Here is my reflection as I culminate my lenten journey this year.
The satan answered the LORD and said, “Is it for nothing that Job is God-fearing? Have you not surrounded him and his family and all that he has with your protection? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his livestock are spread over the land. But now put forth your hand and touch all that he has, and surely he will curse you to your face.” Job 1 : 9-11
This lent has been a particularly challenging one for me. I was forced to grow in so many different directions by our Lord. It started with my personal relationship crumbling in front of me. In the mean time, my family was being rocked hard by problems that's too personal to share. Not only that, as week progressed forward, my professional life as a researcher was faced with this difficult message: you have to start over again. The past 9 months of work... all gone. It's difficult enough to give something up for lent. It's even harder to give someone up for lent. It's most difficult to give my professional life up for lent.
On our second week of Lent, the first reading in our liturgy was the story of Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac. The reading starts off this way:
Some time afterward, God put Abraham to the test and said to him: Abraham! “Here I am!” he replied. Then God said: Take your son Isaac, your only one, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah. There offer him up as a burnt offering on one of the heights that I will point out to you.
During the faith-sharing session (which I co-facilitate weekly), one of the participant ask this question: what was the most important thing in your life right now? Will you be able to give it back to God?
I answered in my heart: well, you already took my personal relationship, family, and my research away from me Lord. The only thing that's left is my voice. I love my voice since I can use it to sing Your praise, Lord. If that's taken away, that's the perfect storm.
Sure enough, about two days ago I have this bad sore throat. I took a day off Wednesday and half day Thursday due to the severe coughing I'm having. As of this morning, it's super hard for me to even talk with a full voice. Remember when someone say... "Be careful what you wish for?"
Anyway, here I am. Good Friday. Except that there is nothing good that I can see right now. There is nothing good that the apostles and anyone on earth can see that very same day 2000 years ago either. All is bleak. All is bad. All is doom.
But we all know... that the story does not end on Good Friday. The story goes on till Easter Sunday. Let us wait. Patiently. For the coming of our Lord, Jesus Christ. He has overcome. He is risen. He will come again.
Lastly, let me end with the suscipe prayer from that second week of lent that the faith-sharing booklet suggested which is composed by St. Ignatius of Loyola...
Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty,
my memory, my understanding
and my entire will,
All I have and call my own.
You have given all to me.
To you, Lord, I return it.
Everything is yours; do with it what you will.
Give me only your love and your grace.
That is enough for me.
Your love. Your grace. That's all that I need right now Lord.
Have a blessed Good Friday!
2 comments:
Thanks for sharing Atun. I hope you had a blessed Easter.
Thanks Mike! Have a blessed Easter as well! Easter has just started and looking forward to the next 50 days of it... =)
Post a Comment