Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
and your wound shall quickly be healed;
Your vindication shall go before you,
and the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.
Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer,
you shall cry for help, and he will say: Here I am! Isaiah 58:8-9
“Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?” Matthew 9:14
Jesus, bring together your Christian family to celebrate their spiritual and corporal works of mercy done in your Holy Name. Help us to overcome the external adversity and internal obstacles that are in our path to you. For as we approach you, you approach us as the Prodigal Children returning to their ancestral homes. As we call out, we anxiously await to hear your response and to know the comfort that comes from your presence in our lives and in our work. We await your answer, Lord, to our cry for help just as you await our actions. Amen.
In these early days of Lent, our readings have been focused on our proper prayer behavior internally (in a private place) and how we appear in public. Jesus isn’t looking for us to hold a Rose Bowl Parade in his honor. Instead, when we offer sacrifice, Jesus doesn’t want us to attract attention and sympathy to ourselves…but rather he wants us to throw off the focus onto someone else or a different organization.
This, rather, is the fasting that I wish:
releasing those bound unjustly,
untying the thongs of the yoke;
Setting free the oppressed,
breaking every yoke;
Sharing your bread with the hungry,
sheltering the oppressed and the homeless;
Clothing the naked when you see them,
and not turning your back on your own. Isaiah 58:6-7
Both on Ash Wednesday and today, fasting is equated with mourning. While Jesus is still with us, he declares that it would be inappropriate to mourn at this time of joy because Jesus is proclaiming the kingdom. He uses the apt image of the bridegroom because when we attend a marriage, we participate in the party celebrating the bride and groom’s new life.
Today’s readings do predict that there will be a time when Jesus will no longer be with the disciples visibly. That is the time for fasting and mourning. However, Isaiah helps us define the kind of fasting that is most pleasing to God…fasting from social oppression so we can feast on love. Consider Isaiah 58:6-7 when you are deciding about your Lenten fasting and how you will “Go in peace to love and serve the world.”
Action“My sacrifice, O God, is a contrite spirit; a heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.” Merely external worship does not avail with God; it must be joined to internal sincerity and community action. Rather than focusing on extremes of piety alone, Isaiah lays the ground work for a very vibrant course of ACTION for the Cursillistas. By fulfilling our roles to put love in action, Jesus shows and tells us how we, too, can act as ambassadors for Jesus.
Lately, the
http://vadp.org/legislation/opposed-by-vadp/legislative-update-as-of-february-20-2007.html
Both Catholic bishops in the state have publicly called for an end, not an expansion, of the death penalty. Please contact Governor Tim Kaine and urge him to veto any expansion of the death penalty. When Governor Kaine was running for office, he said he would support the state laws. However, he never said he would expand state sanctioned killing. From the Internet, you can use a form on the Governor’s own web site to register your personal views.
http://www.governor.virginia.gov/AboutTheGovernor/contactGovernor.cfm
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