IN DYING THAT WE MAY LIVE

1st Sunday of Lent (A)

Fifty-one Baptism Candles surround the Baptismal Font 

and laid before the Lamb of God.

Visible signs of God's invisible Grace

At Easter, how blessed we are to witness God's promise instituted: 

forgiving all our sins and giving us eternal life by Grace alone 

because of Christ's one sacrifice finished on the cross.

#lent2017 #easter2017 #SMOTA #churchofstmaryoftheangels

EASTER HOPE

            

           Each year we start out Lent with the best of intentions and with much enthusiasm to accomplish a list of things to do or not do, building up to a great Easter celebration. In reality, not everything we plan to do actually gets done or survives the six weeks of Lent. Some things take a few years of false starts before gaining the momentum to last the whole six weeks.

         Well, don’t fret too much over it, because the good thing about Lent is that you get a chance to try it all over again every year. And the key is to keep trying Lent after Lent, until you find what is realistic and works well with you and your family or each member of the family. Even Peter, Jesus’ most devoted disciple got it wrong, when he denied Jesus three times but yet after his repentance, went on to fulfill Jesus’ promise to the people and to build-up His church. That is the beauty of the love and grace of our God, he is ever-forgiving and accepts us coming back to do it better, even if it is, a little at a time.

              When your teen comes to you and tells you with a sense of regret for not doing quite enough for Lent, it is a response moving in the right direction and that next Lent there will be an inner self-desire to do better. It is a little tricky working around the schedules of each person in the family, to find a good time when everyone is available in mind and spirit to gather for nightly prayers and reflections. What matters most is that we have processed the reasons for doing what we want to do at Lent and with visible reminders at home, the family can appreciate that we have been given this “gift” of time at Lent, for us to take stock and do better. If we view Lent as a time of suffering or a time that we grudgingly do our penance and prayer, then when Easter comes around, we will go right back to our old ways without realizing why we made a Lenten journey in the first place.

            But let’s not stop at Lent, even if we did not quite succeed in doing everything we planned, some things or habits which we have developed during Lent, like attending daily Mass, praying the Rosary, and doing away with snacking between meals, could be something we would want to keep through the rest of the year.

            So, with whatever was done or not done at Lent, don’t be disheartened from celebrating the whole reason for Easter – Jesus who died for our sins resurrected from the dead so that we too may have Eternal Life in him - Jesus’ Resurrection is Good News and we become people of great hope. A people gifted with Easter Hope that things can only get better! Alleluia!

THE LAMB IN ME

            During the season of Lent, one word that we never hear enough of or are constantly reminded of is, “Sacrifice” – to give-up, to forgo, to abstain or to do for others and so forth. And with that, the image of a lamb comes quickly to mind - more specifically a lamb being prepared for slaughter – the lamb being a symbol or image closely associated with sacrifice.

            In scripture, the title ‘Lamb of God’ appears in the Gospel of John, with the proclamation by John the Baptist saying, "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29) when he sees Jesus approaching him, a day after he had baptized Jesus.

            Although ‘Lamb of God’ refers to Jesus in his role of the perfect sacrificial offering and who died for the sins of others, yet, Jesus is our shepherd too: “I am the good shepherd; I know my own and my own knows me” (John 10:14)

            If you think about it, as parents, we are often required to be both shepherd and lamb to our children. Indeed, because we love our children, we are responsible for guiding, caring and protecting them as shepherds. Yet, more than readily we also become lambs, making many sacrifices for them, mainly with our time and money, and at times, guilty of even becoming over-indulgent. But the truth remains that because we love our children, parenting becomes self-giving, sacrificing of self for our children.

            On the flipside, as adults, we might look at how we should also become both shepherd and lamb to our elderly parents. In this fast-paced world, have we been much support and help to ease them into the age of technology found in the day to day? Have we demonstrated patience with them? Are we honestly approaching them with the same self-giving attitude and sacrifice as we do for our children? Or have we been less patient and less forgiving with them than we have been with our own children?

            Just as God, our Father loves us and because of his great love for us, sacrificed his only son for us – this is indeed the greatest of all love, because true love requires sacrifice.  

            Perhaps reflecting that as Jesus, was given up, sacrificed, for us in the Eucharist, may we partake of this Lamb of God and learn to be more giving, more ‘Lamb’ than ‘Lion’ to our elders this Lent.