Let us live this Lent, listening attentively to the Word of the Lord.
First Sunday of Lent, Mark 1:12-15
"The time has come, the Kingdom of God is near, convert and believe in the Good News." These words are Jesus’ calling to conversion, now is the time of our salvation; this is the moment to listen to the voice of the Lord, and to accept Jesus in the heart. Jesus, the Lord who was tempted in the dessert, knows that we are tempted to not love as He taught us. This is the reason why this first Sunday of Lent, we should ask the Lord Jesus for the strength not to fall into temptation and to always listen to his voice,
Second Sunday of Lent, Mark 9: 2-10
"This is my beloved Son, listen to Him."This is the Sunday of the transfiguration of the Lord Jesus, and the Word of God continues to invite us to listen to the Word of the Lord. It is God himself who tells us, "This is my beloved Son, listen to Him."Lent presents to us a great opportunity to review our lives and to make our hearts docile to the Word of God. My brothers may this Sunday make us capable of listening to the Lord and let the mystery of the transfiguration make us every day more obedient and loved children of God.
Third Sunday of Lent, John 2: 13-25
"Cast this out of here and do not make the house of my Father a house of commerce." Thanks to the apostle Saint Paul we have learned that our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit and therefore we should make it an agreeable house to God. On this third Sunday of Lent we see Jesus, in the Word of God, entering the temple and casting out all the thieves and merchants. Based on the Gospel, we have the opportunity to ask Jesus to come into our lives and with His love and power cast out from our interior all those things that prevent our lives to be lives of prayer and devotion to Him. May our house be a house of prayer during this Lent.
Fourth Sunday of Lent, John 13, 14-21
"Because God did not send His Son to the world to judge the world, but He sent Jesus to save the world through Him. "God’s love for us is great, so great that His only Son gave himself to the cross for our salvation. My brothers our salvation has been given to us by the sacrifice of Christ at the cross, it is up to us to accept it and to live lives of love in accordance to the Lord Jesus’ mandate. During this fourth Sunday of Lent, we get closer to the Pascal Triduum during the Holy Week; therefore, without further doubt let us accept the salvation that the Lord Jesus offers us in the cross, and let us renounce all the acts of lack of we have done.
Jainer Erick Viloria is a seminarian for the Diocese of Rochester.
