In 2020, a powerful typhoon struck the Philippines. Heavy floods submerged Metro Manila, particularly the City of Marikina. All this happened during the strict pandemic lockdown. Members of our youth group thought quickly and devised a plan to help. They asked permission from their parents and our leaders, and we mobilized. 

We solicited necessary funds, thanks to the generosity of the community. Limited by the lockdown, only a few volunteers came to pack the relief goods. But to add a personal touch, we asked our members to write letters of hope that were enclosed with each bag we prepared. All in all, we donated over 200 packs. Two of our members went all the way to Marikina to hand them over to our contact for distribution.

God’s love is both spiritual and practical. Praise God for young hearts that are willing to serve and love in this way. Mon Reyes (rizmonreyes@gmail.com) 

reflect

What is one practical way to show your love to someone in your life today?

Lord Jesus, You are the Word made flesh. As we grow closer to You, help and teach us to love in a manner that is embodied and whole. Amen.

Saints Perpetua and Felicity, martyrs, pray for us.

Fasting is one of the common penances advocated by the Church. Fasting is important as we take authority over our appetite for food and regulate our intake. This helps us to understand the dynamic of overcoming sin and temptation, while teaching us that denial, though a little uncomfortable at first, will not kill us nor is it an impossible goal. 

¹ Thus says the Lord God: Cry out full-throated and unsparingly, lift up your voice like a trumpet blast; tell my people their wickedness, and the house of Jacob their sins. ² They seek me day after day, and desire to know my ways, like a nation that has done what is just and not abandoned the law of their God; they ask me to declare what is due them, pleased to gain access to God. ³ “Why do we fast, and you do not see it? afflict ourselves, and you take no note of it?” Lo, on your fast day you carry out your own pursuits, and drive all your laborers. ⁴ Yes, your fast ends in quarreling and fighting, striking with wicked claw. Would that today you might fast so as to make your voice heard on high! ⁵ Is this the manner of fasting I wish, of keeping a day of penance that a man bow his head like a reed, and lie in sackcloth and ashes? Do you call this a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord? ⁶ This, rather, is the fasting that I wish: releasing those bound unjustly, untying the thongs of the yoke; setting free the oppressed, breaking every yoke; ⁷ sharing your bread with the hungry, sheltering the oppressed and the homeless; clothing the naked when you see them, and not turning your back on your own. ⁸ Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your wound shall quickly be healed; your vindication shall go before you, and the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. ⁹ Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer, you shall cry for help, and he will say: Here I am!  

Responsorial Psalm | Psalm 51:3-4, 5-6, 18-19

R: A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn. 

³ Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness; in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense. ⁴ Thoroughly wash me from my guilt and of my sin cleanse me. (R) ⁵ For I acknowledge my offense, and my sin is before me always: ⁶ “Against you only have I sinned, and done what is evil in your sight.” (R) ¹⁸ For you are not pleased with sacrifices; should I offer a burnt offering, you would not accept it. ¹⁹ My sacrifice, O God, is a contrite spirit; a heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn. (R) 

Gospel | Matthew 9:14-15

There are right times to fast and do penance. These are determined by common sense. If you have a heavy day ahead, it is unwise to fast. However, we must be careful not to excuse ourselves from doing penance. Once we get into the habit of doing penance for our sins, we will immediately experience the benefits in our spiritual lives. As the old saying goes: There is no gain without a little pain. 

Gospel Acclamation

Seek good and not evil so that you may live, and the Lord will be with you. 

¹⁴ The disciples of John approached Jesus and said, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast much, but your disciples do not fast?” ¹⁵ Jesus answered them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.” 

Read the Bible in one year! Read REVELATION 7 - 10 today.

Why do we fast or abstain? If our reason for fasting is mainly to fulfill Church obligations, then we are fasting for shallow reasons. If we abstain simply to deprive ourselves of the comforts we are accustomed to, then we are missing the point. 

Fasting and abstinence are not ends in themselves. They are but means toward a deeper reality that we often take for granted: that God matters to us the most—and we are immensely blessed by Him. When we deprive ourselves of what gives us comfort and security and become vulnerable with our hunger and yearning for satisfaction, we realize how blessed we still are despite feeling seemingly unsatiated. This is Jesus’ justification as to why His disciples do not fast while He is with them. It is only when He no longer occupies primacy in our lives (and believe me, this happens more often than we think!) that we have to fast in order to reorder our lives once more.

Fasting allows us to reset our priorities and put order into our lives by centering it on Jesus again. Our greatest fasting is depriving ourselves of things and people, including ourselves (even food), that replace Jesus as the center of our lives. Then, Isaiah’s call to authentic fasting will make sense. When we decenter ourselves, we realize how blessed we are with opportunities to make the Bridegroom palpably present in our midst. It is a privilege to share in Jesus’ primary mission of setting free the oppressed, sharing bread with the hungry, clothing the naked, etc.

We fast in order to have more of Jesus and become more like Jesus. We can have more of Him when we set ourselves aside to meet Him in the naked, the hungry, and the imprisoned. Fr. Bros Flores, SJ

reflection question

Why do you observe Lenten practices? 

My Lord Jesus, may I see beyond the superficialities and obligations of the Lenten observances so that I may have more of You again in my life. Amen.

Today, I pray for: __________________________________________