{"id":17472,"date":"2016-03-17T01:01:33","date_gmt":"2016-03-17T06:01:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.cancaonova.com\/catholicismanew\/?p=17472"},"modified":"2016-03-16T06:14:14","modified_gmt":"2016-03-16T11:14:14","slug":"conquer-murmuring-in-the-desert-of-lent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.cancaonova.com\/catholicismanew\/2016\/03\/17\/conquer-murmuring-in-the-desert-of-lent\/","title":{"rendered":"Conquer Murmuring in the Desert of Lent"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"JesusWe’re still in Lent! <\/span>We have this week for us, through\u00a0the Liturgy, in the desert with the Christ. <\/span>The desert was the first place of rendezvous of God with the old Israel. <\/span>It was there that he came and made covenant. <\/span>It was there that he led the people. <\/span>It was there that\u00a0He\u00a0wanted to speak to the heart of His people. We even sing\u00a0<\/span>with enthusiasm in the masses: <\/span>“the people of God in the desert\u00a0walked\u00a0… <\/span>I’m also your people, Lord! <\/span>I’m on the path. “<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

In fact, during Lent, we are immersed in the mystical desert spiritually. <\/span>Mystical spiritual combat, of penance and fasting, mortifications and trial, but also the depth of an encounter with God.<\/strong> <\/span>Yes! <\/span>In the desert there is spiritual life. <\/span>The ancient religious hermits of the III and IV centuries such as, \u00a0as Saint Anthony, called desert fathers, are witnesses of this.<\/span><\/p>\n

But it was also in the desert the people of God sinned. <\/span>The book of Exodus tells the big story of the Israelites’ liberation from the power of Egypt. <\/span>Even free they demonstrated an interior slavery. <\/span>Even though they\u00a0hadn’t tasted the bitter waters of Mara (Ex 15), that generation of slaves brought in their hearts the discreet \u2013 but at the same time devastating \u2013 poison of contempt<\/span>.<\/p>\n

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The thirst, the hunger \u00a0led them to surrender to the whims of own desires; they\u00a0<\/span>discredited not only the leadership of Moses, but, mainly, of Providence of God who\u00a0 released them from the power of the Pharaoh. <\/span>“Your murmuring is not against us, but against the Lord” (16.8).<\/span><\/p>\n

Looking at them, it’s time for us to review and question: how many times do we do the same? <\/span>How many times, moved by my opinions about what’s right and what’s fair, am I just mumbling? <\/span>How many times\u00a0should my lips utter words of gratitude to God but are stained by the gall of the complaint? <\/span>When my heart should be inhabited in fullness by God, became the Center of murmuring against him?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

How bitter it is to live with contempt. Paul a<\/span>lready warns in his letter to the Philippians “do everything without complaining or murmuring, that you may be free from reproach and ambiguity, children of God without blemish” (Fl 2.14). <\/span>We need to be in a constant state of vigilance, after all, no one is free from sin.<\/span><\/p>\n

That at the end of Lent we can follow what Pope Francis asks : fast from negative words; say kind words; <\/span>fast\u00a0from\u00a0discontent and be filled with gratitude; <\/span>fast\u00a0from\u00a0complaints and be filled with the simple things in life;\u00a0<\/span>fast from bitterness and sadness and fill your heart with joy. <\/span>Just like that, the desert will be for us what Hosea prophesied: “I draw and take her\u00a0into the desert and speak to her heart!” <\/span>(2.14).<\/span><\/p>\n

There’s still time!<\/p>\n

God bless you!<\/p>\n

\"Seminarista<\/a>George Lima<\/span><\/p>\n

Seminarian Can\u00e7\u00e3o Nova Community<\/p>\n

Portuguese version<\/a><\/p>\n

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We’re still in Lent! We have this week for us, through\u00a0the Liturgy, in the desert with the Christ. The desert was the first place of rendezvous of God with the old Israel. It was there that he came and made…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1121,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[25555,25556],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cancaonova.com\/catholicismanew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17472"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cancaonova.com\/catholicismanew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cancaonova.com\/catholicismanew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cancaonova.com\/catholicismanew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1121"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cancaonova.com\/catholicismanew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17472"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cancaonova.com\/catholicismanew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17472\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17474,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cancaonova.com\/catholicismanew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17472\/revisions\/17474"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cancaonova.com\/catholicismanew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17472"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cancaonova.com\/catholicismanew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17472"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cancaonova.com\/catholicismanew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}