There was a father who handed his car keys to his son who was driving for the first time. The father said, “If you follow road rules, you’ll live.” The son then asked, “What happens if I don’t follow them?” The father curtly replied, “You’ll die.” 

It’s true. In driving, following traffic regulations can spell the difference between living and dying. Moses said the same thing in the First Reading. In essence, he said, “Follow God’s command and you will prosper. Don’t follow God’s command and you will suffer.” He said this to the Israelites then, but God uses his words to speak to us today. It’s because we have the same constant and crucial decision to make.

Friends, in the big and small decisions of life, do we choose life or death? Blessings or curse? Good or evil? God or not? Often, these decisions won’t be easy to make. There will be times when things seem unclear and gray. 

So seek the Lord’s wisdom. Ask Him to reveal to you where each path leads to. Then, with discernment and an informed conscience, make a decision. Mike Viñas (mikemichaelfcv@yahoo.com)

reflect

What does it mean to “choose life” in a difficult situation in your life? 

Holy Spirit, lead me to choose life, and choose it every time, so I can live the best way I can. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Saint Colette, pray for us.

Repentance is a matter of life and death. If we fail to repent of our sins, we will end up in hell. Penance demonstrates our commitment to change our past sinful ways. Through penance, we teach ourselves the way of holiness and repair the wrong caused by our sins. We can never completely repair the wrong we’ve done and we always need to rely on the grace of God.

¹⁵ Moses said to the people: “Today I have set before you life and prosperity, death and doom. ¹⁶ If you obey the commandments of the Lord, your God, which I enjoin on you today, loving him, and walking in his ways, and keeping his commandments, statutes and decrees, you will live and grow numerous, and the Lord, your God, will bless you in the land you are entering to occupy. ¹⁷ If, however, you turn away your hearts and will not listen, but are led astray and adore and serve other gods, ¹⁸ I tell you now that you will certainly perish; you will not have a long life on the land that you are crossing the Jordan to enter and occupy. ¹⁹ I call heaven and earth today to witness against you: I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Choose life, then, that you and your descendants may live, ²⁰ by loving the Lord, your God, heeding his voice, and holding fast to him. For that will mean life for you, a long life for you to live on the land that the Lord swore he would give to your fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” 

Responsorial Psalm | Psalm 1:1-2, 3, 4, 6

R: Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.

¹ Blessed the man who follows not the counsel of the wicked nor walks in the way of sinners, nor sits in the company of the insolent, ² But delights in the law of the Lord and meditates on his law day and night.   (R) ³ He is like a tree planted near running water, that yields its fruit in due season, and whose leaves never fade. Whatever he does, prospers.   (R) ⁴ Not so the wicked, not so; they are like chaff which the wind drives away. ⁶ For the Lord watches over the way of the just, but the way of the wicked vanishes. (R)  

Gospel | Luke 9:22-25

One of the ways we can save our lives is by doing penance. Any penance we undertake ought to be directed toward a spiritual goal, including something like overcoming a particular sin that is troublesome in our lives. During Lent, we are encouraged to focus our attention on something like this so we can grow closer to God and become a more faithful disciple.

Gospel Acclamation

Repent, says the Lord; the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.

²² Jesus said to his disciples: “The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised.” ²³ Then he said to all, “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. ²⁴ For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. ²⁵ What profit is there for one to gain the whole world yet lose or forfeit himself?”

Read the Bible in one year! Read REVELATION 4 - 6 today.

Health or sickness? Wealth or poverty? Success or failure? Dying old or dying young? There is often a consensus of the first options as the “correct” choices. 

On this second day of Lent, all the readings remind us of that “correct” choice. Moses exhorts the Israelites to always choose life and prosperity as they prepare to enter the Promised Land. The psalmist warns against becoming the wicked who are like chaff scattered by the wind. The Gospel focuses on Jesus’ challenge to follow Him.

A caveat, though. The first options in the four pairs above are not always the correct choices, nor are the second choices always the correct ones. Otherwise, we end up mere convenience seekers or suffering trippers. 

In the First Reading, choosing life and prosperity means loving God always, as expressed in following the law. In the Psalm, blessedness comes from always delighting in, soaking in, and meditating on the law. In the Gospel, Jesus premises following Him with denying oneself and taking up one’s cross. Then, He is quick to add: “whoever loses his life for my sake.” This phrase provides the needed guidance in either keeping life or losing life—for Jesus’ sake.

Our choice, therefore, is determined not by sheer comfort and not even by preference to suffering for the sake of suffering, but by choosing what is more loving or life-giving. In other words, our choice is based on our love for Jesus. As Saint Ignatius’ First Principle and Foundation states: “Our only desire and our one choice should be this: I want and I choose what better leads to God’s deepening life in me.” 

What matters then is our interior freedom to recognize the option that has the capacity to be life-giving, to make us loving, and to draw us closer to God. Fr. Bros Flores, SJ

reflection question

What are the bases of your choices in life?

Lord Jesus, may You and our relationship be my central reasons for all the choices I make. Amen.

Today, I pray for: _________________________________________