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Christ is the wisdom of God; and in the knowledge of this Christ there is wisdom for you. Not wisdom only, but life, forgiveness, peace, glory, and an endless kingdom! Study Him! Acquaint yourself with Him! Whatever you are ignorant of, be not ignorant of Him. Whatever you overlook, overlook not Him. What ever you lose, lose not Him. To gain Him is to gain eternal life, to gain a
kingdom, to gain everlasting blessedness. To lose Him is to lose your soul, to lose God, to lose God’s favour, to lose God’s heaven, to lose the eternal crown!
- Horatius Bonar
(Acquaint yourself with Him.)
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Lenten Webinar Series Four Conversions and Spiritual
Freedom by Carla Mae Streeter, OP March 6, 13, 20, 27, 2018 Free-will donation for registration and information.
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IS 42:1-7; PS 27:1, 2, 3, 13-14
JN 12:1-11
Six days before Passover Jesus came to Bethany,
where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead.
They gave a dinner for him there, and Martha served,
while Lazarus was one of those reclining at table with him.
Mary took a
liter of costly perfumed oil
made from genuine aromatic nard
and anointed the feet of Jesus and dried them with her hair;
the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.
Then Judas the Iscariot, one of his disciples,
and the one who would betray him, said,
"Why was this oil not sold for three hundred days' wages
and given to the poor?"
He said this not because he cared about the poor
but because he was a thief and held the money bag
and used to steal the
contributions.
So Jesus said, "Leave her alone.
Let her keep this for the day of my burial.
You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me."
The large crowd of the Jews found out that he was there and came,
not only because of him, but also to see Lazarus,
whom he had raised from the dead.
And the chief priests plotted to kill Lazarus too,
because many of the Jews
were turning away
and believing in Jesus because of him.
USCCB lectionary
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Reflection on the Scripture |
"Many Jews were going over to Jesus and believing in Him on
account of Lazarus." —John 12:11
Jesus' death saved Lazarus from dying. Once Jesus was killed by crucifixion, there was no longer any need for the chief priests to kill Lazarus as well (see Jn 12:10). Jesus then died in Lazarus' stead.
Jesus' death saved Barabbas from dying. When Jesus was condemned to death, Barabbas was set free (Mt 27:20ff). Jesus died in Barabbas' place.
Jesus' death can likewise save us from dying, if we allow Him to die in our place. Jesus loved us so much that He chose to
freely suffer and die so that we could be set free (Rm 6:4). Once Jesus died, there is no need for us to suffer the eternal consequences of our sins.
Accept Jesus' death for your own salvation. Believe in His saving power. Believe that Jesus loved you so much that He has atoned for every sin you ever committed. Believe
in the mercy of God, that He never tires of forgiving you, and that He desires greatly for you to be set free and spend eternity with Him in heaven.
Prayer: Jesus, may Your death never be in vain for me (Gal 2:21). I offer You my heart in love. Use me as You will.
Promise: "I, the Lord, have called you for
the victory of justice, I have grasped you by the hand; I formed you, and set you as a covenant of the people, a light for the nations." —Is 42:6
Presentation Ministries
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What is Christian Love? - Reprinted from Freedom from Codependency, by Philip St. Romain This brings us to a critical point in our reflection on love. God has to put up with selfish creatures the same way codependents do. How does God handle it? Does God enable us or try to
control us into shaping up?
The answer, of course, is that God continues to love us while allowing us to experience our consequences. God has given us the gift of Himself in Christ and the gift of the Church to manifest the divine presence on earth. Beyond this, however, God does nothing, for to do more would violate our freedom, an essential condition for
loving.
Many people have a problem with this reasoning. They believe that an all-powerful God should rescue us from the evil we have created through our own sick minds. They fail to realize that even if God did rescue us, we would create the same mess again in a short time out of the same sick minds. What God wants for us is not a short-term fix (which is what enabling brings)
but a long-term cure. What God wants for us is conversion.
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