A LAMP TO MY FEET. A LIGHT FOR MY PATH.

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TODAY’S WORD…

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Two others, both criminals, were led out to be executed with Him.

When they came to a place called The Skull, they nailed Him to the cross.

And the criminals were also crucified – one on His right and one on His left.

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– Luke 23:32-33 (NLT)

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REFLECTION…

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Three crosses being carried up Calvary

by three persons to be crucified on that same afternoon.

Two convicted criminals…and Jesus,

each one carrying his cross up to the place of execution.

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Here they are, three men, each laden with a cross,

walking towards death.

But only one is the Saviour of the world.

Only one of the crosses is the redeeming Cross.

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The cross can be carried in different ways

– depending on the individual, depending on the attitude.

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There is the cross carried furiously or sullenly,

in a rage,

perhaps writhing and squirming,

filled with hate,

or at least with a deep and burning resentment.

It is the cross without meaning and without explanation – useless.

It is the cross that can even separate one from God.

It is the cross of those bereft of humility,

of those who only seek comfort and well-being,

who will not put up with neither suffering nor setbacks,

for they have no wish to understand the supernatural meaning of pain.

This is a cross that does not redeem.

This is the cross carried by one of the criminals.

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There is a second cross,

this time carried with resignation,

perhaps even with some dignity,

with an acceptance of responsibility,

with an acceptance of the situation simply because there is no alternative to it.

This the cross carried by the other criminal.

Little by little he realises

that close to him is the sovereign figure of Christ,

who will radically change the final moments of his life on earth,

and for eternity.

This criminal, this thief, will be the one converted into “the good thief”.

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Then there is a third way of carrying the cross.

Jesus embraces the saving wood

and teaches us how we ought to carry our own cross:

with love,

co-redeeming all souls with Him,

while also making reparation for our own sins.

Our Lord has conferred on human suffering a deep meaning.

He chose to redeem us through suffering

for, as He Himself taught us,

“there is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (Jn 1:13)

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How do I bear my difficulties and sorrows?

And have I made use of my “crosses” to bring me closer to Christ

and to make me more like Him?

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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My Jesus, my God! May I hate sin, and unite myself to You,

taking the Holy Cross into my arms, so that I may humbly and faithfully fulfil Your will.

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… … … … … … … … … … … …… …

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Note: The main source of today’s REFLECTION is the seven-volume work

“In Conversation with God” by Padre Francisco Fernández Carvajal.

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TODAY’S WORD…

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Jesus said,

“My Kingdom is not an earthly kingdom.

…my Kingdom is not of this world.”

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Pilate said, “So you are a king?”

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Jesus responded,

“You say I am a king.

Actually, I was born and came into the world to testify to the truth.

All who love the truth recognise that what I say is true.”

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“What is truth?” Pilate asked.

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– John 18:36-38 (NLT)

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REFLECTION…

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Christ’s kingdom is a kingdom of truth and life,

a kingdom of holiness and grace,

a kingdom of justice, love, and peace.

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As Christians, we are well aware

that Jesus Christ is a king with a heart of flesh, like ours.

We are also conscious of the fact

that so many don’t really know Him,

that so many reject Him.

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So many do not acknowledge that Christ is the only Saviour,

the one who gives meaning to human events,

to our lives.

In Him is found the joy and the fullness of desire of every heart;

He is the true model,

the brother of all,

the irreplaceable friend,

the only one worthy of all our confidence and trust.

He is the Truth.

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As we contemplate the King crowned with thorns

we should tell Him that we want Him – the Truth – to reign in our lives,

in our hearts,

in our works,

in our thoughts,

in our words,

in all that we are.

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What is truth?

The Lord our God is the source of all that is

and He knows His creation perfectly.

Jesus is the fullness of all truth

and nothing can be added or subtracted from His message of salvation, forgiveness,

and of reconciliation to the Father.

Jesus is the Truth,

and it takes a meek and humble heart to acknowledge this

and to loyally and gratefully proclaim Him as King.

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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Sweet Mother of God,

help me to form a meek and humble heart

like that of your Son, Jesus – the Way, the Truth and the Life, and my King!

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… … … … … … … … … … … …… …

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Note: The main source of today’s REFLECTION is the seven-volume work

“In Conversation with God” by Padre Francisco Fernández Carvajal.

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TODAY’S WORD…

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I do not know this man…

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– Mark 14:71 (NRSV)

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REFLECTION…

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How could Peter possibly have uttered the words “I do not know this man”?

Peter, was the man who had at Christ’s call dropped everything

to follow Him with exemplary determination to become a fisher of men.

He was the man who had been so deeply inspired by Jesus, his Master,

that he proclaimed Him as the Son of the Living God. (Matt 16:16)

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There is no doubt that Peter had a great love for the Lord,

yet now, out of weakness,

and after having allowed himself to be overcome by fear,

everything suddenly collapsed.

