40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday in Second Week of Lent, 01 March 2024
Genesis 37:3-4, 12-13, 17-28 ><)))*> + <*(((>< Matthew 21:33-43, 45-46
Thank you, dear God,
for this first day and
Friday of March;
teach us to learn anew this
blessed season of Lent
the virtue of respect from
two Latin words, re + specere
that literally mean "to look again";
many times,
we fail or choose not
to respect others
because we refuse to look
at them again, and again,
that they are our kin,
a brother and a sister
in Jesus Christ;
many times we see them
but do not recognize them
as one of us that we look
at them with suspicions,
jealousies, and mistrust.
So Joseph went after his brothers and caught up with them in Dothan. They noticed him from a distance, and before he came up to them, they plotted to kill him. They said to one another: “Here comes that master dreamer! Come on, let us kill him and throw him into one of the cisterns here; we could say that a wild beast devoured him. We shall then see what comes of his dreams.”
Genesis 37:17-20
Father, instill
in our minds and hearts
through Jesus your Son,
that we own nothing
in this world,
that we are your stewards,
your tenants of the vineyard;
how sad
and tragic when we lay claim
to everything in this world
even our very own life
and those of others
as ours alone,
a private matter we alone
can decide on who is to live
and die; or, too much stress
on privacy that this is my body
that I alone can decide what to do
with my body.
Finally, he sent his son to them, thinking, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come let us kill him and acquire his inheritance.’ They seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.
Matthew 21:37-39
Forgive us, O Lord Jesus!
So many times we have acted
like those evil tenants
who lacked any respect
for you and others
when from afar,
even if we knew,
we are mere stewards,
we insist and poison
others into thinking
we can claim ownership
of everything
including this most
precious life.
Forgive us,
Lord Jesus,
for our lack of respect
to you and to one another;
how sad that in our
rampant disrespect,
unknown to us,
we have lost respect
to our very selves too.
Help us regain
respect this Lent.
Amen.
lordmychef.com 