Exodus 3:1-8a, 13-15, Psalm 103 “The Lord is kind and merciful”, 1 Corinthians 10:1-6, 10-12, Luke 13:1-9

    My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, in Lent, God invites us to change our ways. In the gospel Jesus shows us that his father is always calling us. Time is short; we should choose to follow him now. The first reading tells us about Moses who, when God called him, abandoned his own plans and accepted the Lord’s proposal to return to Egypt and liberate his people. The journey to freedom is long and hard. The children of Israel in the desert gave in to so many temptations. This happens to us even when we do choose to follow the Lord. This is the message of the second reading.
 
    In his book “the Priesthood in union with Christ”, Fr Garrigor Lagrange, O.P devotes a section to the four ends of the sacrifice of the Mass. End in this sense means the four reasons why we offer the Sacrifice of the Mass: Adoration, thanksgiving, reparation and petition.
 
    Through adoration, we put God our creator at the center of our worship. During Mass, we have an obligation to worship God and not ourselves. Whatever we do and whatever role we play should be to worship him and him alone. The second end of the mass is in thanksgiving to God for all his gifts and favors received. In our prayers, our songs, our ministry, and our offertory we offer a thanksgiving to God for all his favors. We do reparation for the sins committed against God in order to restore to God the glory he deserves which he has been deprived of by our sins. So our attitude should be that of reverence because we come to meet God to plead his mercy for ourselves and those who have divert-ed from the way of salvation, for their return to communion. The fourth end is to request divine help and all the graces necessary for salvation. Paul says in I Corinthians 15:10 “ I am what I am by the grace of God”. We need his grace to persevere and as we unite ourselves especially during the Holy Eucharist abundance of graces flows from the seat of mercy. May we entrust ourselves to the Lord as we journey together and may the Lord bless us in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen
Father Paschal Chester