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40 Days of Lent: Day 39

40 Days of Lent: Day 39

23 Feb 2023 | Office for Mission and Identity (OMI)

40 Days of Lent: Day 39

When someone gives you something, how do you normally respond? Perhaps you say “Thank you”. Maybe you share what you received with the giver or with others. Or you keep the gift for safekeeping, literally if it’s a physical present or in your heart that can store such memory of being cared for. In all of these responses, the most basic thing that we do is to acknowledge what was given. Together with accepting, before sharing, in order that it can be taken for safekeeping is the acknowledgement that you have received.

Lent is about God giving us everything, even His very own son. It is about Jesus offering us all that he had, including his very own life. What should we do with such a gift of love? First and foremost, we have to acknowledge it. We have to own that the Father cares so much for us that it was not enough for Him to be distant that was why He sent the savior closest to His own heart. We have to recognize that Jesus loved us so much that nothing less than his very self was what he sacrificed for our sake. And we have to admit that the Spirit, as part of the Father and the son, continues to be where we are, creating big and small miracles.

Today, there is an invitation to acknowledge how God has loved us so much. Yes, in what Christ did so many years ago. And, still, in how we have been bestowed endless graces since we were born. So can you make a list of thirty-nine ways and things by which God has been present to you in your life? Can you write down gifts that you have been given, perhaps even those that came undeserved or as surprises? Can you identify concrete moments when, undeniably, it was the Lord’s hand and nothing else? And in all these, may you allow yourself to acknowledge that you have been given much, that you are cared for, that you will always be loved.

40 Araw ng Kuwaresma: Ika-39 Araw

Kapag may taong nagkaloob sa iyo, ano ang karaniwan mong tugon? Marahil nagsasabi ka ng ‘Salamat’. Maaaring ibinabahagi mo ang iyong natanggap sa mismong nagbigay sa iyo o sa iba pa. O kaya tinatago mo ang regalo upang ingatan ito, sa literal na paraan kung pisikal itong bagay o sa puso mo na may kakayahang panghawakan ang mga ganoong alaala na pinagmalasakitan ka. Sa lahat ng mga ito, ang pangunahin nating ginagawa. ay ang kilalanin ang ipinagkaloob. Kasama ng pagtanggap, bago ito maibahagi, upang kunin ito at ingatan ang pagkilala na nakatanggap tayo.

Ang Kuwaresma ay tungkol sa kung paano ipinagkaloob sa atin ng Diyos ang lahat, maging ang sarili Niyang anak. Tungkol ito sa pag-aalay ni Hesus ng lahat-lahat niyang taglay, kasama ang mismo niyang buhay. Ano ang nararapat nating gawin sa ganitong kaloob ng pag-ibig? Una at higit sa lahat, nawa kilalanin natin ito. Kailangan nating akuin na tunay tayong inaalagaan ng Diyos na hindi sapat na malayo Siya kung kaya pinadala Niya ang tagapagligtas na pinakamalapit sa Kanyang puso. Kailangan nating harapin na lubos tayong minahal ni Hesus na walang sasapat kung hindi ang sarili niyang buhay. At kailangan nating aminin na ang Espiritu, na kaisa ng Ama at anak, ay nananatili kung nasaan tayo at lumilikha ng mga malalaki at maliliit na himala.

Ngayong araw, may paanyayang kilalanin kung gaano kalalim ang pag-ibig ng Diyos sa atin. Oo, sa ginawa ni Kristo maraming taon na ang nakalipas. At patuloy pa rin sa mga biyayang ginagawad sa atin simula pa nang ipinanganak tayo. Kung kaya maaari ka bang magtala ng tatlumpu’t siyam na pamamaraan at bagay kung paano umiral ang Diyos sa iyong buhay? Maaari mo bang isulat lahat ng biyayang ipinagkaloob sa iyo, marahil maging iyong mga di ka karapat-dapat na tanggapin o iyong mga di-inaasahan? Maaari mo bang tukuyin ang mga pagkakataong hindi maitatanggi na galaw ng Panginoon at wala ng iba? At sa lahat ng ito, nawa tulutan mo ang sariling kilalanin na maraming ipinagkakaloob sa iyo, na pinangangalagaan ka, na lagi at lagi kang iniibig.