Weekend of February 18th
Lectio Divina
Weekend of February 17th, 2024
Opening Prayer
Lord Jesus, help me to be receptive to the deserts that You call me to this Lent. Help me to be guided and ministered by You. Help me to allow you to lead while I follow. Open my heart to the truth that I can not overcome my weakness alone. Draw me close to you day after day that we may journey together to the time of fulfillment. Amen.
1st ReadingGn 9:8-15
God said to Noah and to his sons with him: "See, I am now establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you and with every living creature that was with you: all the birds, and the various tame and wild animals that were with you and came out of the ark. I will establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all bodily creatures be destroyed by the waters of a flood; there shall not be another flood to devastate the earth."
God added: "This is the sign that I am giving for all ages to come, of the covenant between me and you and every living creature with you: I set my bow in the clouds to serve as a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth, and the bow appears in the clouds, I will recall the covenant I have made between me and you and all living beings, so that the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all mortal beings."
Reflection
"This is the sign that I am giving for all ages to come, of the covenant between me and you and every living creature with you: I set my bow in the clouds to serve as a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth, and the bow appears in the clouds, I will recall the covenant I have made between me and you and all living beings, so that the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all mortal beings." Emotionally, Spiritually, and even in our physical world we can feel that we are about to be overcome by the flood. God makes an eternal promise to each of us in the waters of baptism, "the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all mortal beings." God does not tell us there won't be water, He promises that we won't be overtaken. I have found in my own life that God uses this physical world to remind me of this spiritual truth especially in the sign of the sun breaking through the clouds and of rainbows sent at just the right moment. As we head into lent let's reflect on the storms that we have indeed survived in our lives.
Responsorial PsalmPsalm 25
R. (cf. 10) Your ways, O Lord, are love and truth to those who keep your covenant.
Your ways, O LORD, make known to me; teach me your paths, Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my savior.
R. Your ways, O Lord, are love and truth to those who keep your covenant.
Remember that your compassion, O LORD, and your love are from of old. In your kindness remember me, because of your goodness, O LORD.
R. Your ways, O Lord, are love and truth to those who keep your covenant.
Good and upright is the LORD, thus he shows sinners the way. He guides the humble to justice, and he teaches the humble his way.
R. Your ways, O Lord, are love and truth to those who keep your covenant.
Reflection
I was listening to a course today and the speaker introduced the spiritual concept of receptivity. Receptivity is quite simply and profoundly our ability to receive. In the spiritual life, our ability to receive what God is offering to us. As I read the reading for this first Sunday of Lent, the lesson in receptivity struck a chord. So many times we approach Lent with the idea that we are doing something. We are giving up. We are taking up. We are offering up. Today's Psalm calls us to an attitude of receptivity this Lent. We are allowing God to guide, God to teach, God to make known. Our Lent leads us to the deeper conversion only when we recognize that we can't do anything without Him. Where is God calling you to be more open to Him in your Lenten journey?
2nd Reading1 Pt 3:18-22
Beloved: Christ suffered for sins once, the righteous for the sake of the unrighteous, that he might lead you to God. Put to death in the flesh, he was brought to life in the Spirit. In it he also went to preach to the spirits in prison, who had once been disobedient while God patiently waited in the days of Noah during the building of the ark, in which a few persons, eight in all, were saved through water. This prefigured baptism, which saves you now. It is not a removal of dirt from the body but an appeal to God for a clear conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers subject to him.
Reflection
God Patiently waited in the days of Noah. Put to death in the flesh, he was brought to life in the Spirit. I did a little flip flop of flow there purposely. God still patiently waits for us to fully realize the promise of our baptism. Lent isn't just about recognizing our weakness and sin to be reminded that we are weak and sinful. Lent is meant to draw us more fully into the life in the Spirit. It is meant for us to receive what God wants to bring into our lives so that we can be fully who He made us to be. Think on the areas of your current life that God is calling to mind that tend to represent your weakness and sin. Why is God placing these things on your heart? He desires to redeem this area when we are receptive to it. God is not pointing a finger and saying, "You are bad." God is opening His arms and telling each of us, "You are so much more than this. This is not you, let me help." Spend time in prayer with those weaknesses and ask the Lord to show you who you can become when you receive Him and His grace so that you can conquer what is holding you back.
GospelMk 1:12-15
The Spirit drove Jesus out into the desert, and he remained in the desert for forty days, tempted by Satan. He was among wild beasts, and the angels ministered to him.
After John had been arrested, Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God: "This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel."
Reflection
The Spirit drove Jesus out into the desert... and the angels ministered to Him... This is the time of fulfillment. Our hearts and souls long to arrive at the time of fulfillment. We want the end of the story to happen now. Lent reminds us that God created everything with proper order in mind. Jesus was driven to the desert to face every temptation. We too are called to the desert to face our temptations. When we allow ourselves to be guided, taught, and shown as the Psalmist reminds us, we become receptive to being ministered in our desert places by heavenly help. It is through the desert and through receptivity that we are able to come to the time of fulfillment. Read through this Gospel slowly a time or two and ask the Lord to speak to your heart. What stands out to you? What do you feel God saying?
