Lenten Meditations: Tuesday 23 February

Feb 23, 2021 by

Tues

Feb 23

am 45 pm: 47, 48 Deut 9:4-12 Heb 3:1-11 John 2:13-22

 

TUESDAY- LENT I St. Polycarp of Smyrna, Bishop and Martyr, 166

 

LITURGICAL THEME FOR THE DAY: In 167, persecution broke out in Smyrna. When Polycarp who was the humble and beloved bishop heard that his pursuers were at the door, he said, “The will of God be done;” and meeting them, he begged to be left alone for a little time, which he spent in prayer for “the Catholic Church throughout the world.” He was brought to Smyrna early on Holy Saturday; and, as he entered, a voice was heard from heaven, “Polycarp, be strong.” When the proconsul besought him to curse Christ and go free, Polycarp answered, “Eighty-six years I have served Him, and He never did me wrong; how can I blaspheme my King and Savior?” Can we this Lent, be

like St. Polycarp, and maintain our constancy in the faith hope and  love of Jesus Christ?

 

MEDITATION OF THE DAY: Today in the Gospel we hear again the story of Jesus going to the Temple in Jerusalem for Passover. There he found men selling oxen, sheep and doves to the Jews who bought them for sacrificial offerings. He overturned the tables of the money changers and drove away the animals from the Temple saying, “Do not make My Father’s house a house of merchandise”. Thus, Jesus cleansed the Temple in Jerusalem.

 

The gathering place of faith, whether it be the synagogue, the temple, the local parish has at times appeared to people as a place to flee not flock to. There will always be events in churches that appear to go against the very nature of being a place of prayer and a house of worship. We do desire that purity of place for the peace that we seek but we should also do an inventory of self that in walking through our inner temples Jesus

 

does not find that which is less than ideal to housing the Lord God within us. This Lent let us consider if there are things in my life that need to be driven out? What do I need to do to be cleansed?

 

PRAYER OF THE DAY: Please, Lord, give us grace, we pray, joyfully to examine our own hearts and be willing to perform the tasks we need to do to be living stones of a Holy Temple. We ask this all  for your sake. Amen

 

LENTEN DISCIPLINE –  Start making a list of your sins. Be aware of incidents of just and unjust exercise of authority. Strictly examine your own use of power, authority, and responsibility.

 

ANCIENT WISDOM/PRESENT GRACE: “Let us, therefore, forsake the vanity of the crowd and their false teachings, and turn back to the word delivered to us from the

beginning.”-  Saint Polycarp.

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