The Catholic Calendar for Sunday, March 28, 2004
Fifth Sunday of Lent

Scripture from today's Liturgy of the Word:
Isaiah 43:16-21
Psalm 126:1-6
Philippians 3:8-14
John 8:1-11

A reflection on today's Sacred Scripture:

“For the sake of Christ I have accepted the loss of all things,
and I consider them so much rubbish.”(see Philippians 3:8)

Today’s Second Reading brings to my mind a question. I wonder what kind of advice great Spiritual Directors would give about whether we should look to those who made great spiritual progress in holiness or just keep our eyes focused on our own lives, duties, responsibility and responses? Probably the wisest course lies somewhere in between -- the course between great saint and lowly sinner.

I know for myself that when St. Paul tells all the wonderful things he has done, I am left feeling almost despondent, so pitiful has my response been to God’s love.

Maybe when we can’t be like a great saint, we can at least remember some little thing they said or did and imitate them in just a little way. I am going to do that. I might not be able to be like Saint Paul, always able to look at the “finish line” because I am so fixed on the road along the way. But at least I might be able to say, “My, isn’t there an awful lot of rubbish here on this road!” Rubbish indeed!

- Donna Raye Nelson, ocds
(drn3rd at hotmail dot com)

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posted by joachim at 4:56 AM