The Fourth Sunday of Lent – New Things Have Come

This post is part of our Lenten Reflection Series: Be A Fountain of Mercy
Authored by Sister Mary Regina Robbins, SND

“Quick, bring the finest robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet because this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again.” Lk. 15

Even though the Gospel for this Sunday is familiar to all of us, we never tire of it. It shows in bas relief how in Christ old things can pass away and new things can come. It is possible to let go of the old if it bogs us down, and believe in new life. So we hear again the parable of the Prodigal Son returning to his father who receives him with open arms and abundant blessings of love and gratitude. With a little imagination we can picture Jesus, the storyteller, holding his listeners spellbound as they wonder how the story will end. Surprise, shock! Jesus has come up with a terrifically radical, unforgettable story to get across the mercy of God, the loving Creator-God. He reveals his Abba as one who waits for us, refusing to take away our free will and who even lets us wander and fall until we find how miserable we can be apart from him.

Especially parents can identify with this story as they feel an aching longing for their departed children. Many parents are tortured by what may have gone wrong or what could have been different in their relationships with their children. They hope and pray for their children to realize that they have a home and are painfully missed.

But the story is not just about others returning. It is also about us. In many ways we wander, straying from goodness and close dependence upon God. During Lent we are invited to spend time looking at where we are and where we have wandered. We allow ourselves in quiet prayer to recognize our plight. By facing our inner truth we come to an awakening, “I must return.”  The Church, especially during the Holy Year of Mercy, opens its doors, providing the sacrament of reconciliation and doctrinal promises of forgiveness and acceptance.

As Saint Paul says in the second reading, God our Father is reconciling us through Christ. As we prepare for the Easter renewal of our baptismal vows we believe: “Whoever is in Christ is a new creation: the old things have passed away; behold new things have come.”

What are these old things for you and what might the new things be? For the Prodigal Son it was very clear. Is it clear for you?

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The Second Sunday of Lent – Transfiguration of Jesus

This post is part of our Lenten Reflection Series: Be A Fountain of Mercy
Authored by Sister Mary Regina Robbins, SND

The Entrance Antiphon for this Sunday is a beautiful plea:

“Of you my heart has spoken:
Seek his face.
It is your face, O Lord, that I seek.
Hide not your face from me!” (Ps. 25)

As we continue our Lenten journey we experience an increasing desire to be pure of heart, to have eyes of faith, to be all that God is calling us to be. We want to see the face of Christ so we can reflect his goodness to our world. However Satan wages a relentless war against our efforts. We hear God’s call in our hearts but the evil spirit uses twists and turns to suggest excuses, and butters up our already-puffed-up egos. The journey is rough at times. Like Saint Paul we say we do not always do the things we resolve to do. We experience our human weaknesses and realize more and more how much we need Lent to discipline ourselves. We turn to God for the grace and strength to be Christ-like. “Hide not your face from me, Lord!”

This Sunday we have the wonderful Gospel of the Transfiguration. Let your imagination enter the scene. Climb the hillside with Jesus. His transfiguration is to empower us as it did the apostles, for our own transformation into his likeness.

The apostles had some kind of mystical experience on Mount Tabor. It changed their lives and they held in their hearts forever that memory. They had a personal God-experience, an intimate encounter with Jesus Christ, true God and true man.

This Gospel event is so important that the liturgical calendar celebrates it as a feast day on August 6. It is recorded in all three synoptics (Mtt.17.1-8, Mk. 9.2-8 and Lk. 9.28-36). Jesus manifests his glory and divinity, impressing upon the apostles who he really is, giving them a truth which they will later be able to refer to in times of temptation and difficulty.

Have you had a “transfiguration” personal encounter with Jesus? Yours may not be recorded in any book and it may not be as dramatic, but if you look into your heart you may be able to recall some moment or event that changed you in some way. We know the story of Jesus’ transfiguration because the apostles experienced it, recalled it, reflected upon it, and then shared it, giving testimony. Do we willingly share our God-experiences as testimony of what God can do? This is a grace to ask for during Lent as we deepen our prayer and meditation and pray that God will show us his face.

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Ash Wednesday – Be A Fountain of Mercy

This post is part of our Lenten Reflection Series: Be A Fountain of Mercy
Authored by Sister Mary Regina Robbins, SND

An ambassador is an honorary position, but also a very responsible one. An ambassador stands in place of another of greater distinction and purpose. Saint Paul liked to think of himself as representative of Christ and His message, and so do I! What a Christian challenge! To be a stand-in for Christ!

We carry in our hearts and minds the indwelling of our Savior, with all the outpouring of God’s love. The call this Lent may be precisely to let Christ truly live out His love in and through us. We might spend some time reflecting on Paul’s words to the Corinthians (2Cor. 5.20-6.2).

“We are ambassadors for Christ, as if God were appealing through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, to be reconciled to God. For our sake He made Him to be sin who did not know sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. Working together, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain!”

So we resolve not to receive the grace of God in vain. This Lent the church is even more than ever aware of the great message of God’s love and forgiveness, as Pope Francis has announced a Holy Year of Mercy. To reflect on God’s great love, acceptance and forgiveness, encourages us to be merciful to ourselves but also challenges us to treat others with this same mercy. We recognize and even celebrate that while made to the image and likeness of God, we are all very human and human beings are “in the making” and not brought to perfection yet. Because we are in the making we depend on and want others to give us the benefit of the doubt, to have mercy when we fail or make mistakes. We too need not to judge others or expect perfection from them. Let us use the entrance antiphon for Ash Wednesday as our own mantra this week: “You are merciful to all, O Lord. You overlook people’s sins, to bring them to repentance, and you spare them, for you are the Lord our God.” But instead of the “Lord” say: “I am merciful to all.” And then see what happens.

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