Faith Above Fear

Ten days into Lent, we are called to embrace productive fasting: going beyond mere abstinence from food to a discipline that truly bears spiritual fruit. Offer every pang of hunger, every moment of discomfort, as a deliberate prayer for the needs of others, for their conversion, and for your own purification. Combine fasting with acts of charity so that self-denial becomes fruitful love in action. Let this disciplined renunciation draw you nearer to Christ’s sacrifice, transforming physical emptiness into spiritual closeness with Him. From the Cross, one of Jesus’ final words was “I thirst” (John 19:28). As Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta so movingly taught, that cry was not only for water but for every soul. This divine thirst for our salvation burned within Jesus from the moment of the Incarnation, yet it became especially vivid in the desert. There, His human body endured deep physical thirst—lips parched, strength waning under the relentless sun while His divine heart l...

First Reading from the book Ezekiel 18:21-28 Thus says the Lord GOD: If the wicked man turns away from all the sins he committed, if he keeps all my statutes and does what is right and just, he shall surely live, he shall not die. None of the crimes he committed shall be remembered against him; he shall live because of the virtue he has practiced. Do I indeed derive any pleasure from the death of the wicked? says the Lord GOD. Do I not rather rejoice when he turns from his evil way that he may live? And if the virtuous man turns from the path of virtue to do evil, the same kind of abominable things that the wicked man does, can he do this and still live? None of his virtuous deeds shall be remembered, because he has broken faith and committed sin; because of this, he shall die. You say, "The LORD's way is not fair!" Hear now, house of Israel: Is it my way that is unfair, or rather, are not your ways unfair? When someone virtuous turns away from virtue to commit iniquity, ...

Nine days into Lent, we turn our hearts to almsgiving, a core pillar of this holy season. Embrace generous giving to those in need not out of obligation, but as a joyful expression of gratitude. Share your time, your talents, and your material resources with the poor, the marginalized, and the forgotten. Let almsgiving flow from a heart that has tasted God’s mercy and now seeks to imitate Christ’s self-emptying love. Through acts of giving, we detach from material things, grow in solidarity with our brothers and sisters, and make visible the compassion of the Gospel. The desert is not only dry, barren, and solitary; it is also intensely hot. The relentless sun rises each day, scorching the earth and dehydrating the body. There is little shade, no relief from the burning heat, only the slow, steady draining of strength. For forty consecutive days, Jesus permitted His human body to endure this cycle: the rising heat, the growing thirst, the threat of dehydration, and then the...

Reading I, a reading from the book of Esther C:12, 14-16, 23-25 Queen Esther, seized with mortal anguish, had recourse to the LORD. She lay prostrate upon the ground, together with her handmaids, from morning until evening, and said: “God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of Jacob, blessed are you. Help me, who am alone and have no help but you, for I am taking my life in my hand. As a child I used to hear from the books of my forefathers that you, O LORD, always free those who are pleasing to you. Now help me, who am alone and have no one but you, O LORD, my God. “And now, come to help me, an orphan. Put in my mouth persuasive words in the presence of the lion and turn his heart to hatred for our enemy, so that he and those who are in league with him may perish. Save us from the hand of our enemies; turn our mourning into gladness and our sorrows into wholeness.” The word of the Lord Responsorial Psalm Psalm 138:1-2ab, 2cde-3, 7c-8 R. (3a) Lord, on the day I called for...

Lord, I invite You to come live in my soul. I invite You to fan into flame the spark of faith that I have. May Your love and Mercy become a blazing fire in me so that I may be consumed by You and so that others may sense Your love through me. Jesus, I trust in You.  Is it possible to know that someone has a deep interior life of prayer? Even though this is "interior" and is a spiritual reality, is it possible to sense this externally? Most certainly it is. In fact, the deeper one's life of prayer the more that this interior life will shine forth for others to see. How about you? What does your soul radiate? When people see you, what do they sense? Certainly our perceptions of people can be wrong at times, but when God is alive in an abundant way, those who have eyes to see will see. Those who are hungry for God will perceive His presence in your life and be fed by Him through you. Reflect upon how radiant your interior life is. And reflect upon whether or not ...

