Thursday after Ash Wednesday – 23rd February 2023 – Deut 30,15-20; Lk 9,22-25
Making Choices
The readings remind us that God is presenting us with choices. In the first reading, as Moses draws close to the Promised Land, he realizes that he will not enter. He lays out, therefore, the two choices which the Israelites have: life with God through obedience to God’s precepts, or death through disobedience. Life comes from being in a relationship with God, whereas death flows from turning one’s back on God. When presented with such a choice it seems hard to believe that people would choose the path of death. The responsorial psalm proclaims that those who walk in the way of the Lord are truly blessed, for they have a source of life and sustaining power from the author of life. They are compared to a tree that is planted near the running water. In the Gospel, Jesus invites his disciples to freely follow Him in order to experience eternal life, even in the midst of suffering and death. The choice is laid out before them and it may be painful at times. True life is life with God forever. Yet it comes as a result of being willing to die to self in order to live for God. This season of Lent allows us to see what aspects of our lives need to die – those that prevent us from completely following Jesus.
