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    Reflection for Saturday, March 24, 2001 :Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord.

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    Author
    Waldron, Maureen McCann
    Date
    2001-03-24
    Office/Affiliation
    University Ministry; Collaborative Ministry

    Reading 1
    Isaiah 7:10-14; 8:10

    Psalm
    Psalms 40:7-8a, 8b-9, 10, 11

    Reading 2
    Hebrews 10:4-10

    Gospel
    Luke 1:26-38

    Lectionary Number
    545. Year I, Lent.

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    Reflection:

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    A very wise Jesuit priest once listened to me talk about how I pray and asked me, "Where is the focus of your prayer - on you or on God?" I realized that I often prayed for what I wanted from God but rarely prayed to find out what God wanted from me. My focus was on solving my own problems rather than asking how I could serve God, but that question helped me to refocus my prayers, at least for the moment.

    Today's gospel is much the same lesson: two men are praying in the temple. The Pharisee in his prayer spends most of his time congratulating himself for being better than everyone else. The other man, a tax collector, is so humbled before God that he can say nothing more than, "Be merciful to me, a sinner." Which one am I most like? I squirm uncomfortably at this question.

    Do I live my life as someone who is focused on God and others or is my main vision in life directed on my needs and my own happiness? I can sense it in my life when I move away from the God-centered life. Things are out of balance. I am aware of every annoyance of my husband, I have little patience with my kids and mostly I am aware of ME and how everyone else has an impact on me.

    Today in my Lenten journey, I want to try not to be centered on myself. Today I want to trade places in the temple. I want to take off the Pharisee's flashy robes of my own arrogance and embrace the humility of the tax collector. I don't want to make myself the center of my day.

    This feels like an impossible task some days and my first instinct is to wonder how I can ever accomplish it alone. Then I remember the tax collector in the temple, bow my head and ask for help.
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