Eight days into Lent, we are called to cultivate silence by speaking less and truly listening more. In our conversations, practice active listening: giving others our full attention, showing genuine respect and love through quiet presence rather than rushing to respond or fill every pause. Avoid unnecessary words that can wound, dominate, or distract. In this quiet attentiveness, open your heart to hear God’s gentle guidance, which so often comes not in thunder but in a still, small voice. Human beings are not created for isolation. We are made for communion with God and with one another. Heaven will be the perfect, unbreakable bond of love shared with the Trinity and with every soul united in God. Yet Jesus, the perfect communicator of divine love, deliberately withdrew into solitude for forty days in the desert before beginning His public ministry. Why? In that barren wilderness, Jesus allowed His human nature to rest fully in the perfect spiritual union He shared with th...

Seven days into Lent and our seventh Lenten resolution is “Limited time of Social Media.” Social media has become almost a basic need in the 21st century; it has become a norm and a habit that we seem to find a lot of difficulty doing away with. One philosopher actually said, “Social media has brought us closer to people far from us and at the same time made us distant from the people close to us.” This is actually true to a larger extent. The same applies to our faith: we spend much more time on it (Social Media) than we spend in prayer. We have reduced the time we intimately converse with God because we have dedicated the remaining time to our mobile phones or electronic gadgets. In a home of about eight people; mother, father, and the kids, you find that during evening hours, most especially after supper (a time that about twenty years ago would have been put to proper use for prayer), that time is no longer designated for family prayer. Each one is always too focused on...

Today's readings are all talking about the word of God and the difference it makes in our lives; it happens to correspond with our Day 6 Lenten Resolution, "Daily Scripture Reading." Thus says the LORD: “Yet just as from the heavens the rain and snow come down And do not return there till they have watered the earth, making it fertile and fruitful, Giving seed to the one who sows and bread to the one who eats, So shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; It shall not return to me empty, but shall do what pleases me, achieving the end for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:10–11, NABRE). God is telling us that His word does not go to waste; it fulfills whatever it has been sent out for. We in the responsorial Psalm as well: “Glorify the LORD with me; together let us extol his name. I sought the LORD, who answered me, delivered me from all my fears. Look to him and be radiant, and your faces may not blush for shame. This poor one cried out and the LORD heard, and from all hi...

Six days into Lent, we are invited to dedicate time each day to reading and reflecting on God’s Word. Let the Scriptures speak directly to your heart, gently revealing areas in need of conversion, healing, and growth. Whether through the ancient practice of Lectio Divina reading, meditating, praying, and contemplating or through simple, loving attention to the text, allow the Word to become your daily bread. In the midst of the Lenten desert, Scripture sustains you, nourishes your soul, and keeps you oriented toward God when everything else feels barren. The desert is not merely a place of deprivation; it is the pathway to the true abundance of God’s Kingdom. Heaven is symbolized by the lushest garden or the glorious city with streets of gold, yet Jesus deliberately chose the barren wilderness near Jericho caves with little light, no soft places to rest, scarce shade, and almost no food to dwell for forty days. At first glance, a cave might intrigue us as an adventure, but ...

"Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. May your kind spirit guide me on ground that is level." - Psalms 143:10 Today, we have before us a very insightful verse as our main focus. The Psalmist recognizes the fact that he needs guidance from God to be able to carry out His will. Before we carry out the Lord's will, we have to know that God's will is very challenging and most of the time it appears contrary and contradicts our own will in so many ways. To do the will of God, one must be ready to make choices that are kind of challenging. We see this in the story of the rich young man who went to Jesus inquiring what he ought to do to enter the kingdom of heaven. He was a man of faith; he indeed told Jesus that he had faithfully followed both the commandments of God and the laws that governed the people of Israel. But the challenge came when Jesus told him to sell all he had and give the money to the poor. When the young man heard this, we read that he went away u...

