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.
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