Sunday, February 18, 2007

 
For the first Sunday In Lent:

Reading 1- Deuteronomy 26:4-10
Reading 11- Romans 10:8-13
Gospel - Luke 4: 1-13

As in the first reading - during lent we offer penance and praise.
The second reading- everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
The Gospel- "Temptation comes when we are weekend by hunger or need. "

From the 2004 Workbook for Lectors and Gospel Readers:

"The connection between fasting and being filled with the Spirit is not apparent to most
contemporary Christians. We tend to connect fasting with penance and sacrifice. We fast
as a form of mild self-indulgent suffering in reparation for our sins. The concept and the
practice should be much fuller than that! The true purpose of our lenten fast is to encourage
us toward fullness of Spirit. The point is-and human experience bears it out- you can't be full
of roast beef and alert to the Spirit at the same time. Fasting makes us alert and attentive,
ready to detect the thousand signs of the Spirit's movement in our lives."

How exciting!! To see the Spirit in your life! To recognize the blessing everyday! The child's smile, the cat's purring, the helping hand of a stranger!!

However, the feeling that men search for and cannot find, the feeling that men to try to buy with money and cannot purchase, is the feeling of God's Peace in your life. It is so difficult to
describe....imagine God placing His hand on your heart. With His touch you have become part of the His vast universe. You are no longer just a man or a woman. You have become part of His infinite love. There is nothing to fear....there is nothing to want. It is joy that is almost incomprehensible.

This lenten season.....fight the tempation for the Chocolate, for the kielbasa.....let your body awaken to the Spirit. On Easter Sunday morning let your soul rise like a dove waiting to meet our Lord.
posted by Maggie 2/18/2007 02:26:00 PM