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40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Thursday, Memorial of Sts. Perpetua & Felicity, Martyrs, 07 March 2024 Jeremiah 7:23-28 ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> Luke 11:14-23
Your words today, O God, are too strong, that we are so bad and, that is so true, too.
Thus says the Lord: When you speak all these words to them, they will not listen to you either; when you call to them, they will not answer you. Say to them: This is a nation which does not listen to the voice of the Lord, its God, or take correction. Faithfulness has disappeared; the word itself is banished from their speech.
Jeremiah 7:27-28
Though we are so bad, you are still so good to us, Father; you continue to speak to us even if you know we do not listen nor heed your voice.
What is worst, even in the coming of your Son Jesus Christ who offered himself on the Cross, we still refused to listen and heed his calls, always asking for signs.
Some of them said, “By the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons, he drives out demons.” Others, to test him, asked him for a sign from heaven. But he knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste and house will fall against house. Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.”
Luke 11:15-17, 23
Lord Jesus Christ, in your dying on the the Cross, you have expressed to us the Father's immense love for us; indeed, your Cross until now remains a sign of contradiction in the world as your calls to love and to forgive, to be humble and be kind, to give than to receive remains a foolishness and weakness for many of us; but you continue to speak to us despite our being deaf and hard-hearted because by your Cross, you have shown us too it is the greatest sign of reconciliation, reminding us of the many contradictions within and around us, of the many contradictions in the world that can be reconciled and be made one in your self-giving in love we must imitate like your martyrs Saints Perpetua and Felicity. Reconcile us in you, dear Jesus, make us one in you on the Cross! Amen.
