REFLECTION AND PRAYER
Day Fourteen of Lent
“Do Whatever He Tells You”
When the wine ran short, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” [And] Jesus said to her, “Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servers, “Do whatever he tells you.” John 2:3-5
These words were spoken by our Blessed Mother at the first of Jesus’ miracles: “Do whatever he tells you.” They are profound and powerful words which can easily serve as the foundation of our spiritual lives.
If our Blessed Mother would have spoken anything to her Son at the foot of the Cross, what would she have said? Would she have spoken words of despair or confusion, pain or anger? No, she would have spoken the same words she spoke at the Wedding of Cana. But this time, rather than speaking these words to the servants, she would have spoken them to her Son. “My dear Son, whom I love with my whole heart, do whatever the Father in Heaven tells You.”
Of course Jesus did not need this advice, but He desired to receive it from His mother anyway. He desired to hear His mother speak to Him these words of perfect love. In pondering these words once spoken at Cana, our Blessed Mother and her divine Son would have shared a deep union as they gazed at each other during His agony on the Cross. Mother and Son both knew that His death was the accomplishment of the greatest good ever known. They would have both known that the will of the Father in Heaven was perfect. They would have both longed for and embraced this holy will without reserve. And these words would have been on both of their hearts as they gazed at each other in silence:
“My dear mother, do whatever our Father tells you.”
“My dear Son, do whatever Your Father in Heaven wills of You.”
Reflect, today, upon these words and know that mother and Son speak them to you. No matter what you face in life, our Blessed Mother and her divine Son are inviting you into this glorious command of love and obedience. They are exhorting you to stay faithful through all struggles, in good times, in difficult ones, through pain and joy. No matter what you experience in life, these words must always resound within your mind and heart. “Do whatever He tells you.” Do not hesitate to hear and embrace these holy words.
PRAYER
Dearest Mother, you offer words of perfect wisdom. You invite all of your dear children to embrace the perfect will of the Father in Heaven. These words are not spoken to me alone. They were first spoken to you in the depths of your heart. You, in turn, expressed this command of love to all whom you encountered. You silently spoke them, also, to your own divine Son.
My loving Mother, help me to listen to you speak these words to me. Help me, by the power of your prayers, to respond to this calling to embrace the perfect will of God in my life.
My Precious Jesus, I choose to do all that You command of me. I choose Your will without reserve and I know that You invite me to follow in Your footsteps. May I never be deterred by the hardships of the Cross, but be transformed by the power of Your perfect will.
40 Days Journey with Our Lord
Day Fourteen: Presumption
In the first temptation, satan continues by saying to our Lord, “…command that these stones become loaves of bread.” We already reflected upon the fact that this temptation begins with a subtle questioning of Jesus’ identity as the Son of God. But then the devil goes on to commit the error of presumption. The devil presumed that Jesus was so hungry from fasting for forty days and nights, that He would jump at the opportunity to turn stones into bread to satisfy His hunger.
First of all, this shows the foolishness of the devil. The devil appears to think that Jesus would have chosen food for His stomach over the spiritual food of serving the will of His Father in Heaven, attained by His forty days of prayer and fasting in the arid and brutal environment of the desert. Though our Lord rejected this temptation, we often willingly embrace it.
When the devil looks at us and decides to tempt us, he will usually presume that we are hungry in some way and are willing to do what is necessary to satiate that hunger. The hunger is not only for food, but might be any inordinate desire we have for satiation. You will discover those inordinate desires within your own life by calling to mind those things you think about the most, obsess over, passionately desire, or avoid out of selfishness.
Unfortunately, the devil is often right about us. We often choose that which is easiest and the most delightful, gratifying, and instantly satisfying. The devil says to us, “You deserve this indulgence. You earned it. Reward yourself.” Or, the devil might tempt us by saying, “This is too hard. It’s expecting too much of you. Don’t burden yourself in this way.”
Every Christian must be singularly focused. We must choose the will of God no matter what, even when His will requires much sacrifice. To more easily accomplish this, we must be aware of those things that allow the devil to be presumptuous about us. Does the devil know that you regularly seek gratification in food or drink?
Then he will tempt you that way. Does he know that you struggle with laziness? Then this will be a tactic he uses. Our goal must be to identify those temptations that the devil will presume about us and work to purify those habits so that the evil one’s presumption is defeated.
Ponder the presumptions the devil makes about you. When our Lord was tempted to satisfy His physical hunger over fidelity to the will of the Father that He fast for those forty days and nights, the choice was easy. Satisfying the flesh meant nothing to Jesus because He had a much deeper form of human fulfillment. His food and His satisfaction were to do the will of His Father. We need to strive to imitate our Lord and always choose the will of the Father, no matter the cost, over the easy, fleshly, or indulgent. If we do, we will find that the devil’s temptations are not only futile, but they are also foolish.
PRAYER
My tempted Lord, the devil, in his foolishness, thought he could lure You to indulge Your appetite after fasting for forty days. The devil clearly did not understand the strength of Your resolve to offer Your sacred life sacrificially. It was that same foolishness of the devil that led him to stir up hatred for You, which led to Your crucifixion. Your selflessness and sacrifice always won the final victory. Please grant me the grace I need to imitate You so that I will have the courage and strength I need to overcome the foolishness of sin and the temptations of the evil one. Jesus, I trust in You.
Mother Mary, pray for me. Jesus, I trust in You.
Source: mycatholiclife