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That is how it is with us, when we sin.

Being unfaithful always involves a denial of Christ to some greater or lesser degree,

as well as a denial of those highest ideals that Christ has sown inside us.

Sin is our greatest downfall.

This why we need to struggle with determination,

counting on grace to help us detest and avoid all sins – grave and venial –

and their consequence on our soul.

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But even from our sins, when we are unfortunate enough to commit them,

we have to draw advantage,

because contrition strengthens the bonds of friendship with Our Lord.

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Our mistakes should never discourage us, provided we act with humility.

If we sin, we have to come back to the Lord as often as necessary,

without getting anxious,

although certainly full of sorrow – just like Peter, who broke down and wept. (Mk 14:72)

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Jesus always welcomes us

and rejoices to see us set out again upon the road we had abandoned.

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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My Lord and my God, please forgive me.

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… … … … … … … … … … … …… …

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Note: The main source of today’s REFLECTION is the seven-volume work

“In Conversation with God” by Padre Francisco Fernández Carvajal.

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TODAY’S WORD…

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Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ?

Any comfort from His love?

Any fellowship together in the Spirit?

Are your hearts tender and compassionate?

Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other,

loving one another,

and working together with one mind and purpose.

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Don’t be selfish;

don’t try to impress others.

Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves.

Don’t look out only for your own interests,

but take an interest in others, too.

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You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.

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Though He was God,

He did not think of equality with God

as something to cling to.

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Instead, He gave up His divine privileges;

He took the humble position of a slave

and was born as a human being.

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When He appeared in human form,

He humbled Himself in obedience to God

and died a criminal’s death on a cross.

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Therefore, God elevated Him to the place of highest honour

and gave Him the name above all other names,

that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,

in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord,

to the glory of God the Father.

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– Philippians 2:1-11 (NLT)

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REFLECTION…

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Our Lord offers us a perfect example of humility.

Jesus Christ showed us the way Christian virtues should be practised.

He gives us the most wonderful example of humility and obedience

and we should all learn from Jesus’ attitude in His trials,

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Christ’s loving initiative merits a loving response on our part:

we should show that we desire to be one with Him,

for love seeks union, identification with the Beloved.

United to Christ, we will be drawn to imitate His life of dedication,

His unlimited love

and His sacrifice unto death.

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Jesus’ example also teaches us that we cannot attain the glory of Heaven

unless we understand the supernatural value of difficulties, ill-health and

suffering:

these are manifestations of Christ’s Cross present in our ordinary life.

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“We have to die to ourselves and be born again to a new life.

Jesus Christ obeyed in this way, even unto death on a cross (Ph 2:18);

that is why God exalted Him.

If we obey God’s will,

the cross will mean our own resurrection and exaltation.

Christ’s life will be fulfilled step by step in our own lives.

It will be said of us that we have tried to be good children of God,

who went about doing good

in spite of our weakness and personal shortcomings, no matter how many.” [1]

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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Jesus, use me, inspire me, make me humble.

Let me love with Your great love.

Jesus, You are Lord!

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… … … … … … … … … … … …… …

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[1] St. Josemaria Escriva

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TODAY’S WORD…

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“Here comes my betrayer!”

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– Matthew 26:46 (NIV)

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REFLECTION…

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Jesus said this when He saw Judas approaching

on that fateful night in the Garden of Gethsemane.

“Here comes my betrayer!”

Oh how dreadful it is to even imagine hearing the Lord saying that about me!

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Here was Judas,

one of Jesus’ Twelve,

chosen and called by the Lord Himself.

He knew the Master well

and would have had very intimate and personal conversations with Him.

So what could have happened to his soul

that he would choose to betray the Lord for thirty pieces of silver?

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Judas may have been distant from Christ even though he was in His company.

On the surface he may have remained normal,

but he must have changed inside and become distant.

The split with his Master and the loss of his faith and vocation

must have taken place little by little,

as he found himself yielding in more and more to his weaknesses,

to what tempted him,

to what he must have decided was more important to him than Jesus.

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He had allowed his love for the Lord to grow cold,

and what remained was no more than a mere external appearance.

His life of loving surrender to God had become a farce;

more than once he would think

that it would have been better not to have followed the Lord at all.

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Judas forgot all about the miracles and the cures,

about the happy moments with His Master,

his friendship with the other apostles.

He became a man who lost his way

as he focused just on himself.

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He got out of touch,

and made himself capable of committing the madness

which, for us, can be so difficult to understand.

Yet we all run the risk of becoming like Judas

when we continually choose to be disloyal to God

and focus solely on what appears to give us instant gratification.

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We all run the risk of becoming like Judas,

if we do not persevere with doing the small everyday things of faith;

if we become obsessed with this life and disregard the hereafter;

if we do not have the humility to begin again when our weakness leads us astray.

