116 total views

40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday in the Fourth Week of Lent, 24 March 2023
Wisdom 2:1, 12-22   >>> + <<<   John 7:1-2, 10, 25-30

Yes, dear God our Father,
man is a mystery,
for better and for worst.
For better when we live up
to your call for us to be holy
like you and for worst when we
live so far from your ways.
Your mystery is always beautiful
and good to ponder upon but
there are times when we succumb 
to evil and sins, our mystery
becomes so dull without any
sparkle at all, often shameful
even detestable like the ways
of the wicked in the first reading.

The wicked said among themselves, thinking not aright: “Let us beset the just one, because he is obnoxious to us; he sets himself against our doings, reproaches us for transgressions of the law and charges us with violations of our training. Let us see whether his words be true; let us find out what will happen to him. Let us condemn him to a shameful death; for according to his own words, God will take care of him.

Wisdom 2:1, 12, 17, 20

Keep us strong, dear Father
like your Son Jesus Christ
in the face of wicked men
who laugh and scorn us,
daring to test you;
in this age of social media
when everything is flaunted
for all to see including
what is evil and not right,
even indecent
including the excesses
of worldly things,
teach us to be simple,
to keep something
in us hidden,
a mystery.

Like fidelity,
perseverance,
and holiness.
Amen.