Wednesday of the Second Week of Lent

Today's Mass Readings

Jesus asks: “Can you drink the chalice that I am going to drink?”

One of the most difficult lessons the child has to learn is that he or she cannot have everything they want or do everything they want to do. In other words, NO is a hard word to understand and accept. That is true for the child, and it is also true for the adult. Temptations abound for all of us as we pass through life. We experience or long to experience all the beautiful and luscious pleasures that life holds out to us. Our bodies hunger and thirst for more—more power, more wealth, more pleasure, but sometimes, we find that all the more we wanted has proven to be less. The happiness that was promised turned out to be our downfall. It was an illusion, and sometimes the realities of life (pain, suffering, loss) produced bitterness, and now we have to learn a new lesson: YES. Can we drink the chalice of pain? If we can accept our cross as the cross that was Jesus.’ If we can say YES, we can find peace and know that we are not alone. We are with him, and he is with us as he makes his way to Jerusalem, and we go with him carrying our cross and his. We are not alone in this Lenten journey.

Reflection by Fr. Martin DeMeulenaere, OSB