Saturday, First Week of Lent

SATURDAY, FIRST WEEK OF LENT

Prayer Has Power

You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy.” But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you…Matthew 5:43, 44

We often wonder what we can do for others, especially for those in great need. It is not a sign of powerlessness when we say: “We must pray for one another.” To pray for one another is, first of all, to acknowledge, in the presence of God, that we belong to each other as children of the same God. Without this acknowledgment of human solidarity, what we do for one another does not flow from who we truly are. We are brothers and sisters, not competitors or rivals. We are children of one God, not partisans of different gods. To pray, that is, to listen to the voice of the One who calls us the “beloved,” is to learn that that voice excludes no one. Where I dwell, God dwells with me and where God dwells with me I find all my sisters and brothers. And so intimacy with God and solidarity with all people are two aspects of dwelling in the present moment that can never be separated.

Today, I will examine my many worldly compulsions and how I cling to them. I name some of them in my heart right now. Help me, Lord, to cut free of them that I may listen to your Spirit of love.

Henri J. M. Nouwen, Renewed FOR LIFE

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