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Urban Impressions of the Stations of the Cross

Thursday, February 25, 2016

February 25 - Thursday of the Second Week of Lent

Who will you meet on your path today?

Be sure to be alert to those you meet along the way, pay attention to those one time encounters or those in your midst daily. These gems can fuel the path to eternal life. Today’s readings offer Jeremiah’s insights into the human heart and Luke’s Gospel, the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. In both, it is clear that our human hearts must be transformed and our understanding deepened in order to find our way. Recognize the gift, the person you meet along the path seemingly in more need than yourself. But as it turns out, we need this person more. This person is the gift that leads to salvation.

“More tortuous than all else is the human heart,” Jeremiah 17:5-10

Our human nature is a troubling thing- longing and fragile; seeking satisfaction; seeking gratification and recognition; continually looking for more to prove our worth. The distance between our understanding and our hearts may be grand, but the readings offer comfort only in that there is an answer, a way to salvation. 

Luke’s parable story is of the rich man eating sumptuously, and wearing fine linens and a poor man, Lazarus, lying at his door step hungry, and covered with sores. The lesson learned is the inability of the rich man to show mercy upon Lazarus. So, when the rich man dies he is in agony while the poor man is comforted by the angels and carried to heaven. 

“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose hope is in the Lord. He is like a tree planted beside the waters, that stretches out its roots to the stream.” Jeremiah 17:5-10

Responding to the needs of others, be it…time…shelter….food or clothing are true virtues. During Lent we are repeatedly reminded of the importance of prayer, fasting and almsgiving-not empty gestures -but those filled with Love and Mercy, a gift of God’s grace. Pray for that grace, as it transforms our hearts and awakens our minds to recognize those we meet. 

What is this saving Love? 

A circle of love, an image that we are all connected- an act of kindness is shared, a heart of mercy is won, rewarded by our heavenly Father with the gift of eternal life for the mercy bestowed.

How will you embrace the gifts that come your way today? 

Reflection by J. Yacopino
A parish member of Holy Name Cathedral for many years, active in the Faith Formation Commission, serves as an Extraordinary Minister of the Eucharist and participates in RCIA program as a sponsor.

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