Reflections of Caritas

THE FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT

FIRST READING:  Ez 7:12-14, GOSPEL:  Jn 11:1-45

Dear friends,

Over the last weeks, we have witnessed thousands of people who have lost their lives due to the global epidemic of COVID-19. Tears have rolled down our cheeks, we have looked hopeless amidst this puzzling epidemic. Many questions have remained unanswered concerning God’s existence, love and concern for His People.

Our message of hope is in today’s First Reading and the Gospel. In the first reading, Prophet Ezekiel gives hope to his countrymen who are in exile in Babylon and are on the brink of despair. They seem dead, their temple is destroyed, their land is wasted, and they find themselves an enslaved people in a foreign land. Through Prophet Ezekiel God promises to open their graves and makes them rise from the dead. These are our words of hope designed to reassure, comfort and remind us that God has not abandoned his people.

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THE FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT

GOSPEL:  John 9:1-41

Dear friends,

This Sunday is marked by a relaxation from the penitential character of the Lenten season. This Sunday, the Holy Mother Church exhorts us to be joyful and relax amidst the epidemic of COVID-19 because Christ our shepherd illuminates us, and heals our blindness and sickness. In the Gospel Reading of today from St. John we hear the marvelous story about Jesus healing a man born blind.

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THE SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT

GOSPEL:  Matthew 17:1-9

Dear friends,

As we continue our Lenten journey and Jesus continues his own journey towards Jerusalem, he knows what he is facing. He will be betrayed, denied, condemned and crucified. Perhaps he feels and senses the disciples’ fear and anxiety and so wants to reassure them. So he gives them a glimpse of the shape of things to come; he is revealed to them in all his glory.

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THE FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT

GOSPEL: Matthew 4:1-11

Dear friends,

WE HAVE NOW ENTERED the great season of Lent. Lent comes around each year and presents us with its usual challenge to take stock of our lives, to see more clearly what is in our hearts, and to discover what might be calling us out of our comfort zones. It is a time for personal as well as group reflection, a time for entering into ‘the wilderness’ and grappling with the mysteries of life, as well as a time of preparation for Easter. The Church provides Lent almost like an annual retreat, a time for deepening the understanding of our Christian faith, a time for reflection and renewal, a time to make a fresh start.

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