Special Lenten Mission

 

Dear Friends,

                In last week’s blog, I talked about the sign of the cross as an apt symbol for us in the Lenten season. This week, I want to do a second brief blog about Lent as a whole – Lent as the way we prepare for the Great Feast of Easter, for Lent is not meant to be a season of penitence in which we are the center.  Christ is the center. The whole Church is invested in preparing for Easter and we, as individuals, are called to do the same.

                In one of her writings, Teresa of Avila prayed about making Lent meaningful for her.

                                “What do you want of me?” She prayed.

                                            “Yours, you made me,

                                                Yours, you saved me,

                                                Yours, you endured me,

                                                Yours, you called me,

                                                Yours, you awaited me,

                                                What do you want of me?

                                                Yours I am, for you I was born:

                                                What do you want of me?”

               

                In our Lenten experiences, God wants us to pay close attention to others. Pope Francis in one of his Lenten reflections tells us “We need effective gestures that will alleviate the pain of so many of our brothers and sisters who walk alongside us.” We see them only on the nightly news, in the homeless shelters, in the children who have almost nothing to live on. But what are effective gestures for us to participate in alleviating the pain of others? That’s for you to determine with your own insights and skills, your own response to God’s call: “What do you want of me?

                  Here’s another thing that’s reasonably simple. Let’s try to live with the Gospel for each Sunday before we celebrate Eucharist. If we have a computer, there is no reason not to know what text is coming, for the Gospel texts can be easily found there. In this year’s C cycle readings, we encounter Jesus tempted, the radiant Jesus transfigured, Jesus’ parable of the barren fig tree, which the gardener begs to be allowed to live, the prodigal father and Jesus’  encounter with the woman caught in adultery. As you find yourself in these readings, ask “What do you want of me, God?”             

                Here’s an at home thing to do -  let’s be bold with our closets, drawers and shelves and throw out/give away each day one (just one) item to help diminish our attachments to things. Things: do they possess us or do we possess them?” What do you want of me, God?”

                 God has a special Lenten mission for each of us: to seek… to become…to do…to hand over…to open ourselves to…to practice…to unfold…to soften…to enter into radical trust…YOU finish the phrase. All you need to live Lent in love will not be revealed to you at the beginning of the season, but it will become known, so be alert.  Trust God as the companion of your Lenten journey. Ask God over and over again: ”What  do you want of me?”

~Sister Joan Sobala