Lent: a Time to Draw Nearer to God

Jesus Tempted in the Wilderness

Our Lenten journey from ashes to Easter has begun. Last Wednesday we heard, “Remember, you are dust and to dust you will return.” Dust represents human life: transitory and fragile. But the sign of the cross with ashes on our forehead symbolizes that Jesus Christ has redeemed our “dust.” God lives within us and we live within God.

Lent is a forty-day retreat: a time to ask again what are our most important priorities.  Yes, it time to follow Jesus into the wilderness, not only to get our priorities straight in light of our ultimate purpose in life but to replenish ourselves with the gifts of the Spirit (for example, wisdom, intelligence, good judgment, courage). Lent is a time to recall how the Hebrews of old saw the desert: not only as an abode of wild beasts but a place where a person encountered God and where God encountered the person.

In today’s busier-than-ever world, with its many distractions and temptations, we need this retreat more than ever.

So, what are we bringing into the wilderness. Maybe we feel dissatisfied. Things are OK, maybe you're building an impressive resume, but what does it all mean in the end? Maybe you’re facing challenges, have to make tough decisions. Listen to Jesus's response in the wilderness when He confronts the devil: God instead of material things, a God-centered instead of a self-centered life, service instead of power.

In the beginning, the Book of Genesis says, God fashioned a magnificent universe and created man and woman to enjoy it. Enter the snake, setting people against one another and against God. The man and woman wanted divine status, to be self-sufficient. They lost their friendship with God; they fell from grace.

Ever since, although we are intrinsically good, we have a tendency to choose evil. Human beings have cried out for God’s healing power.

And then, God became one of us in Jesus, so we could experience God's friendship anew. Paul observes that, just as we fell from grace through the first Adam, so now through the crucified and risen Christ, we have God's friendship again.

In the Gospel according to Matthew, would Jesus simply satisfy his physical hunger at the expense of his mission in life? No. Would he work signs and wonders simply so people would puff up his ego? No. Would he seek power so that people would kowtow to him? No. Jesus will not make a god out of material goods, celebrity status or political power.

Lent reminds us that it is time to ask God for the grace to get our priorities straight. It's a time for prayer; a time to do without unnecessary things so that the needy can have necessary things; a time to reach out with a helping hand through volunteer service or charitable giving or whatever.
For hundreds of years, Lent has focused on these three disciplines: prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Re-discover and re-treat yourself to these age-old disciplines again this Lent.

Pray Each Day

Vermeer's "Christ in the House of Martha and Mary."

50 years ago, on July 2, 600 million people world-wide watched Neil Armstrong walk on the moon. It was a remarkable moment of national confidence and national unity, two attributes American politicians desperately need today.   Confidence to meet the challenges the nation faces and the unity to resolve them.

Sunday's word of God takes us back over thirty-five hundred years ago   to a biblical legend about hospitality.  Here Abraham, a man of extraordinary faith, sees three strangers traveling out of the desert. He treats them like family. He serves them a great meal. Abraham and Sarah welcomed the strangers as though they were welcoming God. The legend invites us to welcome those who enter our lives.

In the Gospel according to Luke, we have the story of Martha and Mary. How many are sympathetic to Martha? Martha and Mary can symbolize the dual dimensions within each one of us: serving and praying. We have to be a combination: listening to the word of God in prayer, on the one hand, and doing good for others, on the other.

Often, we fret or worry. We’re busy shopping, chauffeuring, doing chores, working long hours. We often forget the one necessity: our relationship with God. Do we have our priorities straight? Mary certainly did.

Some of you may have read Rick Warren’s popular book The Purpose-Driven Life. Life isn’t simply a matter of acquiring and spending. Our ultimate purpose is to live in a right relationship with God and one another—yes, eternal life.

The Martha in us challenges us to actively reach out with our gifts and talents and treasure. Become involved, for example, in some volunteer service in the parish or community.

And the Mary dimension challenges us to pray. There are many different ways to pray, to bring to consciousness the awesome presence of God in our lives: familiar prayers like the Our Father or the Rosary, prayers of praise like the Psalms, slowly meditating on a biblical text, petitioning God for a favor, sitting quietly and feeling God’s presence within us (through, for example, a mantra), actively participating in Sunday liturgies.

Almost anything can be a pathway into the awesome presence of God. But there is one common denominator: prayer lifts our minds and hearts up to God. Begin every day by spending at least ten to fifteen minutes in prayer, in the presence of God. People find ways to tune into God’s presence as they go about their daily routine. Yes, take time to slow down and tune into the presence of God. And on the weekend, gather with our community to celebrate the liturgy, the mass, the source and summit of the Christian life.

By all means, God is the center. The word of God invites us to reflect on praying and serving. At least efifteen minutes a day in the presence of God is a good start for deepening our relationship with God, a God who assures us, "do not be afraid; I am with you always."

Finding our Way to God

Doing good as long as ever you can

GPS apps are a splendid way to navigate, and to route around obstacles. It’s a powerful spiritual metaphor. We have a “voice” to guide us: our conscience, informed by the bible, the guidance of the church, and the wise counsel of holy women and men.

