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Spiritual Reflection
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February 20, 2010 | | | |  | First Sunday of Lent
February 21, 2010
If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (Romans 10:9)
Every Sunday at Mass, we publicly confess what we believe. When we recite the creed, we openly state that we believe in the Trinity, in the virgin birth, in Jesus' death and resurrection. We proclaim our faith that the church is one, holy, catholic, and apostolic. We place our hope in eternal life. Yes, every Sunday we do indeed '”confess” with our mouths that “Jesus is Lord” (Romans 10:9)
What about believing in our hearts? Scripture tells us that the heart is the centre of our being. It is the place where our deepest desires dwell, but also the place where we make our most important decisions. So believing in our hearts means deciding to surrender ourselves to the Lord who died and rose for us. It means loving the Lord and deciding to follow his ways.
This means that every time we proclaim the creed at Mass, we can check the level of conviction that goes into the words we are saying. In the early church, Christians died for confessing with lips and believing in their hearts. That's how much their faith meant to them. Today, we face similar challenges to our faith. Our lives may not be on the line, but our hearts are. Will we stand up as believers in this world? Or will we let the world dictate the terms of our faith?
When you say the creed at Mass today, be sure that you're proclaiming it both outwardly with your lips and inwardly with your heart. Tell the Lord: “ I believe in you. I trust you with all my heart. Thank you for all you have done for me.” The more you hold this creed in your heart, the more you will see your faith increase. And as your faith increases, you will find yourself more compassionate, more loving, and more eager to share Jesus with those around you.
“Come, Lord, and increase my faith this Lent. I want to know you more and to serve your better.” | | | | | |
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 Our Lady of Lourdes - In 1858, in a grotto, near Lourdes in southern France, Our Lady appeared 18 times to Bernadette Soubirous, a young peasant girl. She revealed herself as the Immaculate Conception, asked that a chapel be built on the site of the vision, and told the girl to drink from a fountain in the grotto. When Bernadette dug at a spot designated by the apparition, a spring began to flow. The water from this still flowing spring has shown remarkable healing power, though it contains no curative property that science can identify. Lourdes has become the most famous modern shrine of Our Lady. |
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