Beloved Father, how can our hearts become gardens of gratitude from which the joy we find in You can flow to all people? What a light this could be, when so many today do not know true joy and seek their happiness in the transitory things of life. This would also be a powerful weapon against the forces that seek to darken our lives. We would take the weapons out of their hands with which they so gladly plague people. They will find it difficult to prevail against a grateful heart in which Your joy dwells.
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Day 11: “Joy, prayer, and gratitude”
In today’s reading (1 Thessalonians 5:14–23), we hear St. Paul’s instructions to the community of Thessalonica on how they should live so that God’s peace may reign among them and so that their whole being may be kept blameless “at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (v. 23) Today we will focus on three of the various exhortations that the Apostle addresses to the Thessalonians:
- “Rejoice always” (v. 16).
- “Pray constantly” (v. 17).
- “Give thanks in all circumstances” (v. 18).
“Rejoice always.”
Certainly, this is not a sentimental joy. However beautiful that may be, it can quickly fade and be replaced by other feelings. St. Paul must instead be referring to a spiritual joy: joy in God. By remembering every day that God loves us, we can find deep and lasting joy—especially when we realize that He does not withdraw His love even when we are weak and fall short of what we had set out to do. God has said an irrevocable “yes” to our lives, with which we can face the various “no’s” we encounter within and outside ourselves.
YOUR REMINDERS ARE WORTH MORE THAN GOLD
Beloved Father, You guide us in many ways as we follow Christ. Your reminders are among the precious gifts You give us. They carry a serious undertone so that they can awaken us and emphasize their importance. They spring from Your loving heart and are imbued with gentleness. Unlike stirring or frightening warnings, they are more like reminders of what we can easily overlook. Read More
Day 10: “Valuable reminders”
In today’s reading (Ezekiel 18:20–28), the Lord faces a dispute with His people, who accuse Him of being unjust. What is the reason? The Lord explains:
“But if a wicked man turns away from all his sins which he has committed and keeps all my statutes and does what is lawful and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. None of the transgressions which he has committed shall be remembered against him; for the righteousness which he has done he shall live. Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, says the Lord God, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live? But when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity and does the same abominable things that the wicked man does, shall he live? None of the righteous deeds which he has done shall be remembered; for the treachery of which he is guilty and the sin he has committed, he shall die.” (Ezekiel 18:21–24)
Obviously, the Jews did not agree with these statements, for the Lord says through the prophet: “Yet the house of Israel says, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ O house of Israel, are my ways not just? Is it not your ways that are not just?” (Ezekiel 18:29)
Day 9: “Responsibility and Docility to God’s Will”
Today, in our Lenten journey, we are first presented with a reading from the prophet Ezekiel (Ezekiel 18:1–9). In it, the Lord wants to clarify a false conception that was evidently held by the people of Israel and expressed in erroneous thoughts and proverbs: “What do you mean by repeating this proverb concerning the land of Israel, ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge’?” (v. 2).
The Lord makes it clear that He does not want to hear such words in Israel again and that each person is responsible for his or her own actions: “Behold, all souls are mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sins shall die.” (v. 4). God then tells us how we should live to please Him, and we can summarize this in verse 9: “If a man walks in my statutes, and is careful to observe my ordinances—he is righteous, he shall surely live, says the Lord God.”
This passage offers us important guidance today as well. At times, we may run the risk of giving too much weight to the intergenerational legacies we carry with us. It would be a grave mistake to blame them for all our wrongdoings and use them as an excuse to justify a life contrary to God’s Law.
IN RESPONSIBILITY BEFORE THE LORD
“If a man walks in my statutes, and is careful to observe my ordinances—he is righteous, he shall surely live, says the Lord God.” (Ezekiel 18:9)
Dear Father, we like to speak of Your love and goodness, of Your patience and mercy. Indeed, we live by them. Who could truly live and walk their path to the end if You did not carry them and lift them up again and again in their many weaknesses and falls?
Day 8: “Hand in hand with Moses and Elijah, towards an authentic witness”
In today’s two readings (Ex 24:12–18 and 1 Kgs 19:3–8), we encounter the two great prophets of the Old Covenant. On the one hand, there is Moses, who freed the people of Israel from the yoke of the Egyptian pharaoh and led them through the desert on behalf of the Lord. God has great plans for Moses. He calls him to climb Mount Sinai and says to him: “The Lord said to Moses, ‘Come up to me on the mountain, and wait there; and I will give you the tables of stone, with the law and the commandment, which I have written for their instruction.’” (Ex 24:12).
Moses obeyed, and when the glory of the Lord appeared on the summit like a consuming fire, he climbed the mountain, where he remained “forty days and forty nights” (v. 18).
A decisive event was about to take place, for which God prepared Moses during that time, introducing him even more deeply into the mission He had entrusted to him.
“WISER THAN SOLOMON”
“The queen of the South (…) came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.” (Mt 12:42)
Beloved Father, in this fast‑paced world with its flood of information, who still seeks true wisdom? People strive to accumulate knowledge, sometimes believing that knowledge itself brings power. But what kind of power is that? Those who pursue it in this way already show that they lack wisdom. For our part, it is better to listen to Your Word:
“MY HOUSE SHALL BE CALLED A HOUSE OF PRAYER”
With good reason, beloved Father, Your Son was indignant when He saw that business was being conducted in the Temple in a way that did not correspond to the true beauty and dignity of Your House. He even said they had turned it into a “den of thieves” and drove out the sellers and money changers (Mt 21:12–13).
Your House, beloved Father, must be a “house of prayer,” a place reserved for encounter with You. For us, it can be a small foretaste of Heaven, where we will find the beauty of all beauties in the contemplation of Your glory.
Day 7: “Resist evil in the Holy Spirit!”
Today is the seventh day of our journey toward Holy Easter. In today’s reading, the Lord calls us to conversion:
“Seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.” (Is 55:6–7).
Although we hope that our thoughts and actions never reach the point of being evil or wicked—God forbid!—we are always called to a deeper conversion and to leave behind anything that could separate us from God’s love. While we can count on His mercy and patience, the constant call to conversion is addressed to our free will, which He Himself has given us. The Lord wants our response so that He may guide us along His paths, which often differ from our own: