March 10, 2016 Thursday: 4th Week of Lent
March 10, 2016 Thursday: 4th Week of Lent
I know that you do not have the love of God in you. –John 5: 42
Newspaper columnist John Sinor tells of the time he was sent by the city editor to rescue a cat stuck in a tree. “The photographer and I got a long ladder. However, when we put it up against the tree, the cat came down by itself. There was only one thing to do. Catch the cat and take it back up the tree so that we could get a picture of me taking it down. We ran the pictures the next day of me taking the cat down. There was only one problem: The rival paper in town ran a picture of me putting the cat up in the tree” (San Diego Tribune).
The words may sting; we may think of them as a little harsh. But they are true. We do not have the love of God in our hearts. Oh, maybe some have a smattering of it, but most of us are motivated by our own concerns and needs. Like the photographer, we want to look good even if it is forced. Once we really accept Jesus’ words rather than deny them, we can begin to grow. We admit our selfishness and ask God to replace it. Little by little we change. We may not be perfect but we are growing little by little. We don’t have to pretend in front of others that we are someone special. We are simply his disciples growing in his grace.
Prayer
Father, I may be slow to admit that I do not have your love first and foremost in my heart. But thanks to your grace I am getting better. Little by little I am surrendering to your grace. Little by little your love will replace my selfish need to be right. Help me this Lent to focus on you and not other’s opinion of me. Amen.
-Fr. Thomas Connery, Lent Little by Little
I know that you do not have the love of God in you. –John 5: 42
Newspaper columnist John Sinor tells of the time he was sent by the city editor to rescue a cat stuck in a tree. “The photographer and I got a long ladder. However, when we put it up against the tree, the cat came down by itself. There was only one thing to do. Catch the cat and take it back up the tree so that we could get a picture of me taking it down. We ran the pictures the next day of me taking the cat down. There was only one problem: The rival paper in town ran a picture of me putting the cat up in the tree” (San Diego Tribune).
The words may sting; we may think of them as a little harsh. But they are true. We do not have the love of God in our hearts. Oh, maybe some have a smattering of it, but most of us are motivated by our own concerns and needs. Like the photographer, we want to look good even if it is forced. Once we really accept Jesus’ words rather than deny them, we can begin to grow. We admit our selfishness and ask God to replace it. Little by little we change. We may not be perfect but we are growing little by little. We don’t have to pretend in front of others that we are someone special. We are simply his disciples growing in his grace.
Prayer
Father, I may be slow to admit that I do not have your love first and foremost in my heart. But thanks to your grace I am getting better. Little by little I am surrendering to your grace. Little by little your love will replace my selfish need to be right. Help me this Lent to focus on you and not other’s opinion of me. Amen.
-Fr. Thomas Connery, Lent Little by Little
