3/27/2012 – Tuesday – 5th week of Lent – Numbers 21:4-9

      Today, in our first reading from the book of Numbers, we hear a story from the Old Testament that was referred to in the Gospel on the 4^th Sunday of Lent, when Jesus referred to the time that the Israelites complained in the desert, when the Lord sent serpents to punish them.  At the Lord’s command, Moses then put the image of a bronze serpent on a pole so that the people would look at it and not die of those snake bites.  We, too, might want to complain, to moan and groan about the struggles we go through on our journey.  Yet, the Lord is with us and will help us get through the ups and downs of life.

         Up until 1969, until the time that the reforms of the Second Vatican Council were implemented, today, March 27, was the date that we celebrated the feast day of John of Damascus.  John lived from the mid 7^th to the mid 8^th century.  John is remembered for treaties he wrote, primarily in support of the use of icons as a tradition of our faith.  At the time, there was a strong movement that went against the veneration of icons.  John was declared a Doctor of the Church in 1883, and is considered one of the last of the Early Church Fathers. 

         I found this quote from John of Damascus, which I think is good for us to hear on our Lenten journey:  “Repentance is the returning from the unnatural to the natural state, from the Devil to God, through discipline and effort.”  May we continue in our Lenten promises and disciplines.  May the prayers and intercessions of the saints and the graces that God give us in our lives give us the strength and courage to continue on our journey.