“Thus says the LORD: Cursed is the one who trusts in human beings, who seeks his strength in flesh, whose heart turns away from the LORD.”  These are the first words we hear in the First Reading from the Prophet Jeremiah 17:5.  Who might the Lord be speaking of?  If we were to do some self examination, could we also find some examples of these same flaws in ourselves.  Do we put all our trust in the Lord?  If not, then we must put that trust in something other than the Lord.  What might that be?

In the Gospel of Luke 6:17, 20-26, Jesus addresses “a great crowd of His disciples”.  He speaks of many being “Blessed”; the “poor”, the “hungry”, the “weeping” and the “hated”.  “Behold, your reward will be great in heaven.” (LK 6:20-23)  Most of us have experienced times in our lives that we could identify with those whom Jesus is speaking to in this passage.  These tend to be the times that we become more aware of God’s presence.  Usually, our prayer increases tremendously.  In our suffering, through humility, God is able to reveal Himself to us in much more profound ways than He ever could when everything is going right.  Why would that be?  What is getting between us and God in the times when we are enjoying the fruits of His blessings?

With Lent fast approaching, it is time to do some self-examination and think about how present we are to God.  Let us begin to identify the things in our lives that are getting between us and He.  Lent offers us an opportunity to make real life-changing sacrifices to allow us to grow more deeply in our relationship with our Lord.  Giving up chocolate, caffeine or social media are certainly beneficial but perhaps it is time to consider more challenging sacrifices to show God that our relationship with Him is greater than any comfort we have in this life.  Sacrifices that require tremendous dependence on God for us to make.  For Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice of dying on the cross to save us from our sins.  Let us each respond so that in return He may say to us, “Blessed are you”!