Lenten Reflection Series- March 7th, 2021

If you’ve been following along this week, the daily reading reflections have been in light of the seven Catholic virtues. We’ve covered Hope, Charity (authentic Love), Prudence, Justice, Temperance, and Fortitude, what’s left, is Deacon Joe you may ask, what do the Ten Commandments from the 1st reading, seeing the beauty of God’s precepts in the Psalms, Proclaiming Christ Crucified in the 2nd reading, and Christ cleansing the temple have to do with Faith?

Faith is a free gift from God that allows us to believe Him, seek His will, and profess it in word and deed. Like every gift, it requires that we open it and put it to proper use. God offers us Faith, but we must affirm this generous gift and use it properly.

Origen, an early Christian commentator, compares the cleaning of the temple with our own undisciplined soul – the new temple of the Holy Spirit - not filled with animals or money changers, but with worldly attachments and sinful inclinations. Like the Jewish temple, Christ must drive out these attachments so that Faith takes root. Once rooted in Faith, we learn to follow and love His commandments, as we realize that they create authentic freedom and joy in right relationships. Through this love of God’s law, we then proclaim our Faith of redemption through Christ’s death and resurrection.

What are the worldly attachments in our life that keep us from opening God’s gift of Faith? Ask Jesus to drive them away.

​Deacon Joe