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Lenten Weekday
Ezekiel 37:21-28
Jeremiah 31:10, 11-12ABCD, 13
John 11:45-56
S
UMMARY
The first reading is a testament to how much God loves us. The responso-
rial psalm reinforces that love by stating “The Lord will guard us, as a shep-
herd guards his flock”. The Gospel is further proof (if we needed it) of God
loving us so much he would send his only Son to die for us so we can be
free.
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EFLECTION
The common thread that runs through these read-
ings is the UNCONDITIONAL LOVE that God has
for us. The first reading is a beautiful love song
where God gathers all of the children of Israel,
washes them clean and blesses them saying, “I will
be their God, and they shall be my peo-
ple.” It is a marriage, where promises are
made and the bonds of love are sealed
forever. How is it that we forget some-
times how much God loves us? We beat
ourselves up with a sense of unworthiness
when really we should sing and dance
with joy and consider ourselves blessed. We have been given an
everlasting covenant of peace by the one true God. Separation
from that covenant is only an illusion. There is no fall from grace -
it is simply not possible where there is unconditional love. Yet
sometimes all we see is the separation. That is where faith is vital,
to remember that we have been made holy and are already for-
given.
It is extremely difficult for living, breathing, humans to dwell in
the unconditional love of God at all times. We have to deal with
each other and ourselves and our humanness and the world