Readings & Reflections: Thursday of the First Week in Lent & St. John Joseph of the Cross, March 5,2020

Queen Esther prostrates all her majesty before the Lord and prays, “Help me, who am alone and have no help but you.” There is no more perfect human gesture than such authentic prayer. Even in our wickedness we know how to give good gifts to our children. Which means that the inclination to pray is something as natural as our heart. Christ tells us to be true to our inborn need to depend: “Ask, seek, knock. You will find.”

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Opening Prayer

Lord, I am not always eager to do your will as I would rather do my own will. Lord, your commandment that I should love my neighbor especially those who have betrayed me and stabbed me when my back was turned has been a big challenge to me. Please be with me on this Lenten journey and help me to remember that your own Spirit can guide me in the right direction of loving those who have hated me and judged me. Lord, I want to “fix” my weaknesses but the process has been overwhelming. But Lord, I know that with your help, anything can be done. With a grateful heart, I acknowledge your love  and know that without you, I can do nothing. In the Name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.

Reading 1
Est C:12, 14-16, 23-25

Queen Esther, seized with mortal anguish,
had recourse to the LORD.
She lay prostrate upon the ground, together with her handmaids,
from morning until evening, and said:
“God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of Jacob, blessed are you.
Help me, who am alone and have no help but you,
for I am taking my life in my hand.
As a child I used to hear from the books of my forefathers
that you, O LORD, always free those who are pleasing to you.
Now help me, who am alone and have no one but you,
O LORD, my God.

“And now, come to help me, an orphan.
Put in my mouth persuasive words in the presence of the lion
and turn his heart to hatred for our enemy,
so that he and those who are in league with him may perish.
Save us from the hand of our enemies;
turn our mourning into gladness
and our sorrows into wholeness.”

The word of God.

Responsorial Psalm
138:1-2ab, 2cde-3, 7c-8
R. (3a) Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me.

I will give thanks to you, O LORD, with all my heart,
for you have heard the words of my mouth;
in the presence of the angels I will sing your praise;
I will worship at your holy temple
and give thanks to your name.
R. Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me.

Because of your kindness and your truth;
for you have made great above all things
your name and your promise.
When I called, you answered me;
you built up strength within me.
R. Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me.

Your right hand saves me.
The LORD will complete what he has done for me;
your kindness, O LORD, endures forever;
forsake not the work of your hands.
R. Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me.

Gospel
Mt 7:7-12

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Ask and it will be given to you;
seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds;
and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
Which one of you would hand his son a stone
when he asked for a loaf of bread,
or a snake when he asked for a fish?
If you then, who are wicked,
know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more will your heavenly Father give good things
to those who ask him.

“Do to others whatever you would have them do to you.
This is the law and the prophets.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

Reflection 1 – Not complete without love

“Do to others whatever you would have them do to you.  This is the law and the prophets.”

Because man is not complete without love, God called every man to a response of unconditional love no matter what the situation may be. He asked to complete each other in love and only to be able to wish others what is good, nothing less.  Jesus did not say that the response of unconditional love towards neighbor would be easy and would come naturally. If it were, Jesus would not have devoted His time explaining the principles of loving and forgiving.  He would not have focused so much on how we should relate with each other.

When a man is angry, hurt, frustrated and at a loss for words because of another’s man’s wrong doing, he has a lot of options to take. He can confront the person, peacefully settle and forget everything and move forward with one’s life or take an adversarial stand, with the hope of eliminating the enemy.  He can opt to ask the help of someone he respects to mediate for him. He can choose to just stay away from the man and forever keep his hurt. However in a big number of cases, man may fail to include God in resolving personal conflicts and differences.

Man fails to realize that this is precisely the moment when we should ask our Lord’s help in putting the principle of love and forgiveness into action.

These are the times when man should be focused on our Lord so that emotions are not made to control one’s life in recognition that Jesus wants us to deal with our feelings in a way that will not destroy us and hurt others.

In my own personal life, these are the times when I terribly fail our Lord. I fail to include God in resolving such conflicts in my life and most often I handle them in my own broken way.  Today as I ponder and ask my heart what Jesus really wants from me given such situations, the Spirit within me has led me to accept that I should be able to give what I want most to receive, LOVE.  When Jesus said: “Do to others whatever you would have them do to you” He re-affirmed that He wants me to unconditionally love my neighbor even those who have hurt me, rejected me and have brought me down to deeper sin.