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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Body of Christ, save me from my weak and faltering self.

Save me from betraying You, in thought, in word, or in deed.

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… … … … … … … … … … … …… …

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Note: The main source of today’s REFLECTION is the seven-volume work

“In Conversation with God” by Padre Francisco Fernández Carvajal.

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TODAY’S WORD…

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All you who pass by the way, look and see,

was there ever a sorrow to compare with my sorrow.

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– Lamentations 1:12

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REFLECTION…

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We will never entirely comprehend Mary’s immense love for Jesus

which is the cause of her great suffering.

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All you who pass by the way, look and see,

was there ever a sorrow to compare with my sorrow.

These words from the prophet Jeremiah

could have been uttered by Our Lady.

Her anguish is incomparable.

Her love for her Son

allows her to endure His sufferings as though they were her own:

‘When the soldiers strike the body of Christ,

it is as if Mary is subjected to every blow.

When they pierce His head with thorns,

Our Lady feels their sharp penetration.

When the same men offer Him gall and vinegar,

the Blessed Mother tastes all the bitterness.

As they spread His body on the cross,

Mary is torn from within.’ (A. Tanquerey, The Divinization of Suffering)

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The more a person loves,

the more he or she identifies with the pain of the beloved,

and Mary’s sorrow was incomparable

because her Son, who she felt a natural strong maternal love for,

was also the Son of the Living God;

was also her beloved God and Creator.

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During the Lord’s public ministry

Mary hears false rumours and calumnies regarding her Son.

She is also aware of the various plots of the Jews against Jesus.

She is there as reports arrive, one by one,

concerning the events taking place during the night of the Passion.

She hears the shouts calling for His death the next morning.

She experiences His abandonment by the disciples.

She meets her Son, on the slope leading up to Calvary…

Oh the agony that must have engulfed her heart at this juncture!

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She stands there and sees how they nail Him to the Cross.

Horrible insults and the prolonged torment of the crucifixion follow.

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All of this Jesus suffered for our sins

and as we consider the active role that our iniquities play

in the sorrow of His Mother, our Mother,

we call upon her and ask her to help us share in her suffering

through profound contrition for all our sin.

We call upon her to help us be more determined and generous

in making reparation for our own offences against God

as well as for the ones committed in the world every day.

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now

and at the hour of our death. Amen.

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… … … … … … … … … … … …… …

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Note: The main source of today’s REFLECTION is the seven-volume work

“In Conversation with God” by Padre Francisco Fernández Carvajal.

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TODAY’S WORD…

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Christ Himself carried our sins in His body to the cross,

so that we might die to sin and live for righteousness.

It is by His wounds that you have been healed.

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– 1 Peter 2:24 (GNT)

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REFLECTION…

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If we are to accompany Christ in the glory of His Resurrection

we must first enter into His holocaust

and be truly united to Him as He lies dead on Calvary.

We will not be able to share in Our Lord’s Resurrection

unless we unite ourselves with Him in His Passion and death. (St. Josemaria Escriva)

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So, in these last remaining days of Lent,

let us accompany Jesus, in our prayers,

along His painful way to Calvary

and His death on the Cross.

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As we keep Jesus company

let us not forget that we too were protagonists in all those horrors,

for Jesus carried our sins in His body to the cross

– each and every one of our sins.

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We have been healed

and freed from the hands of the evil one and from eternal death

at a great price – that of the Blood of Christ.

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Contemplate, therefore, on Christ’s passion,

place yourself there with the crowd of onlookers,

right from the moment He enters Jerusalem

until His crucifixion on Mount Calvary.

Seek His face,

allow His gaze to fall on you

and let Him speak to your heart.

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QUOTE…

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“We should read our Lord’s Passion constantly.

What great benefit we will gain by doing so.

Even if you are as hard as stone,

when you contemplate

that He was sarcastically adorned,

then ridiculed,

beaten

and subjected to the final agonies,

you will be moved to cast all your pride from your soul.”

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– St. John Chrysostom

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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Your Passion, O Lord, so terrible, so brutal, so savage, so bloody

…yet so full of love…for me.

Thank You, Lord God. Forgive me, Lord God.

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… … … … … … … … … … … …… …

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Note: The main source of today’s REFLECTION is the seven-volume work

“In Conversation with God” by Padre Francisco Fernández Carvajal.

TODAY’S WORD…

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The Lord is my light and my salvation
so why should I be afraid? …
The Lord is my fortress, protecting me from danger,
so why should I tremble?
Though a mighty army surrounds me,
my heart will not be afraid.
Even if I am attacked,
I will remain confident.

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– Psalm 27:1-3 (NLT)

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REFLECTION…

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Jesus Christ, perfect God and perfect Man,

wanted to suffer pain and live in poverty Himself

in order to show us that physical suffering and the lack of material goods are not real ills.

