Collect for 4th Sunday Lent.

COLLECT SERIES

The Mass: Collect Series Icon.

COLLECT

The Collect for the 4^th Sunday of Lent reads as follows:

O God, who through Your Word reconcile the human race to Yourself

in a wonderful way,

Grant, we pray, that with prompt devotion and eager faith

the Christian people may hasten towards the solemn celebrations to come.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,

who lives and reigns with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God for ever and ever.

REFLECTION QUESTIONS

In making this prayer tangible for during the week, the following reflection questions emerged:

1.    1.  Who is Jesus as Word mean to me?

2.    2.. How will I keep my faith alive and well during this time of the corona virus pandemic?

3.    3.  What steps will I put in place this week to ensure my faith remains alive and active?
      ( eg watch Mass as a live stream, make visits to the church to pray, read the scripture,
     go to confession, seek out adoration where exposition of the blessed sacrament is
     being offered

4.  4.  If the Holy Week ceremonies cannot be offered in our parishes,  how will I hasten towards 
    the solemn celebrations to come?

5.  5. How will I celebrate Laudete Sunday?

GOSPEL REFLECTION

The Gospel for today is from Matthew- the man born blind.  Jesus heals not only His physical sight but also his interior sight.  Notice the pharisees who have physical sight but their interior sight/spiritual sight is lacking.  They fail to want to recognise Jesus for who He is.  Notice too their desire to hold on to power and position. Recognising Jesus would have meant rethinking their position and letting go of their power in their community.

Are we the same?  Am I a boss who holds on to His position knowing that working with other people collaboratively would be better for the people whom I should be serving?  What areas in my life do I have blind spots? Am I willing to listen when others point them out in love to me?

In this time of great crisis in the world, many people are frightened, fearful and uncertain.  This is understandable since we do not know what is ahead. We are in uncharted waters as regards the health of the world. Yet think of the disciples in the boat- they were fearful, thinking that the storm and the seas would envelop them. What did Jesus do -rebuke the seas and calmed the storm.  What did the disciples do- bowed down and adored Him. 
Jesus is the healer now as just He was on earth. So have no fear- He will calm the storm of the virus and the sea of fear. Turn to Him and love God with all your heart.

However, be not afraid. God is always with us.  We need to be strong for each other and encourage each other.  We need not to hoard and be selfish when it comes to groceries but share what we have with others.  We also need to be grateful in this time- grateful that we can still have something to eat- it may not be what we would like but God is still providing us with some food- some provision.

It is important to remember that God will not only provide for our physical needs during this time but our spiritual needs. We need to draw close to Him. We need to read the scripture, pray the rosary, pray the Divine Mercy chaplet or whatever other prayers you like to say. More than anything, stay strong in faith and encourage those who are wavering.   God is with us. He loves us. God will provide during this period of uncertainty.  Make it a time to look and see our lives as they are and gain the spiritual sight and the determination to change  what is not of God.

Be encouraged and let go fear. Let go of possessions and know that God will provide enough for us. God will not abandon us. He provided manna for the chosen people in the desert. So in our desert of no Mass, empty grocery shelves and with so much fear and anxiety around, let us not draw close to Christ.  

After all we do not and should not ever practise social distancing from Him.