40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday after Ash Wednesday, 06 March 2025
Deuteronomy 30:15-20 + Luke 9:22-25

Why always the Cross,
Lord Jesus Christ?
Many times
I grapple not only
with myself but especially
with others at how to explain,
what to tell them
the need for your Cross
when all in our lives
has always been the cross.
Even the simple act of choosing,
of deciding
is a cross.
And yet,
we still foolishly
choose
death in the process
by avoiding your Cross,
Lord.
Moses said to the people: “Today I have set before you life and prosperity, death and doom” (Deuteronomy 30:15).
In this Season of Lent,
let me appreciate anew
the beauty and majesty,
nobility and divinity
of your Cross,
Jesus;
always looming in our lives
is your Cross
because that is where
you are always found,
that is where you stay
most of the time
to heal us,
to forgive us,
to save us.
There is always
the Cross in our lives
because it is the direction
to life,
to fulfillment,
to fruitfulness
in you, Jesus
who was the first
to suffer and die
on the Cross
for us
so we can have life.
Let us carry our Cross
to make that crossing
into life in you.
Amen.
