Daily Reflection for Wednesday March 10, 2021
Peace and Blessings, Friends and Parishioners!
We encourage you to reflect on Wednesday’s readings at this link:
http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/031021.cfm
If you prefer to use your own Bible, the readings are:
First Reading: Deuteronomy 4:1, 5-9
Responsorial: Psalm 147: 12-13, 15-16, 19-20
Gospel: Matthew 5:17-19
Our reflection on Wednesday’s readings:
“Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do so will be called least in the Kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 5:19)
Affirmation, reliance on God, and fulfillment of promises are all messages I hear today in our readings.
Moses had the initial task of sharing God’s laws with His people as stated in the first reading. His words shed light on the path to the “promised land.” He indicated that growing in wisdom and knowledge of the laws God had shared via him would serve them well to ensure their inheritance of the Kingdom of God.
Jesus affirms the Old Testament ways and provides a path to wholeness through His presence in our midst here on Earth. Haven’t we all had moments where we wish we could simply wipe the slate clean and start with a new set of rules? Jesus, in today’s Gospel, is stating firmly that His presence does not mean a change of the laws, but rather fulfillment of them. Stay the course, even when it isn’t easy or requires something of myself that I might not be ready to give.
Lent is a season with a purpose for me. I often have focused on ways to deny myself something in order to open my spirit to knowing “hunger” so that God could fit more easily into that space. This year, I find myself focusing more on being present to God in my midst. He is here always so, where am I? How might I find Him more readily in “all” of the day? In each person I meet or interact with, in the tasks I do that might be considered trivial but necessary, or even in my prayer time.
Listening and learning more about the laws that God has given us through the ages, requires me to focus in new ways. I am learning more about the listening than the doing. In that way, I feel as though the real spirit of God’s laws is working in me to help me more clearly see His Kingdom. The laws are present not to confine me but rather to encourage me in a way of life that opens me to experience more of His grace.
How might you find new ways to experience God’s promises this Lent?
In Heartfelt Joy,
Lynne Brennan