Lenten Reflection – week 4

“Forgive me, Lord. I'm just a stupid man.”

Do you know that line from the movie 'Jesus of Nazareth'?

It is one of my favorite moments in the movie. Let me set up the story for you.

Peter, the fisherman, and Matthew, the tax collector, are bitter enemies. Jesus is preaching at Simon's home when Matthew walks in. Simon kicks him out of his house. Jesus asks Matthew where he lives and invites himself to his house for dinner. Mathew accepts and leaves.

Everyone is in turmoil. A rabbi like Jesus, let alone any Jew, can't enter the house of a sinner. If he does so he defiles himself, he becomes a sinner himself. But Jesus is determined to visit Matthew in his own house. He arrives for supper and is welcomed into Matthew's home, while his new followers, Peter, Philip, James, John, and other Jews, stay outside the door. Here they stay afraid to enter and be defiled.

Jesus is asked to speak to the crowd gathered in Matthew's house. He tells the parable of the prodigal son. The music crescendos, and the lighting is superb. Jesus ends the story and there is an awkward pause. Then Peter steps into Mathew's home and says, “Forgive me, Lord. I'm just a stupid man.”

Peter, after confessing his sinful nature to Jesus, has a moment with the Lord of mercy. Then the camera pans back and you see both Peter and Matthew in the picture together. Then, being forgivin by Jesus, Peter walks to Matthew and puts his hand upon Matthews shoulder in a sign of companionship and forgiveness. Both men realize that they are each sinners in their own way, and both need the love and friendship of each other.

It is such a powerful moment. We all are sinners. We all need each other even in our sinfulness. We all need to admit we don't know it all and need forgiveness for our mistakes.

Do you yearn to reconcile with an enemy or just someone you disagree with? Or do you stand outside and distance yourself from others not willing to face the difficult task of forgiveness. If we just stay away maybe the pain will disappear. Maybe if we turn on the TV or the internet we can distract ourselves and forget about it. How often do we try to busy ourselves so we don't have to face up to the difficulties of life?

This week we are going to reassess our Lenten journeys. We are about halfway through this Lenten season. Let's look back on where we have come from and then look forward to where we might be going. All the while focusing on what we have right now in the present moment.

Let us pray:

Oh, good and loving God, we began this 40 day journey several weeks ago

with a hope to grow in our faith life. We have a sincere desire to grow deeper

and deeper in love with you and our fellow man. We want to pick up our crosses

and follow you. We knew that the journey would be difficult but we began with

determination to see it through. Lord, we need your help on this journey. Please

send your Holy Spirit down and help us to finish what we started. Amen

Let's look at where we've been in our Lenten Journey. I am going to recap some of the stuff that has been in this blog, but I encourage each of you to take some time in quiet reflection. Look back at your lenten resolutions and see where you have had success and where you have failed. Spend time with this and assess your progress. Remember each baby step adds up to a big step as you grow in your faith journey. Even if you have failed in your observances of lent, you have tried. Reassess where you are and try again. Lent isn't over yet.

God has forgotten about your lenten promises and doesn't really care if you have been successful or failed. What he wants is that you have spent more time with him this lent. More time in community helping others. More time in prayer. More time in sacrifice. More time thinking about him and getting to know him through prayer and service of others.

Here is where we have been in this blog. We started by trying to get our priorities in line. God doesn't just want a little bit of our time each day. God wants it all. Bring him with you. Invite him into your work, play, meals, and sleep. He already knows what you are doing and can see you. Why don't you personally invite him in to be there with you? He is waiting for your permission to be a special part of your life. God loves you so much he isn't going to force himself upon you. He wants you to open up and let him in.

The second week we looked at sin and how we choose to separate ourselves from God's love. But God is full of mercy and comes running out to meet us if we but turn back toward him. This turning back is what the Greek word metenoia is all about. In English we translate metanoia as repent. It means to change our lives and keep changing our lives. Turn back to God and receive his forgiveness. Again, God is not going to force you to turn back to him. He may allow obstacles to come into your life that cause you to pause and take reflection but ultimately it is up to you to turn around and come back home.

Then last week we reflected on relationships. Our life is all about relationships. This is how we find God in the everyday. Through our relationships with others. In service and in friendship. In love and in hardship. God is a relationship. The Holy Trinity is a relationship. Our lives are a participation in the love of the Trinity. Our lives are relationship. God has shone great mercy to us, we must show great mercy to others. God has helped us to discover the truth, we must help others discover the truth. God has died for us in the person of Jesus Christ, we must be prepared to die for others. And we must also be prepared to live for each other.

That is the main point of this reflection. We must be prepared to live for each other.

