I think I
was in the eighth grade and preparing for the sacrament of Confirmation when I
first started examining my conscience each night before going to bed. Sometimes I even do the examination while I’m
in bed and trying to fall asleep, because I’m a little afraid of what I’ll
discover about myself. In those early
days it was easier, because I tended to compare myself to my brothers or my
friends. I could excuse myself because I
was (in my own self-centered mind) doing better at keeping God’s commandments
through ritualistic worship than a lot of my friends—especially during
Lent. I always gave up something,
usually candy or sodas, and back then we were obligated to abstain from meat
every Friday, not just during Lent. If
one of my brothers chose the same thing, I had to ‘one up’ them. If one of my brothers broke the Friday
abstinence, even by mistake, I’d be all over them. Truth be told, I broke the abstinence just as
often if not more than any of them, but somehow it was OK, because they did it,
too. Granted, breaking the abstinence
rule is/was a sin, but some would argue that it is a venial sin at most. I have confessed to many more—even grave—sins. Each of us, if we’re honest with ourselves,
has sinned. And hopefully confessed.
The Prophet
Daniel expresses what each of us has confessed at some point in our lives: “We
have sinned, been wicked and done evil; we have rebelled and departed from your
commandments and your laws.” (Daniel 9:4-10) But recognizing and confessing our sins and
faults may be the easier Lenten task.
Looking back
over my life, my cringe-worthy regrets are not so much what I did but what I
didn’t do. When I knew I could have been
a better friend. What I didn’t do that I
knew even then I should have done. How
many times did I let fear or embarrassment get in the way of doing what was
right?
I find
Jesus’ injunction in Luke’s gospel (Luke 6:36-38) to be so pertinent and
timely. Stop with the judging, will
you?! We all know and count on the mercy
of God to forgive us. But then we turn
around and just keep on judging others for who they are, how they vote, who
they love, what their skin color is, or how they worship. My goodness, we’re back to my childhood days
of “My Lenten fast is harder than yours, so I’m better than you.”
So for the
last 20 years or so, I’ve tried (emphasis on TRIED) to do some work of mercy or
kindness in addition to giving something up during Lent. This year, I decided to attempt to promote a
better understanding of the rosary by providing within my blog posts brief and
scriptural meditations on each of the mysteries of the prayer with an emphasis
on the “highs and lows and ups and downs” in the mysteries of the Holy Rosary. In whatever ways you choose to practice a
Lenten discipline, maybe complement it with choosing a Lenten kindness that
takes some of today’s pervasive judging of others off the table.
Tonight, I conclude
the meditations on the Joyful Mysteries.
V. The Finding of the Child Jesus in the Temple
Brief meditation
"Did
you not know that I must be about my father's business?" (Luke 2:49). To begin to understand the joy that Mary and
Joseph felt on finding Jesus in the Temple, we must first imagine their
distress when they realized He wasn’t with them. For 12 years, they had been always at His
side, their lives dedicated to Him in obedience to the Will of God. Yet now—what had they done? Where was the Child, this most precious Gift
of God? How could they ever endure it if
something had happened to Him?
But here He
is, "sitting in the midst of the doctors, hearing them, and asking them
questions" (Luke 2:46). "And his mother said to him: Son, why
hast thou done so to us? behold thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing" (Luke
2:48). And then those wondrous words
emerge from His lips, "Did you not know that I must be about my
father's business?"
He’s always
been obedient to Mary and Joseph, and through them to God the Father, but now
His obedience to God is even more direct. He will, of course, continue to obey His
mother and His foster father, but today marks a turning point, a foreshadowing
of His public ministry and even of His death on the
Cross.
We’re not
called as Christ was, but we are called to follow Him, to take up our own crosses in imitation of Him and in
obedience to God the Father. Like
Christ, we must be about the Father's business in our own lives—at every moment
of every day.
Scriptural meditations
1. When Jesus was twelve years old, they went
up to Jerusalem according to the custom of the
feast. (Luke 2:42)-Hail Mary…
2. And when they were returning, the boy
Jesus remained in Jerusalem, and His parents did not know it. (Luke 2:43)-Hail
Mary…
3. They returned to Jerusalem in search of
Him. And after three days, they found Him in the temple. (Luke 2:45-46)-Hail
Mary…
4. He was sitting in the midst of the
teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. (Luke 2:46)-Hail
Mary…
5. And all who were listening to Him were
amazed at His understanding and His answers. (Luke 2:47)-Hail Mary…
6. "Son, why have You done this to
us? Behold, in
sorrow Your father and I have been seeking You." (Luke 2:48)-Hail
Mary…
7. "How is it that you sought Me? Did you not know that I must be about My
Father’s business?" (Luke 2:49)-Hail
Mary…
8. And they did not understand the word that
He spoke to them. (Luke 2:51)-Hail Mary…
9. And He went down
with them and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them. (Luke 2:51)-Hail Mary…
10. And Jesus advanced
in wisdom and age and grace before God and man. (Luke 2:52)-Hail
Mary…
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