Because God wants to free me from what is hurtful and void of purpose and to bring me into a better focus on what really counts, He opened my heart to what heals and gives wholeness. He wants me to give my neighbor the kind of love that He has for me. He was quite direct to the point and told me: “love one another as I have loved you”

Lord, forgive me for I have failed you in so many ways… to love those who hurt me… not only once but countless times!

Direction

Love your neighbor despite all… by doing good to those who hate you, by blessing those who curse you, by praying for those who mistreat you. And just as you want people to treat you, treat them in the same way.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, in my brokenness make me a channel of your peace and a vessel of your unending and unconditional love. In Jesus, I pray. Amen.

Reflection 2 – Ask and you will receive from your Father in heaven

Do you expect God to hear your prayers? Esther’s prayer on behalf of her people is a model for us (Esther 14). She prayed for help according to God’s promise to be faithful to his people. God wants us to remember his promises and to count on his help when we pray.

Your Father in heaven gives good things to those who ask with expectant faith
Jesus wanted to raise the expectations of his disciples when he taught them how to pray. Jesus’ parable of the father feeding his son illustrates the unthinkable! How could a loving father refuse to give his son what is good; or worse, to give him what is harmful? In conclusion Jesus makes a startling claim: How much more will the heavenly Father give what is good to those who ask!

Our heavenly Father graciously gives beyond our expectations. Jesus taught his disciples to pray with confidence because the heavenly Father in his goodness always answers prayers. That is why we can boldly pray: Give us this day our daily bread.

The power of prayer to those who believe
Those who know God and trust in God’s love, pray with great boldness. Listen to what John Chrysostom (347-407 AD), a gifted preacher and bishop of Constantinople, had to say about the power of prayer:

“Prayer is an all-efficient panoply [i.e. ‘a full suit of armor’ or ‘splendid array’], a treasure undiminished, a mine never exhausted, a sky unobstructed by clouds, a haven unruffled by storm. It is the root, the fountain, and the mother of a thousand blessings. It exceeds a monarch’s power… I speak not of the prayer which is cold and feeble and devoid of zeal. I speak of that which proceeds from a mind outstretched, the child of a contrite spirit, the offspring of a soul converted – this is the prayer which mounts to heaven… The power of prayer has subdued the strength of fire, bridled the rage of lions, silenced anarchy, extinguished wars, appeased the elements, expelled demons, burst the chains of death, enlarged the gates of heaven, relieved diseases, averted frauds, rescued cities from destruction, stayed the sun in its course, and arrested the progress of the thunderbolt. In sum prayer has power to destroy whatever is at enmity with the good.”

Allow God’s love to purify your mind, heart, and speech
Prayer flows from the love of God; and the personal love we show to our neighbor is fueled by the love that God has poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5). Jesus concludes his discourse on prayer with the reminder that we must treat our neighbor in the same way we wish to be treated by God. We must not just avoid doing harm to our neighbor, we must actively seek his or her welfare. In doing so, we fulfill the scriptural teaching from the “law and the prophets,” namely what God requires of us – loving God with all that we have and are and loving our neighbor as ourselves. The Holy Spirit is ever ready to change our hearts and transform our lives in Jesus’ way of love and merciful kindness towards all. Do you thirst for holiness and for the fire of God’s purifying love?

“Let me love you, my Lord and my God, and see myself as I really am – a pilgrim in this world, a Christian called to respect and love all whose lives I touch, those in authority over me or those under my authority, my friends and my enemies. Help me to conquer anger with gentleness, greed by generosity, apathy by fervor. Help me to forget myself and reach out towards others.”  (Prayer attributed to Clement XI of Rome, 1721) – Read the source: http://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/readings/2020/mar5.htm

Reflection 3 – Do Unto Others

Whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. —Matthew 7:12

In May 2006, a man set out from base camp to make his third attempt on Mount Everest. He actually reached the summit, but on his way down he ran out of oxygen. As he lay on the side of the mountain dying, 40 climbers passed him by.

Some say that at such oxygen-deprived altitudes, rescues are too perilous. But others say that climbers are too eager to reach the top and too selfish to help those in trouble.

I wonder what would have happened if someone who passed that stricken climber had said, “I will treat him the way I want to be treated.”

In Matthew 7:12, the golden rule, Jesus gave His disciples the secret to fulfilling the entire Old Testament relational regulations—love others and live for their benefit. He said this in the larger context of all the radical principles that He had taught up to this point in His sermon (5:17–7:11).

