"If you make my word your home you will indeed be my disciples; you will come to know the truth, and the truth will set you free." (John 8: 31 – 32)
Bring me out of prison (Psalm 142: 7)
Peter's chains fell off (Acts 12: 7)
Everyone's chains were unfastened (Acts 16: 26)
The angel opened the prison doors and brought them out (Acts 5: 19)
The angel brought Peter out of the prison (Acts12: 7 -10)
I will walk at liberty for I seek your precepts (Psalm 119: 45)
(ROGET'S THESAURUS OF THE BIBLE)
"If you make my word your home you will indeed be my disciples; you will come to know the truth, and the truth will set you free." (John 8: 31 – 32)
Theme of liberation:
The Lord sent me to proclaim the release of the captives (Isaiah 61: 1; Luke 4: 18)
To bring prisoners out of prison (Isaiah 42: 7)
The Lord releases those condemned to death (Psalm 102: 20)
God shattered their yoke (Isaiah 9: 4, Jeremiah 30: 8)
When I break the bars of their yoke (Ezekiel 34: 27)
I will break his yoke from off you (Nahum 1: 13)
God leads out the prisoners (Psalm 68: 6)
Four men loosed in the fiery furnace (Daniel 3: 25)
God breaks their bonds (Psalm 107: 14, 16)
God loosens the bond of kings (Job 12: 18)
You have loosed my bonds (Psalm 146: 7)
I will set your captives free (Zechariah 9: 11)
(ROGET'S THESAURUS OF THE BIBLE)
"Blessed are you, Lord, God of all creation.
Through your goodness we have this bread to offer,
which earth has given and human hands have made.
It will become for us the bread of life."
Liturgy of the Eucharist (Roman Missal)
Inspired by the above prayer, I say:
"Blessed are you, Lord, God of all creation.
Through your goodness I have this delay, disappointment and obstacle to offer,
let it become for me the bread of life."
The holy Mass is very rich in symbols. In the Mass, during the offertory, I bring my prayers, desires, joys, hopes as well as pains, sufferings, delays, disappointments and obstacles. I bring also my disabilities, deaths, the loss of loved ones, the disappointment of broken dreams, the failure of relationships, my physical, emotional and spiritual pains. I place all in the outstretched arms of Jesus, my high priest. Jesus defeated death through his pains on the cross. My pains are united with his act of redemption on the cross.
We bring to the Mass our joy and sorrow and, as people of faith, come away changed and blessed with peace.
"I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." (Galatians 2: 20)
Lent calls us to reaffirm our participation in the victory of Christ over the powers of death, sin and evil.
Lent calls us to return to the power and victory of our baptismal experience.
Lent demands that we abandon the confidence we place in the things the world loves, which brings us weakness in the face of evil, sin and death. It is a provocation to return to our source of power and strength – the victorious Christ.
Lent returns us to the power of the word and of the cross.
Lent is a journey. It leads from the recognition of the weakness and powerlessness before the forces of evil and sin to victory over those forces through the cross and empty tomb.
"The Lord will complete what he has done for me." (Psalm 138: 8 -Roman Missal)
"The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me." (New Revised Standard Version)
"The Lord will accomplish his purpose for me." (Revised English Bible)
"The Lord is with me to the end." (New American Bible)
"Yahweh will do all things for me." (New Jerusalem Bible)
Ten years ago, I confided the following reflection to my journal:
"Insight I got last night at about 2 am:
If God is with me, it is accomplished. If God is with me in the Enterprise, it is accomplished.
The critical question in the Enterprise is this: Is God with me? Yes or No?
God communicates his presence at the beginning of an undertaking by words. Examples are: Moses, Joshua, David and Paul. He also communicates his presence in the course of the enterprise by signs. A good example is Joseph in Egypt.
How has God shown his presence with me in the Enterprise?
Words: "I myself will lead you across. I will not forsake you. I will not abandon you." (Deuteronomy 31: 6; etc)
Signs: Kinder, billet, QOP, wagen, October miracle, bibliotek, Eucharist, etc.
God is certainly with me in the Enterprise. Success is guaranteed. All I need to do is to be steadfast in the way that God is leading me and be patient.
(ROGET'S THESAURUS OF THE BIBLE)
"If you make my word your home you will indeed be my disciples; you will come to know the truth, and the truth will set you free." (John 8: 31)
Disciple – discipulus: I learn and I teach.
Disciple – pupil: one who receives instruction from another. One who accepts the doctrine of another and assists in spreading or implementing them.
Every true disciple of Christ must be free.
Disciple – learner:
Make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28: 19)
Learning:
Always learning and never coming to a knowledge of the truth (2 Timothy 3:7)
(ROGET'S THESAURUS OF THE BIBLE)