Remember when ...

Whenever a father, mother or a gathering of friends get together, inevitably, someone says, “Remember when…” marking the beginning of memory-sharing, which other family members or friends expand upon or edit based on their recall.

So it is with we Catholics during Lent; we can recall other Lenten sacrifices or liturgies, or actions done or things given up or offered up as sacrifice. Lent is a time of remembrance and, in particular, to recall and reflect on the Passion of Jesus, Our Savior.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus displays His zeal for the temple by an anger-filled act of purification. Jesus is appalled by the apparent desecrating actions of the merchants in the temple. Jesus states, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”

He is also talking about zeal and respect for His body, contained for our adoration and praise in the tabernacle, and respect for our individual bodies. Our Catholic churches all have the l4 Stations of the Cross to help us during Lent to reflect on both the suffering and death of Jesus and how that then relates to each one of us. But the point of remembering the passion and death is to also remember, it leads to resurrection or eternal life.

Catholic history tells us that St. Francis of Assisi gave us the Stations as he reflected on the Scriptures and the Passion and Death of Jesus. He realized that a picture is worth a thousand words and to offer the sufferings of Jesus and let other use them to reflect on Jesus’ life and their. Our first reading at Mass gives us the Ten Commandments as a direction to live our life and how actions speak louder than words. So, Jesus tells us that he did not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it.

His life and actions are to help us see Him as the Way, the Truth and the Life. As we emulate Him not only externally but internally as well, we are daily working for the gift of eternal life. The stations are to help us quietly and with grace, pick up our cross and deal with each step along the way of life that relates to a particular station.

Quickly, let us look at the first seven, and see how they relate to us in picking up our cross and following Jesus and growing in faith, hope and love this Lent. Remember when any of these events apply to you and how you might have responded and how you hope to respond in the future. We grow from what we have been and are into the potential that we might become. That is the point of Lent.

First: judging wrongly, not understanding, jumping to conclusions, making mistakes in our opinion of others.

Second: accepting a disease, an emotional or physical problem, handling a cross with no control.

Third: falling back to a bad habit or fault, starting and not finishing a project, not paying attention.

Fourth: our Blessed Mother and our parents or family are there for us, relationships are a key to life.

Fifth: giving even a little means a lot; watching, listening, assisting another. Help me to be a doer.

Sixth: quietly stepping out and just offering a loving touch, word or hand.

Seventh: it is harder to get up after a second fall than the first, but to persevere and to not give up is faith in action.