Author: WebDept ParishAdmin

The verse before the Gospel today is a favorite of mine. “Even now, says the LORD, return to me with your whole heart; for I am gracious and merciful.” I actually have a tattoo of a similar verse, “Whoever is in Christ is a new creation. The old has passed away, behold the new has come.” Both verses speak of conversion. Conversion just simply means to turn away from one thing and to another. This act of turning shows a denial of a person, place or idea, and at the same time an affirmation of another person, place or idea. When I was in seminary to become a Franciscan, something that was talked about quite often was constant conversion. Sometimes I think we hear testimonies of people where their entire life changed in one moment and from there they never ceased loving God. But I don’t think that happens most of the time. Most of the time we are called to this constant conversion where every day we have to meet the part of us that doesn’t want to follow God. Our desires, our worries, our fears, we meet these head on and make the choice whether or not to turn.

The first reading from today is one of these moments of conversion. Azariah is crying out with passion for the Lord to have mercy on them. They have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, but they are making the choice to turn. We also hear of the opposite in the Gospel. The master forgives the servant who owed a debt, but then that same servant goes and demands the debt from his own servant. He had a chance to start anew, to convert, but instead he went and demanded the debt to be paid.

The bible is riddled with stories of conversion. Abram to Abraham, Saul to Paul, Simon to Peter. But notice that these people, after they converted, still had many things they struggled with and sins they had to face. Peter was already turning to the Lord when he decided to turn away three times. So, I think especially during this time of Lent, the question we can ask ourselves is, are we taking every day to turn back to the Lord? Sometimes Lent can be difficult because we look at it as this 40 day chunk that we have to try to get through. But in a lot of ways, it should be no different from how we normally live. Of course, we are giving up extra things, fasting, and abstaining, but every day we should look at our life and ask, are we turning closer to God, or further away? Let’s pray for the grace today and every day to turn even closer to him. From all of us here at Rodzinka Ministry, God bless!

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I’m always amazed when I read Scripture. I can read the same passage 20 times, then the 21st time something that I barely noticed in the past strikes me as meaningful.

Today, it was the end of the Gospel passage struck me for the first time: 

“He knew them all, and did not need anyone to testify about human nature. He Himself understood it well.”

It seems a bit strange to include this in the Gospel. It seems obvious that God Incarnate should understand the nature of His own creation, yet I think we need to be reminded of this often.

How often do people complain about “the rules” of Christianity, particularly Catholicism? Yet these “rules,” God’s laws, come from God’s complete understanding of our human nature and what we need. Just as any loving parent, God gives us boundaries for our wellbeing, even though they may seem to spoil our fun.

So many people misunderstand God’s law, seeing it as “foolishness” or “a stumbling block.” When we come to know and love God better, though, we start to see His laws as wise and loving. We can then echo the sentiments of the psalmist, see God’s law not as a burden, but as precious and sweet.

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