Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Lent

Today's Mass Readings

Jesus says, “Amen, amen, I say to you, the Son cannot do anything on his own…” Jesus saw Himself to be totally dependent and in union with the Father. I’ll admit, I try to do a lot on my own, and it doesn’t go well. This is why I take the time in prayer in the morning to turn over the day’s events to the Lord, asking for His guidance and inspiration. I want to rely on Him and be firmly grounded in His love for me.

To be united with the Father is to learn from Him, to allow Him to teach us, and to be open to receive all that God desires to give us. Pope St. John Paul II said that we all need “training in holiness.” He wrote: “This training in holiness calls for a Christian life distinguished above all in the art of prayer. The Jubilee Year [2000] has been a year of more intense prayer, both personal and communal. But we well know that prayer cannot be taken for granted. We have to learn to pray: as it were learning this art ever anew from the lips of the Divine Master himself, like the first disciples: “Lord, teach us to pray!” (Lk 11:1). Prayer develops that conversation with Christ which makes us his intimate friends: “Abide in me and I in you” (Jn 15:4) (Novo Millennio Ineunte, 32).

Twenty-five years later, we are in another Jubilee Year, which we may consider as an opportunity again for more intense prayer. Draw close to the Lord, and allow His love to teach us in the silence and peace.

Reflection by Fr. Paul Sheller, OSB