As difficult as it is to live for the benefit of others, Jesus knew His followers could consistently live out this ethic as they drew strength from a righteousness that went beyond duty and outward conformity to rules (5:20). It is a righteousness that can come only from God Himself.

If we are Jesus-followers, let’s walk in His steps—loving others and living for their benefit.

— Marvin Williams

Love is an attitude, love is a prayer
For someone in sorrow, a heart in despair;
Love is good will for the gain of another,
Love suffers long with the fault of a brother. —Anon.

Love is the debt we owe one another (Source: Our Daily Bread, RBC Ministries).

Reflection 4 – Prayer in difficult situations

Jesus teaches us to pray with faith and persistence and said, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” Prayer addresses the benevolence of the Father. If it is to be made in faith, it will also take the quality of steadfastness.

Here’s a woman’s experience. She’s praying, “My husband, in the midst of good health, all of a sudden is stricken with multiple sclerosis, and I’ve got two children to raise, and we’ve got to do something before he gets so crippled; we can’t travel anymore.” But the question that she asks is, “What does this mean – this terrible tragedy – in relationship to God’s plan for me?” And the only way she can come to terms with that is through prayer. Nothing is equal to prayer; for what is impossible it makes possible, what is difficult easy… For, it is impossible for man who prays eagerly and invokes God ceaselessly ever to sin. And it is also good to get together with other people in prayer, for bible reading, and listening to homilies. It helps a great deal to get insights and to get a view that you might not get by yourself.

Here’s a good prayer experience for us to reflect on:

“I asked God for strength, that I might achieve; I was made weak, that I might learn humbly to obey.

“I asked for health, that I might do greater things. I was given infirmity, that I might do greater things.

“I asked for riches, that I might be happy. I was given poverty, that I might be wise.

“I asked for power, that I might have the praise of men. I was given weakness, that I might feel the need for God.

“I asked for all things, that I might enjoy life. I was given life, that I might enjoy all things.

“I got nothing that I asked for. But everything I had hope for.

“Almost, despite myself, my unspoken prayers were answered. I am among all men, truly blessed.

Therefore, do not be troubled if you do not immediately receive from God what you ask him; for, he desires to do something even greater for you while you cling to him in prayer. St. Augustine said, “God wills that our desire should be exercised in prayer that we may be able to receive what he is prepared to give.” As a result, we grow in virtue: patience with courage; a love with tenderness; chastity with spontaneity; a faith without anxieties; a hope without fears and forgiveness without demand.

Above all, the Lord gives freely of his Holy Spirit that we may share in his life and joy. Do you approach your heavenly Father with confidence in his mercy and kindness?

Let’s examine ourselves and pray, “Heavenly Father, you are merciful, gracious and kind. May I never doubt your love nor hesitate to seek you with confidence in order to obtain the gifts, graces, and daily provision I need to live as your disciple and child.”

“Let me love you, my Lord and my God, and see myself as I really am – a pilgrim in this world, a Christian called to respect and love all whose lives I touch, those in authority over me or those under my authority, my friends and my enemies. Help me to conquer anger with gentleness, greed by generosity, apathy by fervor. Help me to forget myself and reach out towards others” (Prayer attributed to Clement XI of Rome).

Reflection 5 – Dependence of God’s power      

In this modern age, many of us believe that we approach the world from a position of strength. We trust ourselves because we have power; we trust our nation because we have armed it well; we trust our police because we ourselves have hired them to protect us. We have not need to trust others when we believe in our own power. It is easy to forget that we are called to trust absolutely in God.

When we are in a position of powerlessness, it is quite different. Facing illness or disaster or even death, we have no personal control. The challenge of trusting in God to see us through such crises is perhaps made more difficult because we are not used to being powerless. We grasp for control, but ultimately face the question of whether or not we believe in God’s power and love.

But the ultimate trust is to hand over the little power we actually have and trust that someone else will use it wisely and compassionately. Such was the case with Esther in today’s first reading (Est C:12,14-16,23-25). She was the case in the position of relative strength, being the favored one of the king. Yet she chose to forego that power for the sake of her people and throw herself on the king’s mercy. Ultimately she depended solely on God to protect her. Her prayer of trust in today’s passage is a model for us of the total dependence on God to which we are called.

Despite all of Jesus’ assurances that God will give us everything that we need, it is so very difficult to hand over the little power we possess. Do we truly believe that God would protect our nation if it was without nuclear armaments and was not a world power? Can we release our grasp on the power of this world in order to trust solely in the greater power of God’s mercy and love?

Reflection 6 – Walking in God’s unconditional love