The first reading is a striking one this week! The Lord has tried very hard to reach the Israelite people! The Lord sent many messengers to His people in order to turn their hearts back to Him and His laws. The Israelites would not listen!
How often do people try to reach us and we simply won’t listen? There are many people in our lives that try to guide, direct and support us. We have coaches, friends, teachers, parents, priests, sisters, and even siblings try to give us direction! This made me think of Queen of Angels very especially. Last week, we took our standardized testing. Students are given plenty of time to go over each question or problem. Students are encouraged to go back over their work or use scratch paper to complete problems. Many students listen to the advice or guidance given. Many students work very hard and are very diligent! As with anything, we have a few students that don’t take advantage of those supports. Like the Israelite people, a few students don’t take the hints or guidance. It can be hard to take that coaching.
During this week, let us take a step back and reflect on our own lives. Do I take coaching, guidance, and/or criticism well? If this coaching, guidance, and/or criticism is coming from a person who loves us and cares for us, we should pause and take their words seriously. Who is that person in our life that we trust to guide us to a deeper relationship with Jesus? Like the Israelites, is the Lord sending us a messenger or message to turn our hearts?
We have about three weeks of Lent left. There is still time to change our actions, thoughts, and (most importantly) hearts to our Lord! Let us take advantage of the time remaining!