FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT
For if, by the transgression of the one, death came to reign through that one, how much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of justification come to reign in life through the one Jesus Christ. In conclusion, just as through one transgression condemnation came upon all, so, through one righteous act, acquittal and life came to all. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so, through the obedience of the one, the many will be made righteous. (Rom. 5:17-19)
“O my God, don’t I have every reason to devote myself entirely to your service, to offer you my life and all that I am, so that all that is in me may be employed and spent for your glory? For by how many titles do I belong to you? Not only are you my Creator and Redeemer, as you are all men’s, but you are my special benefactor and applied your merits in an altogether special way to me; my generous friend, you forgot all my acts of ingratitude to help me as powerfully as if I had been always faithful to you; my tender father, who carried this rebel on your shoulders, warmed him against your heart, washed his wounds.
Eugene de Mazenod, Retreat Notes EO XIV n 95
REFLECTION
Lord our God, in every age you call a people to hear your word and to do your will.
Renew us in these Lenten days: washed clean of sin, sealed with the Spirit, and sustained by your living bread, may we remain true to our calling and you alone. Grant this through Christ, our liberator from sin, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, holy and mighty God for ever and ever.
(Sacramentary, Sunday I Lent)
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Oh my Beloved – I am so deeply touched I am as I sit here with you who is my God. These words that you have spoken the morning, especially through Eugene and our early Church Fathers burrow deeply within me, every bit as personal as they are communal.
How is it that I have never delved so deeply into the prayers of the Church that you have given us, as if the words were simply so much background noise to become accustomed to and then relegated to an empty space outside of my being.
My contentment comes only as I respond to your call, “…as if I had been always faithful to you – my tender father who carried this rebel in your embrace, warmed me against your heart, and washed my wounds…”
I cannot be truth alive with simply knowing the words are somewhere out there… I want to hear them, taste them and savour them, allowing them to find their way into a space within my heart and then to grow as small seedlings becoming new life shared with the world.