Mass & Directions

Sunday March 24th : 3rd Sunday of Lent

St. Francis Parish | March 21, 2019, 3:55 pm | Reflections

Note: Reflection on Year C Readings; Year A Readings will be used at 6PM RCIA Mass.
  On this 3rd Sunday of Lent, we are given two warnings.  The first comes in St. Paul’s 1st Letter to the Corinthians 10:12, as he explained that even those of God’s chosen people who desired evil things were “struck down in the desert.”  “Therefore, whoever thinks he is standing secure should take care not to fall.”  Then in the Gospel of Luke 13:1-5, Jesus provides a similar warning in his response to Galileans who suffered at the hands of Pontius Pilate as well as others at the tower of Siloam.  He asks the people if they believe that those who suffered “were greater sinners” and “more guilty than everyone else”.  Jesus then exclaims, “By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did!”
  Both are warnings for us to take care to avoid measuring our holiness against the world or by the simple fact that we call ourselves Catholics.  It is easy for us to compare ourselves and our actions to others, telling ourselves, ‘I’m not that bad’ or ‘At least I go to Mass every Sunday’ or similar examples.  We must realize that there is one who wants nothing more than for us to believe that we are doing “just fine”.  Think of the influences we have that will tell us that our actions are just fine.  Those voices in our heads that would tell us that “it’s ok, it’s just this once”.  Or, “who are they to judge you, they don’t even…”.  The devil will always try to fool us into thinking that which is bad for us is either not harmful or that it is in fact good.  Now think of those who truly love you and care about your well being.  They are the people who tell us things that are the most difficult to hear.  For many, this may be our spouse, parents, siblings or long time friends.  They will let us know when they see us harming ourselves through our actions just as Jesus does each Sunday when we hear the Gospel or in the Letters like Saint Paul’s to the Corinthians above.  These are the words most difficult to hear because they reveal to us that which we are doing ourselves harm.
  As we continue our Lenten journey, let us pay special attention to the words we hear, audibly or in our minds and discern between those that are meant to guide us to Jesus and those that are not.  – “Listen to Him.” (LK 9:35)
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