LENTEN REFLECTION: “Stand in the corner!”
Today's Readings:
First Reading: Gn 1:1- 2:2 or Gn 1:1, 26-31A Responsorial Psalm: Ps 104:1-2, 5-6, 10, 12, 13-14, 24, 35 or Ps 33:4-5, 6-7, 12-13, 20 and 22 Second Reading: Gn 22:1-18 or Gn 22:1-2, 9A, 10-13, 15-18 Responsorial Psalm: Ps 16:5, 8, 9-10, 11 Third Reading: Ex 14:15 - 15:1 Responsorial Psalm: Ex 15:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 17-18 Fourth Reading: Is 54:5-14 Responsorial Psalm: Ps 30: 2, 4, 5-6, 11-12, 13 Fifth Reading: Is 55:1-11 Responsorial Psalm: Is 12:2-3, 4, 5-6 Sixth Reading: Bar 3:9-15, 32-4:4 Responsorial Psalm: Ps 19: 8, 9, 10, 11 Seventh Reading: Ez 36:16-17A, 18-28 Responsorial Psalm: Ps 42:3, 5; 43: 3, 4 or Is 12:2-3, 4BCD, 5-6 or Ps 51:12-13, 14-15, 18-19 Epistle: Rom 6:3-11 Responsorial Psalm: Ps 118:1-2, 16-17, 22-23 Gospel:Lk 24:1-12
Reflection:
“Stand in the corner!”
For my Grade 1 students who seemed to possess infinite energy, this was tantamount to a death sentence. The corner meant needing to be quiet, to keep still, to be temporarily imprisoned. It meant being unable to play and having to live through solitary confinement for 10 agonizing minutes. Most of all, it meant the possibility of facing their fears –the lizards and spiders, corner creatures– eye to eye.
There are corners which I, too, must confess I fear. I am afraid of the dark caves that are at the peripheries of my own heart and of the tombs which I am unwilling to face and to fathom.
But just as Jesus entered and embraced the deepest and darkest corners of man’s heart and found it worthy of His greatest sacrifice, I, too, am called to enter the most desolate corners and tombs of my heart with courage. For nothing there exists that Jesus did not first accept and love so unconditionally.
I know that I need not fear my heart’s darkest corners for Jesus gifts me with faith strong enough to roll away the stones that seal my tombs. And as I gaze at the space beyond, there He stands. He takes my hand and leads me out of the shadow of my fears and into the light, promising me a share in His glory.
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Ixie Palma-Alejo (AB Economics '83, MA Education '90, PhD candidate, Clinical Psychology) has been a member of the Ateneo Grade School faculty for 31 years now and is also a part-time faculty at the Education Department of the Loyola Schools.
