Thursday, February 18, 2016

Reflection for Thursday, February 18, 2016

Thursday of the First Week in Lent
EST C: 12, 14-16, 23-25
PS 138: 1-2 AB, 2 CDE-3, 7C-8
MT 7: 7-12

Having gotten through the very beginning of the Lenten season now, it’s time to really start buckling down in preparation for Easter. Lent is a beautiful time to reflect on our everyday lives and think about how we can better them. The beginning of this gospel passage can be essentially summed up in the statement “Ask and you shall receive.”  While currently in Spain I have been realizing more and more about how much I have been given in my life. While most of the time the things God gives me are things that I don’t even ask for, but almost always if I ask God for something, it is given to me. Lent is a beautiful opportunity to give back to God. Thinking about this statement, it almost seems impossible. How can we give back to the God that has given us everything we could imagine and more, and to the God that already has everything? I think this passage ends with the answer to that question. “Do to others whatever you would have them do to you.” It seems pretty simple, which is why I think this is a great answer and a great way to give back and love God as he has loved us. While this seems fairly trivial, considering I don’t think anyone reading this reflection is going around doing terrible things to anyone; I believe there is a deeper challenge behind this. Maybe a good way to rephrase this saying is “Go the extra mile.” By going the extra mile were giving to others without the expectation of them giving anything back to us. Going the extra mile doesn’t have to be something big and extravagant. It can be anything from thanking your parents for everything they’ve given you, to a smile and hello to the homeless man standing at the crosswalk on Grand.  Going the extra mile is a great way to prepare ourselves for the coming of Christ because we are consciously thinking about the things that we wouldn’t do normally do and going out of our way to do them. A great way to finish the small acts of kindness is a short prayer to God whether it be a prayer of thanksgiving or an intentional prayer for that person. Doing little things for other people can be a great way to show God your appreciation this Lenten season. One of my favorite saying comes from Mother Teresa and it says “Not all of us can do great things, but we can do small things with great love.” God has given us everything and a great way to show him our love is to love others even through the smallest acts. This Lenten season go the extra mile and try to give a little more to others than you did the day before. “If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles.”

Tommy Schulte is a sophomore studying Computer Engineering, currently studying abroad in Madrid.

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