May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in Your sight, our strength and our redeemer. Amen.
Lent 2025: another opportunity for deep reflection and for strengthening our relationship with Almighty God. Another desert journey to make right with Almighty God, where we have wronged, sinned, hurt or offended His loving heart.
In our gospel passage today, we find our Lord Jesus being warned by the Pharisees that he should leave — flee — for Herod wants to kill Him. Now we might wonder, why the Pharisees? Was the warning sincere or was it part of their scheme to get Jesus away, out of their territory? Whatever the reason may have been, Jesus’ response is declaring His mission, that He is not going anywhere, He is there to heal, to cure and to restore.
He continues to make the bold statement, that after all that, He must be on His way for, “it is impossible for a prophet to be killed outside of Jerusalem”. In a way, stating that nothing and no one is going to hinder this mission that He was sent to do.
What does all of this mean to us, as we continue on our Lenten journey? How does it touch our hearts, knowing that Jesus, through His earthly ministry, healed, cured and restored so many people, in the hope that they will fully turn to Almighty God? How does it touch our hearts, knowing that Jesus then went through that agonising passion and death to free us from the bondage of sin?
Who and what are the Pharisees and the Herods in our lives that distract us from our mission in striving to deepen our relationship with God?
Where do we hear the voices of distraction when we want to pray, and feel, I will pray later, postponing our quality sacred time with God?
Where do we feel those voices of distraction when we want to share with others, and say, another day, not today, postponing that holy moment of serving Christ through my neighbour?
Where do we feel the voices of hindrance when we are fasting and abstaining from the pleasures of the everyday life, and say, tomorrow, postponing that sacred act?
Remember we started our Lenten journey hearing from the gospel, not IF you fast, pray or give, but WHEN you, fast, pray and give. How is our mission of fasting, praying and giving? Are we moving closer to God, or away from Him?
Let us stay strong on this desert journey, seeking the strength and guidance of the Holy Spirit, that we with joyful hearts may appear at the Lord’s Eastertide.