Reflection for March 25, 2017

Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord
IS 7:10-14; 8-10
PS 40: 7-8A, 8B-9, 10, 11
HEB 10: 4-10
JN 1:14B
LK 1:26- 38

“It’s not about me.” 

My mom always reminds us 4 kids that it’s not about us whenever we caught up in our fast paced lives. It’s not about me. Can I say that I understand the meaning of this saying? To live a life that is not for my own fulfillment but for others, for God, for a greater purpose? In today’s readings, we are called to live not for our own will, but for God’s will. Mary was called to be the Mother of our Lord, to give up her plans, and to live a life for God. How would we react to such an undertaking? Would we agree whole-heartedly like Mary did, to allow God to work freely in our lives? As sinners, we have all struggled with agreeing, without resentment, to do God’s will. So how do we learn say yes? Trust. 

Now, what does it mean to trust? We pray to God that he will work his ways in our lives but as soon as new opportunities arise, we may start to shut him out. We may withdraw ourselves rather than be willing to accept his plan, a plan that we may not initially fully understand. A plan that involves leaving our path and following an unknown one. A plan that may lead us away from those we find comfort in. A plan that may bring fear. But the real beauty in this is that God will lead us closer to him when we “Let Go and Let God.”

How I wish to someday be open to letting God lead me without my resistance and fully understand that it’s really not about me. It’s about him. And with Lent, we have the opportunity to open our hearts more fully to sensing God’s call, in all aspects of our lives. We are called to sacrifice for him and to live out his will for the betterment of others. In order to really do such actions of faith, we need to ask God for assistance as we let go of our aspirations and let him guide our lives. While fear may be our first reaction, we must learn to trust and follow the example of Mary in her yes. Such trust may start in prayerful conversation with God, talking to him like we would a friend and learning to heed his words. Because, it should be our goal to one day trust in his call and understand that it’s all about his work in our lives.

Anna Becker is a Junior biology major on a Pre-Dental Track. 

Reflection for March 24, 2017

Friday of the Third Week of Lent
HOS 14:2-10
PS 81: 6C-8A, 8BC-9, 10-11AB, 14 AND 17
MK 12:28-34

As a Jesuit Volunteer in Syracuse, NY, I had the wonderful blessing of being a L’Arche assistant in a home where persons with and without disabilities live and create home together. This community of folks taught me so much about relationship and about love and about faith. One of the core members, a man with intellectual disabilities who lived in one of the homes, always offered up prayers for L’Arche communities around the world when we would gather. For him, faith was about an outpouring of love, love for his housemates, for L’Arche, and for God, and he was always reminding me that my own faith has grown and continues to grow from its roots in love.

In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus establishes the two most important commandments, both of which focus on how people of faith are called to love. Jesus responds to an inquiring scribe, “The first is this: Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The scribe agrees with Jesus, and adds that following these two directives to love God and to love one’s neighbor "is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

I think that this reading points to the heart of Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection and to the heart of the Lenten season. Today’s Gospel points to the central call for all of us to love. For my friend from L’Arche, faith is not just about piety; it is about caring for one another in wholeness and in brokenness. For him, living out the Gospel is not about punishment for those who do not adhere strictly enough; it is about choosing to love as an imperfect response to the unimaginable, perfect love that God has for all of us.

I feel that Lent is a time to deepen and cultivate our love for God, our love for neighbors, and our openness to neighbors who we have failed to recognize before. I hope that prayer, fasting, and almsgiving guide me and all of us toward greater love and renewed commitment to the neighbors among us who are most vulnerable and marginalized.

Questions to Guide Reflection and Prayer:

1.     What experiences have shaped the ways you love God and your neighbors?

2.     Who do you consider and love as your “neighbor?” Who have you failed to recognize and love as a “neighbor?”

3.     How are you called to love this Lent? How are the communities of which you are a part called to love?

Emily Cybulla is a first year medical student at SLU. She graduated in 2015 from Loyola University Chicago and served as a Jesuit Volunteer in Syracuse, NY at L’Arche, an intentional community of folks with and without disabilities, before starting at SLU.

