Lent is returning from exile

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40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday, Fourth Week in Lent, 02 April 2025
Isaiah 49:8-15     + + + + +     John 5:17-30

Thus says the Lord: In a time of favor I answer you, on the day of salvation I help you; and I have kept you and given you as a covenant to the people to restore the land and allot the desolate heritages… I will cut a road through all my mountains, and make my highways level… Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb? Even should she forget, I will never forget you (Isaiah 49:8, 11, 15).

Many times I find myself
like your people in exile, O God:
so far from you,
so far from home,
so far from my true self
all because of evil and sin,
of my refusal to love you
to love others
and worst,
my refusal to acknoledge
your love in me.

Like your people 
exiled for so long from
Israel not knowing the way
back, I too, am afraid at times
to come home;
this Lent, 
help me find my way back home
to you, Lord;
help me find my way back 
to you in prayers;
help me find my way back 
to you in finding you among
my brethren;
help me find my way back
to listening to you again
in Jesus Christ your Son
(John 5:24) so I may pass from
death to life.
Amen.