Monday of the Fourth Week of Lent 2017
Reflection
Tourists just pass through. Pilgrims journey with God’s promise.
People today tend to have a very static notion of faith. They think faith is a thing we own or possess or have like a house or a car or a pet. That’s certainly not the understanding of faith, we encounter in the Scriptures. Throughout the Bible faith is depicted and described as a journey, a pilgrimage and, dare I say, even an adventure. Faith is dynamic. If it’s healthy, sincere and profound it compels us to embark on a journey – a journey of self-discovery and a journey into the very mystery of God.
That journey is always motivated, guided and directed by God’s promise. Before God asks anything of us He always makes a promise. Our destiny, our vocation and our calling to walk with God confident that His promises will become a reality.
This morning’s Gospel is a case in point . The royal official goes and begs Jesus to come and save his son who was at the point of death. Jesus responds “Go; your son will live” and this is enough for him to believe and set off on his journey home. This our life and our destiny: to believe and take to the road just like Abraham, who trusted in the Lord and journeyed on amid hardship and difficulty .
Are we prepared to travel with the Lord? Does our faith move us to journey towards God? Regrettably, there are many Christians who do not start that journey. Many have come to a standstill. Their hope is weak. They believe that heaven exists, but they are not seeking it. They follow the Commandments, they fulfil all the precepts but they have come to a standstill. They are going nowhere in their spiritual lives .
Then there are others who have taken the wrong road. We all sometimes take the wrong turning. The problem is not taking the wrong direction; the problem is not turning back once we realize that we've made a mistake. The fact that we are sinners is what causes us to choose the wrong path. We can return: the Lord gives us the grace to be able to return.
There is another, even more dangerous group, because they deceive themselves. They journey but make no headway. There are wandering Christians: they go round and round as though life were an existential tour with no goal and no end … they do not take God’s promises seriously.
The Lord asks us not to stop, not to take the wrong road and not to wander through life. He asks us to look to His promises, to go forward with His promises before us. He wants us to be like the man from the Gospel of John, who believed in Jesus’ promises and took to the road.
Lent is, above all, a time to consider whether we are on the journey or whether we have come to a standstill. In this Sacred Season, we are urged to set out on the right path once more.
Reflection
Tourists just pass through. Pilgrims journey with God’s promise.
People today tend to have a very static notion of faith. They think faith is a thing we own or possess or have like a house or a car or a pet. That’s certainly not the understanding of faith, we encounter in the Scriptures. Throughout the Bible faith is depicted and described as a journey, a pilgrimage and, dare I say, even an adventure. Faith is dynamic. If it’s healthy, sincere and profound it compels us to embark on a journey – a journey of self-discovery and a journey into the very mystery of God.
That journey is always motivated, guided and directed by God’s promise. Before God asks anything of us He always makes a promise. Our destiny, our vocation and our calling to walk with God confident that His promises will become a reality.
This morning’s Gospel is a case in point . The royal official goes and begs Jesus to come and save his son who was at the point of death. Jesus responds “Go; your son will live” and this is enough for him to believe and set off on his journey home. This our life and our destiny: to believe and take to the road just like Abraham, who trusted in the Lord and journeyed on amid hardship and difficulty .
Are we prepared to travel with the Lord? Does our faith move us to journey towards God? Regrettably, there are many Christians who do not start that journey. Many have come to a standstill. Their hope is weak. They believe that heaven exists, but they are not seeking it. They follow the Commandments, they fulfil all the precepts but they have come to a standstill. They are going nowhere in their spiritual lives .
Then there are others who have taken the wrong road. We all sometimes take the wrong turning. The problem is not taking the wrong direction; the problem is not turning back once we realize that we've made a mistake. The fact that we are sinners is what causes us to choose the wrong path. We can return: the Lord gives us the grace to be able to return.
There is another, even more dangerous group, because they deceive themselves. They journey but make no headway. There are wandering Christians: they go round and round as though life were an existential tour with no goal and no end … they do not take God’s promises seriously.
The Lord asks us not to stop, not to take the wrong road and not to wander through life. He asks us to look to His promises, to go forward with His promises before us. He wants us to be like the man from the Gospel of John, who believed in Jesus’ promises and took to the road.
Lent is, above all, a time to consider whether we are on the journey or whether we have come to a standstill. In this Sacred Season, we are urged to set out on the right path once more.
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