Lord, in this moment I offer to You all those who are in most need of Your Divine Mercy. I pray for my family, friends and for all those whom You have put in my life. I pray for those who have hurt me and for those who have no one to pray for them. Lord, I especially pray for (mention one or more people who come to mind). Fill this child of Yours with an abundance of Mercy and help him/her on the way to holiness. Jesus, I trust in You. It's easy to presume that everyone we know will go to Heaven. This, of course, should be our hope. But if one is to attain Heaven, there must be a true interior conversion. Each person who enters Heaven is there because of a personal decision to give one's life to Christ and to turn from sin. How do we assist those around us on this journey? The most important thing we can do is pray for them. At times, praying for another can seem futile and unproductive. We may not see any immediate results and conclude that praying for them is a waste of time....

Five days into Lent, the journey deepens. Today we reflect on being less judgmental: guarding our hearts against quick judgments of others’ actions or motives, practicing compassion by remembering our own constant need for God’s mercy, replacing criticism with understanding and silent prayer for those around us. In humility, we strive to see Christ in every person we encounter and to foster greater charity this Lent. This call to mercy and non-judgment flows naturally from the spiritual fruit of fasting. One pronounced effect of fasting is hunger. The Synoptic Gospels tell us that after fasting forty days in the desert, Jesus was hungry—and in that very moment of physical hunger, He faced temptation (Matthew 4:2; Mark 1:13; Luke 4:2). Hunger is a natural signal that our bodies need nourishment. Yet when we indulge appetites excessively, they grow demanding, craving more than we truly require. Balanced hunger, however, reveals a genuine lack and motivates us to satisfy it ri...

“For it is also written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” – Matthew 4:7 (NABRE) In today's Gospel reading, we see Jesus being tempted in the desert. Cunningly and with utter confidence, the devil has the audacity to tempt the Creator of the universe; just as he did with Adam and Eve in Genesis. He employs the same strategy, but Jesus was not having any of it. We see the devil telling Jesus to turn stones into bread, knowing He had spent forty days and nights without food and might be hungry. Then he urges Jesus to bow down and worship him, promising to give Him the entire world in return. Just imagine: a mere creature tempting the Maker of what he claims he will give out. Our major focus today, however, is where he takes Jesus to a high mountain and urges Him to jump down. He even quotes Scripture, an extract from Psalm 91 claiming, “He will command his angels concerning you… lest you dash your foot against a stone” (Psalm 91:11–12 NABRE). The devil knows the Sc...

“When you come to serve the Lord, prepare yourself for trials.” – Sirach 2:1 (NABRE) Reflection My brethren, our verse of the day today sounds harsh, challenging, and a bit unrealistic. Many would deduce and conclude that serving the Lord, who is ever good to us, would mean that everything will move on smoothly in our lives. Yet the book of Sirach tells us otherwise. It alerts and warns that it is always going to be challenging and urges us to be prepared to face the trials. One might ask: Why would God allow evil or bad things to befall His faithful servants? Just as gold is tested in fire, so too must our faithfulness and souls be tested by challenges, trials, and evil. God allows these to challenge us; He wants to see how deep our loyalty to Him goes. We must, however, recall from the Scriptures where it is written that “God does not tempt anyone” but rather allows the devil to tempt us (James 1:13 NABRE) . We read from the book of Job: God was so pleased with Job and ev...

O Divine Master, it is all Your work in my soul. You, O Lord, are not afraid to let the soul stand on the edge of a dread- ful precipice, where it cowers in fear and trepidation, and then You summon it unto Yourself again. Such are Your unfathomable mysteries. Diary 110

Lord, give me the strength I need to persevere through any and every difficulty that tries to keep me from my prayer with You. Make me strong so that I can set aside any struggle or temptation that comes my way. And as I press on in this new life of prayer, please take my life and form me into a new creation in Your love and Mercy. Jesus, I trust in You. There are both interior and exterior difficulties we encounter as we attempt to form a daily habit of prayer. Interior difficulties: discouragement, dryness, heaviness of spirit and temptations. These difficulties are overcome through patience and perseverance. Exterior difficulties: fear of what others may think or say, and setting time aside. These difficulties are overcome through humility and diligence. Try to set a daily time for prayer and do not be afraid if others become aware of this commitment. Make it a time where you set aside every distraction and diligently focus in on the voice of God. Try kneeling or, even bet...