Dear Friends,
We had a wonderful opportunity during our Lenten Mission to reflect on our God who is relentless, and unconditional in lavishing His mercy on us. Curiously enough Fr. Joe Corpora C.S.C. the presenter of our Lenten Mission last week said that he constantly reminds himself that he is a sinner whose sins are forgiven. He also hammered home the point that he had received nothing from God but mercy all his life long. His question was: why I would not extend that mercy to other people? I am certainly aware that I have also received nothing but mercy from God. I am sure you do, too. Every human person has been given this endless, priceless mercy from God. In the end it is the Mercy of God that will save us all. We don’t deserve it, we don’t merit it, we don’t earn it and we can’t buy it. It is simply given. But not everyone is willing to receive this Mercy although they are utterly in need of mercy. So the question to us could be: if we have received nothing but mercy from God, why would we not extend that mercy to others. Let us continue to reflect on this question during the remainder of this grace-filled season and find out ways in which you and I could be conduits of that relentless mercy of God to others. We don’t have to look for extraordinary moments in our lives to practice that. Every moment in our lives is an occasion for mercy. We can make every moment a holy moment.
Pope Francis tells us that: “Lent doesn’t take us away from our ordinary lives, but rather it invites us to bring a new and holy attention to those activities. This should be the way with all of our spiritual practices. We take time apart in order to return to our daily activities with new inspiration. God will always surprise us with possibilities when we least expect them. Let this Lent be one of those surprises” (—from the book The Hope of Lent: Daily Reflections from Pope Francis by Diane M. Houdek).
Today we celebrate the 4th Sunday in Lent and this Sunday gives us a bit of a relief as the Church celebrates The Laetare (Rejoice) Sunday. This Sunday sets a tone of joyful anticipation of the Easter Mystery. To indicate this element of joyful anticipation the Church permits the use of rose-colored vestments and also the use of musical instruments and decorations of the altar with flowers.
St. Paul invites us to be ambassadors for Christ as if God were appealing through us (2 Cor 5: 20). Luke in his gospel narrates one of the most beautiful parables in the Bible that can be given different names such as the parable of the Prodigal Son/ the Merciful Father/ the unforgiving son/ the lost son. The title that you assign this parable gives out your emphasis. The parable tells us that whatever self-made plans for happiness you might have, would not work if they are not founded on God. You cannot obtain salvation on your own without God’s help. Both sons needed awakening, one from his life of sin and the other from his life of virtue. Fr. Joe quoted an archbishop from Brazil as saying: “I pray incessantly for the conversion of the older brother; the younger brother has awakened from the life of sin; when will the older brother awaken from his life of virtue.” We tend to underestimate the father’s love for us. No matter how we feel or where we stand in relation to the Father, he meets us exactly where we are at. All that we need is to be open to receiving the mercy of the father. Let us in prayer and silence gaze on the merciful face of the Father revealed in Jesus and open our hearts and minds to receiving this splendid gift of mercy.
I invite you to attend the quieting and mystical experience of Taizé prayer Service on Thursday 4th April at 7 p.m. which will provide us the absolute ambience to relish the beauty of God in song and meditation. In the words of Bro. John, a Taizé monk: “It is a time to rest in God, to let the words listened to and sung penetrate one’s being.” Founded in the 1940s by Bro. Roger, this monastic community in a rural village called Taizé in France, has brought together Catholics and Protestants in prayer. It has also attracted thousands of young people to Taizé for this mystical experience of Silence and meditation. St. Pope John Paul II was particularly fond of this community. He said this when he visited Taize in 1986: “One passes through Taizé as one passes close to a spring of water, the traveler stops, quenches his thirst, and continues on his way…They want, in prayer and silence, to enable you to drink the living water promised by Christ, to know his joy, to discern his presence, to respond to his call, then to set out again to witness to his love and to serve your brothers and sisters.”
Have a Blessed Week!
With love
Fr. John