A Reflection for the Monday of the Second Week of Lent

Growing up in Fort Pierce, Florida, during hurricane season, our Church would recite a prayer for protection against storms. After a decade-long hiatus from the prayer, to my surprise, throughout the semester I have found myself mentally reciting it:

“God our Father, Creator of the universe and Lord over all creation, we humbly stand before you as your children and ask that you keep us safe from all storms which may threaten us. Protect us from all fear and anxiety of storms, and give us an ardent trust and hope in your love and mercy. You alone have the power to command the sea, the wind and the rain. You alone bring peace, calm and safety. Father, we thank you in advance, for you are our only refuge. We ask this through Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with you, and the Holy Spirit, God forever and ever. Amen.”

The prayer showcases that God, who created and has power over the ocean waves that can engulf the beach and pound the shoreline, is almighty. Recognizing that nothing is impossible for God, we grow in faith and believe that, as we read in the Gospel today, God has the power to administer or withhold judgment and condemnation, to forgive and to measure out gifts.

As we reflect on Jesus’s teachings about judging others, which follow his commands to “love your enemies”, “do good to those who hate you” and “pray for those who mistreat you”, we must not only recognize that God is almighty, but we must also reflect on the mercy of God, which teaches us to trust that through God’s commands, God desires our greatest good.

When I read this passage, where Jesus challenges us to treat our enemies with mercy, I like to reflect on John 11:33-35 (right before Jesus raises his friend Lazarus from the dead): “When Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who had come with her weeping, he became perturbed and deeply troubled, and said, ‘Where have you laid him?’ They said to him, ‘Sir, come and see.’ And Jesus wept.”

Jesus sees our suffering and pain; our sins and failings; and our hurts and the slights done against us.  In his mercy, Jesus is there with us, and he weeps. Then, like raising Lazarus from the dead, God desires for us to forgive and to refrain from judgment and condemnation through the help of God's grace.

In this Lenten season, let us pray for the grace to be merciful, just as our Father is merciful.

For more on this, check out St. John Henry Newman’s beautifully written sermon, The Omnipotence of God: The Reason for Faith and Hope.