Monday in the Third Week of Lent

Sometimes grace has to break through our defenses by attacking us  The people of Nazareth wanted to see miracles,  but instead heard Jesus tell them about the hardness of their hearts.  Sometimes Jesus not only knocks on our door, he knocks us down, not out of meanness but out of love,  to heal our sinfulness. 

Let us take up the Scriptures so they may take hold of us.  When we fill the treasure chests of our hearts by memorizing the Word of God we become a Bible.  Then the Word of God can bubble up within our hearts and chase away the afflicting and even evil thoughts that occupy our minds.

Memory is a gift.   Memorization is the hard work of using that gift.   And remembrance is the grace filled presence of the Word of God in our hearts drawing us to himself.  That’s what Jesus wanted the people of Nazareth to hear,  and that’s what they missed.