Sunday, 17 February 2013
First Sunday
of Lent - Year C
Gospel
Saint Luke 4:1-13.
Filled with the holy Spirit, Jesus returned
from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the desert ...
Saint Raphael Arnaiz Baron (1911-1938), a
Spanish Trappist
monk
Spiritual writings, 15/12/1936 (trans
'To know how to wait', Mairin Mitchell)
The Son of
God rejects the temptations of other ways and obeys the Father's will
I, too,
once went tearing along the roads of Spain, with the idea of making the
speedometer register ninety kilometers an hour: how foolish! When I was
conscious that for me, the horizon marked earth's uttermost limit, I suffered
the disappointment of one who enjoys earthly freedom, for the earth is small
and moreover quickly comes to an end
Man is bounded by narrow and limited horizons,
and for him whose soul aspires after infinite horizons, earthly ones aren't
enough, they throttle him; the world isn't sufficient for him, and only in the
vastness and immensity of God will he find what he is seeking
You free men, making journeys around this
planet, I don't envy you your life in the world; enclosed in a convent at the
foot of a Crucifix I have boundless freedom, I have Heaven, I have God
What a great blessing it is to have a heart
that is in love with Him!...
Poor Brother Rafael!..
Go on waiting, waiting with that sweet
serenity which sure hope gives
Keep calm, unshaken, a prisoner of your God at
the foot of his tabernacle
Listen to the distant uproar coming from men
enjoying a few short days of freedom in the world, listen from afar to their
voices, their laughter, their lamentations, their wars
Listen, and meditate for a moment
Meditate on a God who is infinite, who made
the earth and mankind, He, the supreme Lord of skies and lands, rivers and
seas, who in an instant, simply by willing it created out of the void all that
exists
Mediate for a moment on the life of Christ and
you will see that it has no freedom, no outcry or clamor; you will see the Son
of God subject to humankind, you will see Jesus, obedient, submissive, and with
what steadfast calm he keeps as the only law of his life the fulfillment of the
Father's will
And lastly, look on Christ nailed to a cross
And we talk of freedom!
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