Lent: What Does GOD Want From Us ?

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In these first days of Lent, the Church shows us exactly how God wants us to
pray. fast and serve both His people and worship Him.

job7The words of the first reading from Isaiah 58:1-9 are like brilliant beams of light, cutting through any false notions we might have about this season of repentance that we call Lent.

  Often we tend to think of Lent as a time to share in the suffering of Christ yet when we do so, we become morose and end up centering more on our own sacrificial devotions than on God. Lent is a time to get rid of the flub in our lives but only so we are able to connect more to the Heart of our Beloved, more on the people around us who are in need. Lent is not an excuse for dramatic acts of fasting  by wearing sack cloth and ashes, figuratively or literally. As Isaiah says:
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
God answers this rhetorical question with a resounding, “NO” . Our Father is not interested in such spectacles which simply focus on ourselves and our sins.  As mortals. we are all the same. As St. Paul says, “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Romans: 3:23). This fact is a given.

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