Monday, 4th Week of Lent
The line that struck me in today’s gospel is this: “He was near death…” Another version has it: “He was at the point of death.” The gospel seems to be confronting me with a question: Is there some part of my heart that is at the point of death? I just dwelt on this question for several minutes… which eventually led me to make a prayer out of it.
Lent is our preparation for the celebration of the Lord’s resurrection. However, resurrection is also meant for us. The Lord wants us to share in his resurrection. Needless to say, we’d only experience resurrection if we are aware of the different forms of death that we may be experiencing right now. That is why it is very important to ask ourselves: Is there some part of my heart that is at the point of death?
Death is just as destructive in our day as it was in those days. Of course we are not only referring to physical death caused by illness, accident, or violence. We experience death in our personal life whenever we are ‘dead’ due to sin and selfishness, or lifeless because of our separation from our loved ones, or paralyzed because of fears, confusions and worries. We are spiritually dead when our life has lost purpose and direction, or when we have no personal relationship with God, or when our spirit is deadened due to obsessions, attachments, addictions, and fatal attractions.
Let us invite the Lord Jesus to enter those parts of our lives that are at the point of death. And let us allow him to bring new life to us. May this Lenten season be a real journey for us from death to life – from death to resurrection.
I’d like to share with you that prayer that I composed that day. Lord Jesus, you know the part of my heart that is at the point of death – more than I do. Lord, show me what it is. It may be the part that is dying due to sin, or nearly passing away due to selfishness, or almost lifeless due to broken relationships, or already cold due to indifference and insensitivity, or getting expired due to so much guilt and regrets, or getting paralyzed due to worries and anxieties. Lord, whatever it is, I humbly ask you: HEAL ME… resuscitate my heart… make me live again. Amen.
Parokya ni Osong 