“Are we there yet?”

40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday in the Fifth Week of Lent, 05 April 2022
Numbers 21:4-9   <*[[[[>< + ><]]]]*>   John 8:21-30

From Mount Hor the children of Israel set out on the Red Sea road, to bypass the land of Edom. But with their patience worn out by the journey, the people complained against God and Moses, “Why have you brought us out of Egypt to die in this desert, where there is no food or water? We are disgusted with this wretched food!”

Numbers 21:4-5

O God our Father,
I must admit like the Israelites,
I feel impatient, I feel so tired
already in this five weeks of Lent;
like a child with all sarcasm and
insults, I feel like asking "are we
there yet?"

Help me O God in this long journey
of Lent, of life itself, especially during 
these two years of the pandemic;
many among us have been worn out
of staying home, of being told to quarantine,
of having those vaccines, of those sitting 
all day before the computer screen for
our on line classes and work from home.

Forgive us, O God, when we get impatient
in the journey of life, when we rationalize
everything like the Pharisees when Jesus 
told them, "I am going away and you will
look for me... where I am going you cannot 
come" (John 8:21); forgive us, dear God, 
when we can't wait for our own "hour", 
in rushing everything that we miss Christ
passing by in this journey of life as
our companion.

Open our minds and our hearts,
our eyes and our arms to believe in
Jesus your Son who had come to
lead us back to you, our true home,
our "Promised Land"; remind us that
you O Lord is not a concept to be
understood but a Person - the I AM
WHO AM - to be accepted and loved.
Amen.