12 February 2016
Friday after Ash Wednesday
The Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, Sonia Sotomayor said that she is not a religious person, but sometimes in her job she says, “Oh, my God help me,” and she means it. Justice Sotomayor realizes that she needs God help when she tries to get along with all of her colleagues, especially the ones with whom she usually disagrees. She realizes that she needs God’s help to get along with her colleagues because she will spend her time with them for a long time.
In the Gospel reading, we hear that Jesus and his disciple were living in a time of joy, which would make fasting inappropriate. But, Jesus also anticipates His passion and death. The wedding feast will be over and his disciples will suffer terribly. Our fasting during the Lent is a reminder that our lives as a Christian is not always like the wedding feast. As followers of Christ, we will endure the reality of the cross and Good Friday suffering.
In the beginning of this Lenten season, how would you respond to Jesus’ words, “the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them.”