Thursday after Ash Wednesday

Reflection

In the first reading, the theme that stands out to me is that God has given us the Ten Commandments as a way of growing closer to Him. The first commandment is “thou shalt put no other gods before me.” No one is perfect, and we can get easily distracted in our everyday lives. But here lies the problem. Our everyday lives can be filled with schoolwork, our job, family, friends, and the daily stresses of life. As important as each of those are, we are reminded that God is supposed to be a part of our daily lives. Not only should He be a part of our lives, but He should be number one in our lives. With simple daily reflection and prayer, we can come to put God as the number one priority, and soon our thoughts and actions will begin to reflect God and His love for us.

In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus tells us, "If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me.” We are all called to follow Jesus, and we must symbolically pick up our own cross daily and follow Him.  During this Lenten season, it is important to realize what it means to take up our own cross. For some, it might just be finding a little more time spent in prayer. For others, it might be realizing what earthly distractions are keeping us from growing closer to God or how we can show love to those around us. Since Lent is a time of reflection and preparation for Christ's resurrection, now is a great time to begin to practice taking up our crosses daily to follow Him.

Prayer

Dear Lord, Help me to realize what distracts me from Your love. Help me to realize how to take up my own cross, and give me the strength to deny myself for You.  Amen.

Mitch McDonald, ’20

Scripture
First Reading: Deuteronomy 30:15-20

Psalm 1:1-4, 6

Gospel: Luke 9:22-25

Daily Scripture readings can be found online at the USCCB website