Tuesday of the First Week of Lent
March 15, 2011
To see the readings, click here:
http://www.usccb.org/nab/031511.shtml
Wow, I didn't remember there being so many words of encouragement in the Lenten readings! I found this Isaiah reading really uplifting!! I just love the thought that "God's word shall not return to Him void, but shall do His will, achieving the end for which He sent it." And the comparison to rain, "watering the earth, making it fertile and fruitful, giving seed to the one who sows and bread to the one who eats."
I can only hope that promise holds true for me. Sometimes I wonder -- especially when I read the Lenten readings, which I have studied every year since at least 2004, and they don't even seem familiar to me. I can only hope that each year, they are achieving the end for which God sent it that time. But it is a bit disconcerting.
Just for fun, I decided to go back and look at an old file and see what I said about this reading in 2008, the last time I did this exercise. Much of it wasn't worth quoting, but I did like this paragraph that I wrote that year: "
Actually, this whole chapter of Isaiah is full of uplift and hope. This chapter contains such well known phrases as 'All you who are thirsty, come to the water! You who have no money, come, receive grain and eat; come without paying and without cost, drink wine and milk!' And 'Seek the Lord while he may be found, call him while he is near.' It’s a great place to turn when you need comfort and strength."
It embarrasses me a bit to admit, even to myself, how rarely I turned to that source of comfort and strength during my two long, painful years of unemployment. I never stopped praying for the needs of others, and I certainly prayed long and hard about my own needs, but how odd that I didn't take advantage of this major source of comfort God sent that could have helped me. Yesterday I talked about how living by God's rules carries it's own reward; this is sort of the reverse, where making a mistake and not doing what God would have me do carried its own punishment.
Father, I thank you for all the ways you pour out your blessings upon us. I especially thank you for the beautiful words of encouragement you give us in your Scriptures. Please abide in me and in all those who are traveling this Lenten journey with me, and keep us centered in your word. Help us to turn to you and to the word you have sent us in our times of need. Please pour out your Spirit on us and help us to listen to you, that we might hear the messages you send us this Lent. Be that still, small voice in our hearts that leads us on paths of righteousness. Thank you so much for all the ways you show your love. Amen
