21 March 2014
Friday of the Second Week of Lent
Jesus reminds his listeners of the Scripture, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.” The stone in question is in fact Christ himself. We might forget that our Lord was discarded. So many are also treated this way, the poor, the disabled, and the unborn to name a few. Pope Francis frequently warns the world of the “throwaway culture.” For example, he unites the discarding of human life with God’s own Son, saying: “Every unborn child, though unjustly condemned to be aborted, bears the face of the Lord, who even before his birth, and then as soon as he was born, experienced the rejection of the world.” Let us pray for all of those other persons, such as the mentally ill, refugees, torture victims, and those close to home, all of whom “bears the face of the Lord” yet have also “experienced the rejection of the world.” Since almsgiving is a fundamental part of Lent, perhaps we may also consider a contribution to a charity that alleviates the suffering of God’s people who place a claim our hearts.