Reflection for March 23, 2017

Thursday of the Third Week of Lent
JER 7: 23-28
PS 95: 1-2, 6-7, 8-9
JL 2:12-13
LK 11: 14-23

Friends of the SLU community:

We are about half way through Lent, and I pray that we can use this day to reflect on our Lenten journey thus far. Right around this time is when I start to realize that 40 days is a long time.  40 days can be a very rough and tedious amount of time to remain faithful to adjustments of habits, dedicated prayer, and a change in food choices that we committed ourselves to about three weeks ago. But perhaps, this is a time to look to Scripture. The Great Flood lasted for 40 days (Genesis 7:12). Moses spent 40 days on Mt. Sinai (Exodus 34:28). The Israelites wandered in the desert for 40 days (Numbers 14:33). Jesus fasted in the wilderness for 40 days (Matthew 4:2). Is Lent 40 days just by coincidence? Not one bit.

The number 40 represents something absolutely beautiful. It is a period meant for preparation and cleansing for something great that is coming.  Lent is the perfect time to refresh our hearts and refocus ourselves in our faith journey. And even though we are about three weeks in, this does not mean that it is too late for this.  There is always time for new beginnings because Jesus is made new and gives us a new day every single morning.

In today’s first reading we hear from the book of Jeremiah.  Jesus commands His people to listen to His voice and follow His commandments.  And what do His people do? The exact opposite. They turn their heads away from Him and “walk in the hardness of their evil hearts.” This immediately struck me as so applicable to our daily lives.  Everyday Jesus hands us an invitation to walk with Him that day.  From the moment our feet hit the ground, He asks us to listen to His voice and follow His ways.  And how often do we turn our heads and walk the other way? Simply because we are too busy.  We are rushed.  We are distracted.  We are preoccupied.

It’s not too late.  I pray that today we spend time in prayer with our Lord reflecting on the ways in which we have turned our back on Him and how we can spend the next couple weeks as a time of choosing to turn our face towards Him. In past years, I’ve gotten frustrated at the end of Lent because I would think to myself, “well, another Lent went by, and I feel just the same.” I challenge you to not let that be you this year. Start right now, begin today. Jesus doesn’t put a time limit on when we can fall back in love with Him and His ways.  The journey begins when you are willing to say “yes!” He’s ready for you!

 Betty Goodwin is a senior in the College of Education.

Reflection for March 22, 2017

Wednesday of the Third Week of Lent
DT 4: 1, 5-9
PS 147: 12-13, 15-16, 19-20
JN 6:63C, 68 C
MT 5:17-19

In today’s first reading we jump into the middle of the story of Exodus. Again, the Israelites have grown impatient in the desert, this time turning to idol worship as they wait for Moses to return from speaking with God on Mt. Sinai. God is extremely unhappy (to say the least) and ready to destroy the people. Then Moses intercedes for the Israelites, convincing God to spare their lives. Way to go, Moses.

At this point in our Lenten journeys it may be important to reflect and see if we too have gotten off track. Like the desert around Mt. Sinai, Lent can feel empty at times. If we are not comfortable with that emptiness, we may opt to fill it with a distraction (hopefully not one as drastic as idol-worship, but you get the picture). Well-known theologian, Henri Nouwen, offers these reflections on emptiness:

It is very hard to allow emptiness to exist in our lives. Emptiness requires a willingness not to be in control, a willingness to let something new and unexpected happen. It requires trust, surrender, and openness to guidance. God wants to dwell in our emptiness. But as long as we are afraid of God and God’s actions in our lives, it is unlikely that we will offer our emptiness to God. Let’s pray that we can let go of our fear of God and embrace God as the source of all love.

Who knows? Maybe these words could have helped the Israelites avoid falling into the distraction of idol worship. Nevertheless, this reflection should challenge you as you continue on your Lenten journey. If you are feeling an emptiness in your life, do not fear it, but do your best to embrace it. In the same way, do not fear God, but invite God to be present in your emptiness—to use that empty space to work through you.

Parker Davis is a senior studying Theology who likes Jesus and strawberry milk.

Reflection for March 21, 2017

Tuesday of the Third Week of Lent
DN 3:25, 34-43
PS 25: 4-5AB, 6 and 7 BC, 8-9
JK 2:12-13
MT 18: 21-35

Today’s readings discuss mercy and forgiveness, themes we are likely familiar with following last year’s Jubilee Year of Mercy. Lent is a great time to review that and to remind ourselves that God’s Mercy towards us all, and our mercy towards others, is not and should not be limited just to the 2016 liturgical year.

