us the blessed hope for the coming of your Kingdom. May your grace transform us into tireless cultivators of the seeds of the Gospel. May those seeds transform from within both humanity and the whole cosmos in the sure expectation of a new heaven and a new earth, when, with the powers of Evil vanquished, your glory will shine eternally. May the grace of the Jubilee reawaken in us, Pilgrims of Hope, a yearning for the treasures of heaven. May that same grace spread the joy and peace of our Redeemer throughout the earth. To you our God, eternally blessed, be glory and praise for ever. Amen
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
About the Guidelines SheetThe Guidelines sheet is a prayer guide with the Word of God to help us journey together and be one in our weekly prayer as one community. This contains daily passages from scriptures together with reflections focused on a common theme and intention for the week. Archives
April 2025
Categories |
||
Search by typing & pressing enter
RSS Feed