This is not an easy task. Jesus lived for us. God became a human in every way save original sin. He lived in Mary's womb as an unborn baby for 9 months. He was born into the world in a foreign place made for animals. He was forced to move to a foreign country with his parents to escape an early death. He gave up his divinity and humbly sat at the feet of Mary and Joseph and learned to read the Torah. Can you imagine. The living word of God humbled himself so much that he learned the word of God in scriptures through humans. This is a God of the people. This is a God so in love with his people he would do anything. Even so much in love with them that he would never force them to worship and follow him. He leaves that all up to us. And guided and inspired by the Holy Spirit he invites us to call him Abba, Father. God wants to be our daddy.

This love has consequences. As Jesus tells us in Mark's gospel, “..repent, and believe in the gospel.” Turn from your sinful ways and trust in Jesus Christ, the Good News. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life.

As Christians we must live out this message of hope and love. We must bring this gift that we have received to others. We must not keep it to ourselves. We are each called as disciples of Jesus to 'go out to all the world and share the good news'.

This is the heart of Lent. Sharing our lives with others. Let's look at the 3 practices of lent this week as ways to follow Jesus. Ways to walk with him. Ways to grow into his image and likeness as we were created to do.

Prayer

Have you prayed every day during Lent?

The scriptures tell us that Jesus spent much time in prayer. He could have talked to God anywhere and at anytime, but scripture tell us that a lot of the time Jesus would go off to a quiet place and spend time in prayer.

Do you set aside time each day for a conversation with God?

Lent isn't an easy journey. You will have a very difficult lenten journey if you try and do it all by yourself and all for yourself. Get some help. Read the scriptures and/or pray more. Ask for help. Find stories about the apostles and read about their own failures and difficulties in understanding Jesus.

Watch a great movie like 'Jesus of Nazareth' and see the ongoing conversion of St. Peter. It is brilliantly acted out. From his first meeting with Jesus to his denial of even knowing him on the night before his death. In Peter we have someone who we can relate to. Jesus praises him for his faith one moment and the next calls him 'satan'. Peter is a sinful man, but through Jesus's life and the Holy Spirit he comes to be a great man.

This is our journey as well. To go from sinful humanity to everlasting divinity. God calls us out of darkness and into the light. From death into life.

Are you ready for a life of constant upheaval and conversion?

We will all need a life of prayer to be able to persevere in this world. Thank God, that he is always there to turn to when we decide to.

Fasting

I have failed a couple of times in my lenten fasts this year. There have been days I just kinda lost focus and drifted off into my own world, forgetting my intended sacrificial fasts. I've realized it takes a lot of work to stay focused. It takes effort. It is not easy.

This may or may not be your story as well, but I'm sure we can all relate. Sometimes the best of intentions just aren't carried through to the end.

This week marks the halfway point to our lent and as stated earlier, it is a great time to reflect on our journey so far and make changes as necessary. We need to forget about what we have done , or haven't done, so far this lent, and focus on what we are doing right now and what we will do in the future.

I suggest going back and looking at previous blogs I have written. Or go back and think of other ideas you've had during lent that you wanted to live out but for some reason or another you just haven't done it. I remember having a meager dinner one week and talking about poor children and families in Kenya. It was a good experience. I have not done it again with my family since.

This week we should all set aside a little extra time and spend it in silence, reflecting on what God may be calling us to in these last few weeks of lent. How many of us actually have ever asked God to help us figure out what we need to fast from in our lives? Give him some time to help you figure out how to make the most of the rest of lent.

Alms Giving

Back in week one I mentioned taking inventory of all your excess stuff, and of your talents. This week would be a great time to figure out how to share these gifts with others. God gave them to you but are you doing anything with them. Give them to someone who needs them.

One of the things my wife has been doing this lent is helping us to de-clutter our house. Each week we have been sifting through stuff and boxing most of it up to give away to area charities. This week in Dekalb the local chapter of St. Vincent DePaul Society is having a spring/summer clothing drive. They will use these clothes to give away to people of need in our community. Guess what? This week we are focusing on de-cluttering our drawers and closets.

Parishes and various charities throughout your own community are in need of something. Look for someone or some organization in need and share from your abundance.

Also, if you planned on giving a donation of money to help the poor and hungry in another part of the world during lent, this week would be a great time to get it all together and mail it away. Easter isn't quite as busy and commercialized as Christmas, but it is fast approaching. Also with the weather turning warmer you will be getting outside a little more and before you know it, lent will be over. Take a moment and write that check today. I would also encourage you to pray for the people to whom you are sending the check. Both for the volunteers/missionaries that run the charity and for the people your money will help. This is a little more personal than just cutting them a check.

Closing

Let us walk these last few weeks of lent with Jesus. Let us intensify our efforts in preparation for the celebration of his death and resurrection. Let us leave our selfish notions behind. Let us pick up our cross and follow him. Let us trust that this is the way to eternal life with him.

Lord, I need your help. I am weighed down by worldly concerns.

I wish to be transformed by you and your love for me.

Help me each day to grow closer to you.

I Love You.

Amen