Moses wrote about Jesus (Jn 5:46). Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John wrote about Jesus in their Gospels. St. Paul wrote about Jesus in all of his New Testament letters. At Corinth, Paul spoke "of nothing but Jesus Christ and Him crucified" (1 Cor 2:2). The Blessed Virgin Mary spent her life treasuring Jesus and everything that concerned Him (Lk 2:19). The angels center their existence around Jesus (Jn 1:51).
In Lent, we prepare ourselves to enter into the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. Jesus is "the Resurrection and the Life" (Jn 11:25). He is the meaning of Lent, the reason for the season.
Jesus "is before all else that is. In Him everything continues in being. It is He Who is Head of the body, the Church; He Who is the Beginning, the First-Born of the dead, so that primacy may be His in everything" (Col 1:17-18). It's all about Jesus.
Are your thoughts, words, desires, sufferings, works, and leisure all about Jesus? Have you been crucified with Christ, so that the life you live now is not your own, but is the life of Jesus living in you? (Gal 2:19-20) Are you immersed in the life of Jesus? This is what it means to be baptized into Jesus.
In two weeks, Lent ends and the Triduum begins. Then on Easter Vigil and Easter Sunday, we will renew our baptismal promises to be immersed in Jesus. At that moment, we will six times tell Jesus, "I do." Speak each "I do" to Jesus with even more love than a bride and groom say "I do" on their wedding day. Make your life all about Jesus.
| PRAYER: | Jesus, I come to You to possess life (Jn 5:40). I will fix my eyes upon You moment by moment (Heb 12:2). |
| PROMISE: | "These very works which I perform testify on My behalf that the Father has sent Me." –Jn 5:36 |
| PRAISE: | Michelle often repeats God's promise that mercy triumphs over judgment (Jas 2:13) to remind herself that to be merciful is to receive mercy. |
Reprinted with permission from Presentation Ministries, a lay association of the Catholic Church that focuses on evangelization and discipleship through Bible teaching, daily Mass, the charisms of the Holy Spirit, and Small Christian Community. Their ministries include:
· One Bread, One Body
· Daily Bread Radio Program
· Annual Bible Institute
· Discipleship Retreats
· Guadalupe Bible College