Villanova University's Daily Lenten Reflections

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http://www.villanova.edu/mission/lent.htm?page=0305.htm

First Thursday of Lent - March 5th
Readings: Est C: 12, 14-16, 23-25 // Ps 138: 1-3, 7-8 // Mt. 7:7-12

Today's readings focus clearly on 4 truths: Choose recourse to the Lord alone: Perhaps, only in the darkest moments in our lives, do we really rely only on Our Lord for strength. When all else earthly fails us and when all other sources of earthly strength seem to vanish, do we turn to Our Lord for strength and guidance. Here, by these choices, we see our own weaknesses and failures emerge. For, recourse to Our Lord should not be our last path to internal strength, but instead, our first. Recourse to Our Lord should be the first arrow that we select from our quiver; not the last.

Praise of God leads to Strength from God: In our prayer life; perhaps, we should consider who we're praying to! God, Our Father, is the creator of the Universe and the source of our personal salvation. If we seek strength from God to confront our most difficult moments, it seems appropriate to, first, offer praise to Him with a clear understanding that we're NOT on the same plane with God. We're the creatures. He's the Creator. Praise of God sets the proper initial 'prayer tone' through which we can ask for strength to live our lives in courageously, in accordance with His will, not ours.

The Power of Prayer is endless: When we select recourse to Our Lord first, offer praise to Him and ask for strength from Him through the infusion of the Holy Spirit, nothing is beyond our capabilities. Countless miracles are occurring every day everywhere on this earth. Simply because we, as mortal humans, don't recognize them or choose not to do so because we're blinded by our own self praise, does not mean that they're not occurring. Miracles are manifestations of answered prayer and testaments to the endless power of prayer when requests of Our Lord are founded on praise of Him and on strength from Him. Prayer is as essential to our spiritual lives as water is to our physical lives. And, the power of prayer, like our eternal spirits, is endless.

The Golden Rule guides our lives: "Therefore, all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them", Mt 7:12. Recourse to Our Lord through praise and through the request for strength fills our hearts, minds and spirits with the gifts of the Holy Spirit. And, through these gifts, we feel the emergence of the "Golden Rule" in our lives. And, in this Golden Rule, we find the second of the great commandments given to us by our Savior, Jesus Christ. The first great commandment, centered on Our Farther in Heaven, is evident from the first 3 phrases listed above and the second great commandment, centered on love for others, flows from the first 3 and is manifested in the "Golden Rule". We need not 'learn' the Golden Rule. Through a genuine, soul centered search for the truth, we 'feel' the Golden Rule etched on our hearts by the very hand of God, Himself.

God answers all questions for us and is the source of all understanding. We, simply, need to ask and it shall be given; to seek, and it shall be found and/or to knock, and the door shall be opened unto us. Mt.7:7.

Frank Falcone
Civil & Environmental Engineering
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