Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Lent 2019

Today’s readings remind us of how ungrateful and difficult to please we are. Yahweh frees the people of Israel, yet they continually complain. How easy it is to receive gifts and to forget how blessed we are with all that has been given to us.

Serpents seem to be the problem in the first reading and people are trying to escape from them but instead, Yahweh asked Moses to make a bronze serpent and to place it as high as possible so that people will be able to see it, in case they are bitten by them. How many times do we go back to see what is giving us pain or causing us to sin to see the real value that this particular situation is bringing to our lives? We cannot forget that from any situation, circumstance or event that is negative or painful we can obtain a blessing that will transform our lives. The same problem is found in today’s gospel. Jesus’s death looks like something terrible for him and those that are his closest friends and family, but out of that tragic situation we received abundant blessings and salvation for mankind.

Lent is a time to prepare ourselves for the greatest moment of human history, our redemption and opportunity to be saved. Allow yourselves to recognize those painful situations and events that are going on in your life and allow Jesus to transform them by fasting, praying, and almsgiving into a blessing that can be celebrated with the Risen Lord.