As I have learned to trust the GPS electronic voice while driving, so I need to learn to trust my informed conscience, as I navigate to my ultimate goal: eternal life with God.

Sunday’s word of God carries us back to a defining moment. Moses experiences the awesome presence of God in the image of “fire flaming out of a bush.” God reveals himself as the creator of this universe: “I am the one who causes to be all that is,” as one biblical author translated this mysterious phrase. And then God empowers Moses to free the Hebrews from their oppressors.

St. Paul, in his letter to the Christian community in Corinth, compares the Hebrew Exodus experience to our baptismal experience; just as God was a rock in the wilderness, out of which flowed life-giving waters, so too Christ is our rock, from whom comes our salvation, eternal life.

In the Gospel according to Luke, Jesus deals with the question of evil. There is of course no satisfactory answer. Why mindless killings in New Zealand, why so many people suffering violence? Evil is ultimately a mystery.

And then Jesus speaks about a barren tree. The point of the parable: yes, God is patient, but God will hold each of us accountable for our life, our attitudes, and our behaviors. Jesus urges us to repent now, to turn to a God-centered/other-centered life. Yes, live in light of your ultimate purpose, life in relationship with God here and beyond.

Often people live in the future. Some imagine, My life will begin when I get a new job, when I rebuild my home, etc. Life will begin in the future? Naomi Levy, in her book Hope Will Find You, wondered, while caring for her critically ill daughter, when could she realize her dreams and goals. She wrote: “… just then something snapped inside my soul:…all of us have to learn to live inside the imperfect lives we have here and now.”

Lent is a time to re-assess our lives again, to decide what we believe to be truly important, and then act on these priorities now.

Our Christian faith proclaims that life has meaning, that there is indeed an all-good, compassionate, and merciful God who seeks us out in our everyday experiences. This God became incarnate in Jesus, and renewed God’s covenant with us through his death/resurrection and thereby opened up to us life beyond this earthly life. This same God is alive among us today by the power of the Spirit.

We can participate in God’s triune life: by regular prayer, by fasting from attitudes and behaviors that jeopardize our relationship with God and one another, and by living a life of generous service.


 

Jesus Christ Will Come Again

Michelangelo's Last Judgment in Sistine Chapel

Thursday, families will celebrate Thanksgiving: giving thanks to God for life, family and friends. Even amid the devastating wildfires in California, many first responders are stepping up to help save lives and property. We thank God for these brave men and women.

The holidays are here. Here’s my advice: hang around positive people. Surround yourself with what you love—family, pets, hobbies. Tell them that you love them. Live gratefully. Above all, focus on God everyday through prayer.

The liturgical year celebrates the story of our salvation. The cycle begins in Advent, then Christmas, on to Lent. Next, Holy Week. The Easter season concludes with the outpouring of the Spirit anew at Pentecost. The cycle continues in ordinary time. We walk with Jesus as he works signs and wonders proclaiming that the kingdom of God is breaking into our lives.

This liturgical cycle culminates in the final coming of Jesus Christ in glory. Next Sunday, on the feast of Christ the King, we observe the end of salvation history when (to quote the letter of Paul) every human being and all that is will be subjected to Christ, who will deliver the Kingdom of God over to his heavenly Father.

Yes, we celebrate the story that began on the first page of Scripture: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” -- a story that ends on the last page of Scripture with the Maranatha prayer: “Come, Lord Jesus.” God will transform this universe into his glorious kingdom in all its fullness. We proclaim in the Eucharistic prayer: “Christ has died; Christ is risen; Christ will come again.”

How this universe as we know it will end, we don’t know. But how is not the question. Rather the question is: Are we ready to meet the Living Christ when he comes to us in the mystery of death?

Today, the Book of Daniel pleads: don’t give up your faith despite the cruelties you’re enduring; the archangel Michael will protect you. Yes, good will triumph over evil.

The letter to the Hebrews recalls the one sacrifice of Jesus. Through his death and resurrection, Jesus re-established our relationship with God.

In the Gospel according to Mark, Jesus speaks about an apocalypse, with symbolic and scary images. Yes, Jesus Christ will usher in the kingdom of God in all its fullness. The Gospel author urges us always to be ready to meet the Living Christ because we don’t know when He actually will come to us in the mystery of death. And if we're not ready today, when will we be?

You may have read the book “Living a Life that Matters.” In his 40 years as a rabbi, Harold Kushner has cared for many people in the last moments of their lives. The people who had the most trouble with death were those who felt they hadn’t done anything worthwhile.

We shouldn’t be frightened that God will end the world as we know it. What we’re really called to do is to begin bringing about the kingdom of God: by getting our priorities straight, being peacemakers; treating one another fairly; helping people know they have a purpose; and giving a helping hand to others. We can become the compassionate eyes and hopeful voice and generous hands and dedicated feet of Jesus to others until He comes again with great power and glory.