In the book of John chapter 8 verses 1-11, Jesus was confronted with an incident where a group of Pharisees brought a woman caught committing adultery, placing her in front of Jesus and demanding him to order them to stone her unto the Law of Moses. Showcasing the humblest behaviour as always, he had done, Jesus simply bends down and write on the ground with his finger to imply that he is silently listening to the accusations brought against the innocent woman by the Pharisees. As accusation ends, Jesus only tells one phrase that made all the accusers to put down their stones and return to where they belong. “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to thrown a stone at her”.
What a beautiful and resonance phrase that reflects our journey of repentance relating to the same story the Holy Bible brings about trying to take the peck in brother’s eye whilst he has the peck in his own eyes. Human beings, by default are judgement oriented, we judge the people around us, the society, the country rulers, religions and the list go on. But if you may ask, did we find time to enter into a self-reflection, to weigh the good and bad and to retrospect about our personal journeys? Have we ever self-criticized or always tend to criticize another person whose life is not within our control? If you are enrolled in a strict fasting this Lenten season, avoiding consuming what you love the most, a throbbing question to ask ourselves is that is it the materialistic attachment that we must pause ourselves for the forty days or the emotional and spiritual barriers that are exceedingly challenging to overcome?
Pope Francis itself reiterated the fact that this Lenten should be a season to be jubilant and not weep, eat the best of the foods and live joyously whilst pausing for prayer and to help our neighbor. With the theme, “Through the desert God leads us to freedom”, is an eye opener that reflects our monotonous, static and fathomless lives are redirected towards a promising land that engulf us in a long-lasting freedom. One of the prominent practices of the Catholics during Lent season is to be personally satisfied having given up a meal or most desired act, but certain lives despite following such fasting remain in emotionally wounded and tired mindset holding onto the negative affirmations that wear and tear the real mental luxuries of life.
Our lives are raptured in a rat race holding onto the commitments bestowed on us from the families and our loved ones, trying to cope up with the societal demands and dealing with human psychologies of different walks of lives. Amidst this outset, maintaining an act of a balanced purview is an arduous task despite the robust faith and trust we have within us as our natural weaknesses tend to push us back towards the negativities seeing the unusual and inappropriate setting of the human interactions. Henceforth our feelings and emotions are bruised and damaged in the encounter of diverse politics in our workplaces, heartbreaks between family setting and general favourations. Thus, what we mostly required to let go and fast are embracing such pessimistic vibes during this season as Jesus Himself prepared for the greatest task bestowed here on earth to die for our sins. It was both a physical and emotional suffering that a normal human being cannot grasp in the mere outset. Thus, preparation through close encounters with Good in prayer was highly needed.
Prayer is one of the best and most effective acts that connects us with God in whatever the circumstance. Whilst we tame our temptations during the Lent, taming our lethargic desires to talk to God and listen to his words need to be overcome with serious consideration. Praying is a lifestyle which is not limited to the walls of a church or the surrounding of a home, instead it is sharing of life and its minuets matters with God who walk with us in this journey of life. Hence, this season groom us to grow in connection with God in silence, offering him all our good and bad feelings about us and others as it is only Him who would never judge us for what we feel.
Participation and sharing of Jesus’ crucifixion, reflection and meditation of His greatest sacrifice to mankind and attuning our lives unto his way of life are open invitations during the period of repentance. A time for us to retrospect our own weaknesses, repent and seek for pardon and mercy from the Lord entrust the true meaning emerged from the feast of Passover since the Old Testament era. Passover which implies the act of crossing over from one way of living to another signifies how our lives should significantly transform for the good especially spiritually than physically, for Jesus wanted us to “Come as we are”, as His principle was to accept us naturally. Hence, it personifies that our lives must be changed irrespective of our way of living in the past because with God acceptance remains always. What matters the most is that we pause, repent and get back to Jesus from our sinful way of life.
Nevertheless, as we reflect on our lives, we also need to ask ourselves whether we are adequately humble to accept our wrong doings, as sometimes our self-esteem and egoistic mentality creates a barrier that prevent us from looking into our own acts as we tend to justify that what we always are right and is our own decision hence it is not subjected to judgements of others. But little did we forget that sometimes our own independent decisions may not be the best and the most suitable nor the right thing to do. Consciousness is what comes appropriate in such setting to identify and evaluate whether our actions are genuine and serves the greater good. Therefore, in this season of Lent, let us grow profoundly in close association with God entering into a period of self-transformation reconstructing the real meaning of the Passover.
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