Progress on the Lenten journey is found in the words of Jesus in Luke’s gospel (Luke11:14-23): “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.”
There’s no neutral ground.
There’s no progress made when one foot is on the path of holiness and
the other foot is on the world’s path.
Either we sit on the fence, or we lose our balance.
Whenever we fail to fully cooperate with Jesus, we’re
working (to some degree) against His perfect plans, against His strategies for
spreading the kingdom of God, and against His attempts to answer other people’s
prayers.
If we neglect the needs of others, if we ignore the
sufferings of even the least significant people around us, if we refuse to love
those whom He loves, we are working against Jesus.
We’ve all seen divisions in our family, our workplace, our
parishes, our communities, and our world.
Every division is more than just person against person, faction against
faction. It’s an act against Jesus and
it scatters people away from the path that He has paved for them. Jesus says, “Every kingdom divided against
itself is laid waste. Any house torn by dissension falls.”
However, through God’s resurrection power, all divisions
can become great opportunities for new and stronger unity — if people on both
sides choose to reconcile and to handle the problems God’s way.
What if you’re willing, but others in a divisive situation
have hardened their hearts and stiffened their necks (Jeremiah 7:23-28)? The division might not end in your lifetime,
but God will bless you and heal your heart and strengthen your holiness.
To receive this healing, we have to hear God’s voice and
harden not our own hearts (Psalms 95:1-9).
Condemnation and vengeful anger work against God’s plans, so instead of
adding to the wall of division, we take pity on our enemies and pray for them
and stand beside Jesus, ready and eager to be conduits of His merciful love if
and when opportunities arise.
Sometimes for the sake of safety or emotional and spiritual
health, we have to separate ourselves from others when they refuse to cooperate
with reconciliation. This breakup isn’t
a sin, regardless of how long the division continues, that is, if we listen for
God’s voice, soften our hearts, and choose to lovingly do good for our enemies.
Loving those from whom we’re divided means that we don’t
decide how to treat them based on how they treat us nor on what we think they
deserve. Instead, we give them what
they’re ready to receive from Jesus through us. (Note the word “ready”. If we force it on them
before they’re ready and open to it, we cause more division.) That’s how to have unity even in the midst of
divisions!
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The Highs and Lows and Ups and Downs of the Most Holy
Rosary
II. The Scourging at
the pillar
Brief meditation:
In this mystery, we contemplate Our Lord Jesus Christ covered with wounds from head to toe from all the
scourging, but still He utters not a word of complaint. We ask the Blessed Virgin Mary to inspire us
with this scene so that every time we find our lives covered with suffering,
that we may never complain, that we may always offer our sufferings for the
conversion of sinners, in reparation to the sins against the Sacred Heart of
Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and for the greater glory of God.
Scriptural meditation:
1. Pilate addressed
them a third time, "What evil has this man done? I found him guilty of no
capital crime." (Luke 23:22)- Hail Mary….
2. "Therefore I
shall have him flogged and then release
him." (Luke 23:22)- Hail Mary…
3. With loud shouts,
however, they persisted in calling for his crucifixion,
and their voices prevailed. (Luke 23:23)- Hail Mary…
4. The verdict of
Pilate was that their demand should be granted. (Luke 23:24)- Hail Mary…
5. Then Pilate took
Jesus and had him scourged. (John 19:1)- Hail
Mary…
6. So he released the man who had been imprisoned for rebellion
and murder, for whom they asked, and he handed Jesus over to them to deal with
as they wished. (Luke 23:25)- Hail Mary…
7. How lonely she is now, the once crowded city! (Lamentations
1:1a)- Hail Mary…
8. Widowed is she who was mistress over nations. (Lamentations
1:1b)- Hail Mary…
9. The princess
among the provinces has been made a toiling slave. (Lamentations 1:1c)- Hail Mary ...
10. Bitterly she weeps at night, tears upon her cheeks. (Lamentations
1:2)- Hail Mary ...
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