| "If you live according to my teaching, you
are truly my disciples." (John 8:31)
Reflection.
O Eternal Truth, true love and beloved eternity. You are my God. To You do I sigh
day and night. When I first came to know You, you drew me to yourself so that I
might see that there were things for me to see, but that I myself was not yet ready to see
them. Meanwhile you overcame the weakness of my vision, sending forth most strongly the
beams of your light, and I trembled at once with love and dread.
I sought a way to gain the strength which I needed to enjoy you. But I did not find it
until I embraced "the mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who is
above all, God blessed for ever." He was calling me and saying: "I am the way of
truth, I am the life."
Late have I loved you, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new, late have I loved you! You were
within me, but I was outside, and it was there that I searched for you. In my unloveliness
I plunged into the lovely things which you created. You were with me, but I was not with
you. Created things kept me from you; yet if they had not been in you they would have not
been at all. You called, you shouted, and you broke through my deafness. You flashed, you
shone, and you dispelled my blindness. You breathed you fragrance on me; I drew in breath
and now I pant for you. I have tasted you, now I hunger and thirst for more. You touched
me, and I burned for your peace. ... Saint Augustine
Lenten Fact.
St. Leonard Casanova (1676-1751) of Porto Maurizio, Italy, reportedly
erected over 600 sets of the Stations of the Cross throughout Italy.
Lenten Action.
Surprise someone with an act of kindness.
Prayer.
God of mercy, You wash away our sins in water, You give us a new birth in the
Spirit, and redeem us in the blood of Christ. As we celebrate Christ's resurrection,
increase our awareness of these blessings, and renew Your gift of life within us. We ask
this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy
Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. |