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.
Father David S. Marcham is a priest of the Archdiocese of Boston and serves as Vice Postulator and Guild Director of the Cause for Canonization of Venerable Patrick Peyton. Before entering St. John’s Seminary in Brighton, Massachusetts, he worked for eleven years as a physical therapist in Boston-area hospitals. Ordained in 2005, Father David was assigned to St. Mary Parish in Franklin, Massachusetts. His involvement in Father Peyton’s Cause began in 2007, when he assisted Father George Lucas, C.S.C., in advancing the Cause for Canonization. Appointed Vice Postulator in 2009, Father David oversees the progress of the Cause, directs the Guild, and promotes devotion to Father Peyton’s legacy of family prayer.
