6 March 2020
Friday of the First Week of Lent
The first reading in today’s mass is an appeal to conversion; to have the freedom to discern what good I should do today; then, to resolve to do it, to bring it from the abstract to the here-and-now present.
It is a great reading for Lent. To help me put its lesson into practice, I’ll spend time reflecting, slowly, prayerfully on what the Lord tells me in today’s Responsorial Psalm.
After that, I’ll center in on what Jesus says in the Gospel. He tells me I should not have a heart closed off to love for anyone. Experience tells me that is impossible to achieve. So, he has to do it for me. How?
Doesn’t he give me himself in the Eucharist, enabling me to do with him what I cannot do by myself? I’ll make spiritual communions throughout the day, bringing along with me those for whom I have a limited love.
This action of so-called fraternal charity, or love for all, should also enable me to live in accord with all I encounter today, in a spirit of unity that is real, not phony, not superficial; but true.