Going deeper in the faith is something we all hope for this Lenten season. At times, it involves praying over the Word of God and asking some questions.
As I reflected on the first reading from the Book of Deuteronomy, I was drawn to Moses’ words of warning to “be earnestly on guard not to forget the things which your own eyes have seen, nor let them slip from your memory as long as you live.”
As the people of God stood on the threshold of the Promised Land, Moses was encouraging and cautioning the Israelites against drifting away from God through inattention or preoccupation with other events or interests.
The Israelites had seen the saving power of God at work in their journey out of slavery in Egypt. God brought them through the desert and Moses wanted them to remember what God had instructed and how this had brought them wisdom, intelligence, and a new land for their own.
Moses knew how easy it is, when a crisis or hardship has passed, to forget how God or our family or friends were there for us, helping us to get back on solid ground. Likewise, Moses knew that prosperity could lead to the false notion that we don’t need to follow God’s commandments or other teachings as fully as when we are struggling.
Lent is a good time to recall how God has led us through our own desert experiences or times when we felt unable to break free of harmful or sinful actions. By the time we reach adulthood, most of us have gone through several challenging times either directly or with family or friends.
How did God’s teaching and presence help you? How did it change your relationship with God and your loved ones? For most of us, we want to leave behind the hardest moments of our lives, but it is good to reflect on how God helped, healed, and guided us. Rather than being dragged down by the struggle, the focus can be on how God loved us through the storm, bringing us to a deeper faith and love for Him.
In Matthew’s gospel, Jesus makes clear that He did not come to abolish the Law and teachings of the prophets, but rather to deepen our love, obedience, and trust toward God the Father in following them. Jesus wants us to not only follow these teachings, but to be motivated by love for God and each other.
It’s this same love for God and for the children and grandchildren in our families that Moses spoke of when he told the Israelites not to forget what God had taught and what He had done for them, “but teach them to your children and to your children’s children.”
We need to remember so we can pass along the faith to the next generation; that’s a great reason to prayerfully reflect on what God’s Law and love have done for us.
Reverend David S. Marcham is the Vice Postulator for the Cause of Venerable Patrick Peyton, and Director of the Father Peyton Guild, whose members pray for Father Peyton’s beatification and spread his message of the importance of Family Prayer. Prior to becoming a seminarian, Father David was a physical therapist and clinical instructor, serving hospital inpatients and outpatients throughout the greater Boston area for eleven years. In 1998 he heard the call to priesthood and was ordained in the Archdiocese of Boston in 2005. Father David grew up in Quincy, MA, and has fond memories of playing soccer, tennis and running track. You’re never without a friend when Father David is around, as he welcomes everyone into his circle with a smile on his face!
