Making a Joyful Noise through Lent
“I invite all Christians, everywhere, at
this very moment, to a renewed personal encounter with Jesus Christ, or at
least an openness to letting him encounter them; I ask all of you to do this
unfailingly each day. No one should think that this invitation is not meant for
him or her, since “no one is excluded from the joy brought by the Lord”.1 The
Lord does not disappoint those who take this risk; whenever we take a step
towards Jesus, we come to realize that he is already there, waiting for us with
open arms." (Pope Francis – Evangelii
Gaudium – The Joy of the Gospel)
These words from Pope Francis seem to
echo our readings today. In our first reading (Deuteronomy 30: 15-20) we hear
Moses tell the people, “Today I have set before you life and prosperity, death
and doom...I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse.
Choose life..." Moses presents to the people, he presents to us two roads
for the taking and suggests to us that we choose the road of life. Pope Francis
also suggests to us that we take the road of life, the road of Jesus, the road
of joy!
Many years ago as I was entering
religious life my sister gave me a gift; I think it was for Christmas. It was a
picture of a road sign, with an arrow pointing in two directions. It is the
kind of sign that you find as a road comes to an end and as a drive you have to
make a choice to go either right or left. Beneath the picture were the last
three lines of Robert Frost's poem The Road Not Taken.
"Two roads diverged in the woods,
and I -
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference."
The picture has hung on my wall where
ever I have lived over the years and has been an inspiration; it has been a
reminder that the journey that I have traveled even though difficult at times
has been the right journey.
We might say that Moses is presenting to
us two roads that diverge in the living of life. That we stand before those two
roads that Moses calls Life and Death, blessing and curse, prosperity and doom.
There are no signs just the choice of two roads, two ways to live life and we
have to choose. Moses suggests that we choose life. Pope Francis suggests that
we choose life. In many ways these suggestions are the road less traveled
because it is not always comfortable, it is not always self-gratifying, it is
not always easy and it is not always the road everyone else is traveling. The
road of life, the road of Jesus, the road of joy can be filled with crosses,
struggles, challenges, steep hills and selfless responses.
The road of life has none of the
allurements that you often find on the other road, power, wealth, instant
gratification, self-importance, status and greatness in the eyes of the world.
Yet, on the road of life you also do not find loneliness, judgmentalness,
selfishness, greed, anger and death. On the road of life you will find the joy
of a community. It is a community ready to help, ready to walk with you. It is
a community with a vision, a purpose beyond this life. It is a community of
faith, of hope and of love. On the road of life your faith will be
strengthened, your hope will be enlivened, love will be the order of the day
and the joy of the journey will sustain you along the way!
Yes, as we begin Lent we are presented
with two roads diverging in front of us. There is a great crowd walking down
the one, no so many on the other. Which road are we going to choose? My hope is
that we choose the road less traveled and make it more crowd and more traveled,
my hope is we choose life, we choose Jesus, we choose joy because that will
make all the difference!
Happy Thursday everyone and don’t forget
to make a Joyful Noise with your life today!
Lenten Daily Prayer: O God of Life,
as we stand before the roads that this day presents to us, enliven us with the
wisdom to choose the road of life, the road of Jesus, the road of joy. As we
walk this road less travel keep us ever mindful that we are not alone that you
walk with us. Strengthen us for the crosses, the challenges of this road. Grace
us with the hope that we will always find your presence, your forgiveness, your
mercy, your truth, your love and your joy as we make this journey. May we
choose the road of joy today and let it make all the difference in our life and
in the lives of all we meet! Amen!
Runner's Thought: Perhaps as we
run today we too should choose the road less traveled: the road of awareness as
we run, the road of revelation as we run, the road of intention as we run, the
road of mindfulness as we run, the road of imagination as we run, the road of
prayer as we run. Today let's pick a road we have not traveled lately and let
it make a difference in our life today!
Daily Blessing: Happy Thursday everyone!
I trust you made it through Ash Wednesday and are now ready to set sail through
Lent by making a Joyful Noise along the way. The sun is out here in Pelham but
the temps are still on the cold side but we live in the hopefulness that spring
is not far away.
My prayer of blessing for today is that
God will bless us with the energy to be joyful people today. That we will see
the gift of the road that we have chosen and celebrate that gift with all we
meet. My we all make a Joyful Noise today in the living of life, through the
strength of our faith, the energy of our hope and the richness of our love!
Blessing to all today. Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul
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