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TODAY’S WORD…

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Let us be concerned for one another,

to help one another to show love and to do good.

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– Hebrews 10:24 (GNT)

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Reflection for Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent…

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“The Lenten season offers us once again

an opportunity to reflect upon the very heart of Christian life: charity.

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This is a favourable time to renew our journey of faith,

both as individuals and as a community,

with the help of the Word of God and the Sacraments.

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This journey is one marked by prayer and sharing, silence and fasting,

in anticipation of the joy of Easter.

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" Let us be concerned for one another,

to help one another to show love and to do good "

Concern for others entails desiring what is good for them

from every point of view: physical, moral and spiritual.

…Here we touch upon a profound aspect of communion:

our existence is related to that of others, for better or for worse.

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Sadly, there is always the temptation to become lukewarm,

to quench the Spirit,

to refuse to invest the talents we have received, for our own good and for the good of others.

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All of us have received spiritual or material riches

meant to be used for the fulfilment of God’s plan,

for the good of the Church and for our personal salvation.

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In a world which demands of Christians a renewed witness of love and fidelity to the Lord,

may all of us feel the urgent need to anticipate one another

in charity, service and good work.

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This appeal is particularly pressing

in this holy season of preparation for Easter.”

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– Pope Benedict XVI.

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PRAYER…

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Dear Jesus,

help us to spread Your fragrance

everywhere we go.

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Flood our souls with Your spirit and life.

Penetrate and possess our whole being so utterly

that our lives may only be a radiance of Yours.

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Shine through us and be so in us

that every soul we come in contact with

may feel Your presence in our soul.

Let them look up and see no longer us, but only Jesus.

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Let us preach You without preaching,

not by words, but by our example;

by the catching force –

the sympathetic influence of what we do,

the evident fullness of the love our hearts bear to You.

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Amen.

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– from a Prayer of Mother Teresa of Calcutta.

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