In the first reading from Daniel 3:25,34-43 and the first half of the gospel from Matthew 18:21-27, we are reminded of how great God’s mercy is for us. In Daniel, Azariah acknowledges how our offenses against God merit a loss of relationship with Him, but he appeals to God’s mercy, begging that He forget our sin and remember His covenant with us. In Matthew 18:21-27, when a servant who owes “a huge debt” begs the king for patience so that he can pay him back a little later, the king does not offer patience, but complete forgiveness. Whereas before forgiving the servant, the king intended to sell the servant, his family and his property to pay off the debt, because the servant pleaded with him, his entire debt was repaid. We must acknowledge that we have sinned and that the consequences of our sins are vast and unable to be paid, meriting a loss of relationship with God, our loved ones and even ourselves. But God’s mercy is even vaster than our sins. When we ask for patience, God gives us pardon and peace.

This story of mercy and forgiveness does not end here though, as we see in the second half of today’s Gospel (Matt 18:28-35). Continuing the story of the king and his servant whose large debt has just been forgiven, we see the same servant act completely mercilessly towards one of his own servants who owes a much smaller debt. The king is deeply disturbed by the servant’s lack of mercy and revokes the pardon he had offered to the servant.

It is no lie that here on earth we have been and will continue to be hurt and disappointed by others and even ourselves. It is so tempting to demand that these debts be repaid promptly and in full and to insist that a relationship remain severed until the hurt is repaired. But we must remember how we have hurt God and how he has always offered forgiveness to us. We must always remember—and contemplate especially this Lent—the sacrifice that Christ made during his life and in his death that enabled our debts to be forgiven and our relationship with God always to be restored. We remember this not only in our thoughts but also in our actions, in our mercy and forgiveness of other and ourselves. God wants us to be like Him in all things, and that includes in His Mercy and Forgiveness. Today and for the rest of Lent, as we remember our sins and the mercy of God, let us also ask God for the graces to forgive all who have hurt us so that on Easter Sunday, we will be received with a “contrite heart and a humble spirit” (Daniel 3:39).

Betsy Daly is a junior in the School of Education. She has a double major in Education and Theology. She is also involved with Students for Life and the Edmund Campion Society.

Reflection for March 20, 2017

Solemnity of Saint Joseph, spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary
2 SM 7:4-5A, 12-14A, 16
PS 89: 2-3, 4-5, 27 and 29
ROM 4:13, 16-18, 22
PS 84: 5
MT 1:16, 18-21,  24A or LK 2:41-51A

How many of us would be so willing to just accept God’s will without taking a second to think about what His offering holds? I don’t think any of us would just jump at the chance of saying, “yes” without taking at least a minute to think about it.

In today’s Gospel, did you hear what the Lord told Joseph? The angel of the Lord appeared in Joseph’s dream and said to him, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home”. The Lord told Joseph to accept Mary into his life. This woman, who was told to be a “virgin”, but had a baby in her womb, was supposed to just be easily accepted into Joseph’s life. Joseph knew Mary was pregnant. She was pregnant with someone else’s child or maybe it was really the Lord’s Son. But how can he just accept a pregnant woman of an unknown man? Accepting a woman who claims herself to be a “virgin” and become the father of a bastard child was not socially acceptable amongst people. However, feeling the presence of God through the angel, all Joseph was able to do was say, “yes” to Him. His faith and trust in God is all that it took for him to obey God’s command at once. That night Joseph just woke up from his sleep and “did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him
and took his wife into his home”. He didn’t take a second to doubt God’s wish. He didn’t go to a friend’s place to talk it out. He didn’t pace back and forth in his room running the pros and cons of accepting Mary. What Joseph did was simply accept the Lord’s plan. There was no hesitation. There was period of questioning the Almighty God.

The Gospel today gives us an example of what it takes to just say, “yes” to God. God gives us so many opportunities in life to just say “yes”, but we tend to overthink His offers for us and miss the possibilities of what greater experiences we could have had if we only listened to Him. During this season of Lent, it is important to just sit and listen to God. We should be able to say “yes, Lord” to whatever His plans are for us. Instead of questioning Him and thinking about what He is asking us to do, we should trust in Him and accept the plan that He has for us. He only wants to bring us good. The next time you are deciding between two or more choices, think about what God would want you to do. Look for His voice and listen to His wish. For His plans are greater than yours.

Tima Tito, Senior Nursing Student from Chicago, IL.