Daily Reflections - February 15,2013

EVERY CHRISTIAN IS MARRIED

 

We love to associate Lent with some personal acts of sacrifice and self-denial. I know of persons who, for the entire season of Lent, refrain from eating their favorite foods, like cakes, meat and chocolates. They say that it is their way of making the Lenten season a time of atonement for sins, and a time for special prayers and intercession. Some also do these acts of self-sacrifice as tokens of yearly thanksgiving for beautiful graces they have received long ago from God, like recovery from illnesses or the gift of a long-hoped-for child in their marriage. In an age when we easily give in to desires and appetites, I admire the capacity of these friends to take on a 40-day discipline as part of their Lenten observance.

The Gospel proclamation, however, reminds us that the most important agenda for Lent should be renewing again our personal commitment with Jesus, seeing Him as the bridegroom, and regarding our relationship with Him like a marital vow to love and to fidelity. As such, like in a marriage, we do not trivialize our faults and sinfulness. Big or small sins, venial or mortal sins, are for the neat classification of our acts, but what matters is this: if we love Jesus, we would not like to offend Him at all!

The sorrow that we should focus on during this season is not on meditating about Jesus’ experience of physical pain and torture. The sorrow that we should cultivate is not on recounting our many specific and particular moral weaknesses. Our sorrow should be based on the fact that, many times, we downgrade our relationship with Jesus into a simple and seemingly contractual concept of “I do this, and You give me this in return.” How often have we seen Jesus simply as a vendo machine, in much the same way that many husbands view their wives as “glamorized lifetime service providers”? Fr. Domie Guzman, SSP

 

REFLECTION QUESTIONS: What does it mean for you to say: “Jesus is my personal Savior”? What does “personal” imply? Make your personal program of renewal for Lent. List down a schedule that you would want to follow for this season.

 

Lord Jesus, I offer to You my sacrifices this Lent. Bless them.