There only exists one true evil that we must fear and with God’s grace reject,

and that is sin.

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Yes, the Lord is my light and my salvation
so why should I be afraid? …
Even if I am attacked,
I will remain confident.

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“Attacks”, misfortunes, physical sufferings,

if borne for Christ

become true treasures for man.

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This is the great revolution brought about by Christ,

and it can be understood only through prayer

and with the light that faith gives.

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Christians are called to trust fully in the Lord

and we are encouraged, urged, to consider

illness, pain, hunger, thirst, heat, cold,

dishonour, poverty, loneliness,

betrayal, slander, persecution…

as treasures on earth.

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Let us not let them go to waste,

rather, let us sanctify our suffering

and accept it all as a grace which unites us to Christ.

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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Lord Jesus, You are my light, my salvation, my fortress.

With You by my side, I am not afraid; I remain confident.

I praise and thank You, Lord.

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… … … … … … … … … … … …… …

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Note: The main source of today’s REFLECTION is the seven-volume work

“In Conversation with God” by Padre Francisco Fernández Carvajal.

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TODAY’S WORD…

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Jesus said,

“And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,

so must the Son of Man be lifted up,

that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life.”

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– John 3:14-15 (NRSV)

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REFLECTION…

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Christ on the Cross is the salvation of the human race,

the remedy for all our ills.

He went voluntarily to Calvary,

so that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life,

so that He might draw all men to Himself.

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For God’s people, the “serpents” and the poison

are much the same today as they were in Moses day:

selfishness, sensuality, laziness,

doctrinal errors and confusion,

envy, slander, calumny…

These are the enemies of the grace we receive at Baptism,

constantly threatening to stop it, to destroy it.

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We Christians must seek the remedy and the antidote for this poison

in the only place that it is to be found:

in Jesus Christ

and in His saving doctrine.

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That is why,

if we truly want to reach the Promised Land that comes at the end of this short journey,

we must not cease from contemplating Jesus raised above the earth on the Cross.

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And as we do not want to reach our destination alone,

we will strive to get many others to look at Jesus,

in whom is salvation.

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Only if we have great piety

will we be strong against the harassment of a world

which seems to want to separate itself more and more from God,

dragging with it anyone who is not on firm and sure ground.

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Look at Jesus, therefore.

Place before your eyes His most Holy Humanity,

contemplate Him in the Mysteries of the Holy Rosary,

in the Way of the Cross,

in the scenes that the Gospels narrate for us,

or in the Tabernacle.

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Never turn your gaze away from God

and grow in fortitude through your loving and constant conversation with Jesus,

through prayer,

through keeping the presence of God throughout the day,

and through your visits to the Blessed Sacrament.

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Our Lord Jesus is not only the remedy for our weakness;

He is also our Love and our Light.

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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Stay with me, O Love Divine,

because when You are not with me, darkness falls.

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… … … … … … … … … … … …… …

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Note: The main source of today’s REFLECTION is the seven-volume work

“In Conversation with God” by Padre Francisco Fernández Carvajal.

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TODAY’S WORD…

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Jesus straightened up and said to her,

“Where are they? Is there no one left to condemn you?”

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“No one, sir,” she answered.

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“Well, then,” Jesus said, “I do not condemn you either.

Go, but do not sin again.”

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– John 8:10-11 (GNT)

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REFLECTION…

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Jesus words are full of gentleness and clemency,

a manifestation of God’s infinite mercy and forgiveness.

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Every day, in every corner of the world,

Jesus, through His ministers the priests. continues to say

I absolve you from your sins…

‘Go’, says Our Lord, ‘but do not sin again.’

It is Christ Himself who forgives.

The sacramental formula, I absolve you…

and the imposition of the hand

and the sign of the Cross made over the penitent

show that at this moment the contrite and converted sinner

comes into contact with the power and mercy of God.

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It is the moment at which, in response to the penitent,

the Trinity becomes present in order to blot out sin and restore innocence.

And the saving power of the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus

is also imparted to the penitent…

God is always the one who is principally offended by sin

– and God alone can forgive! (St. Pope John Paul II)

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Few words have ever produced more joy in the world

than the words of absolution, I absolve you…

How glad am I to receive these words when I go to the sacrament of forgiveness?

How grateful am I?

How often have I thanked God for having this sacrament so close at hand?

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Finally, a gentle word of advice:

it is good for us to remember

that even “small” sins can have big consequences.

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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Jesus, my Saviour, thank You for making Your mercy so lovingly available.

Thank You, for Your forgiveness, Lord,

and for guiding me back on to the right path.

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… … … … … … … … … … … …… …

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Note: The main source of today’s REFLECTION is the seven-volume work

“In Conversation with God” by Padre Francisco Fernández Carvajal.