40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday in the Fifth Week of Lent, 07 April 2022
Genesis 17:3-9 <*{{{{>< + ><}}}}*> John 8:51-59
Photo by author, sunrise at the Lake of Galilee, Israel, 2017.
God our Father,
on this blessed Thursday
as we come nearer to the closing
of Lent, we rejoice in that beautiful
truth about you proclaimed in our
responsorial psalm today, "The Lord
remembers his covenant forever."
How lovely it is to recall that story
of how you called Abraham, not only
in making a promise with him
to be the father of all nations but
in entering a covenant with him to
be our God forever with us your
people; in doing so, you changed his
name from Abram to Abraham
to show us that every relationship
is built in calling with names not with
shaking of hands nor with other signs
and gestures we are used to.
So many times we forget how
all our relationships are based and
rooted in you our Father because
without you, all our ties as family
and friends will never last, will never
have meaning for we are all fragile
and weak, very erratic and so
moody unlike you, always faithful
and true.
Remove the blindness that prevents us
from finding you in every person we meet
like the Pharisees debating with Jesus
at the temple area, refusing to believe him
that "before Abraham came to be, I AM"
(Jn.8:58); enable us to grow and mature
amidst the many tensions and frictions
we experience in our relationships with
you and others for it is in pains and
sufferings our love and fidelity are
purified and harnessed, just like when
"Jesus hid and went out of the temple
area" (Jn.8:59) when his enemies tried
to stone him as they could not accept
him and his words. Amen.
lordmychef.com 