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Daily Scripture

+ Ash Wednesday

Lent is not about losing weight but about loving more.

Readings: Joel 2:12-18 Psalm 51:3-6, 12-14, 17 Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18

Even now, says the Lord, return to me with your heart, rend your hearts, not your garments. [Joel 2:1-2]

Take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them. When you give alms, don’t blow a bugle before you. When you pray, go to your room, close the door, and pray in secret. When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites. [Matthew 6:1-2, 5-6]

I didn’t like Lent as a kid. The approach was too negative and down right gloomy. I don’t like the color purple either. The sermons were doom and gloom. It’s not that I didn’t think I had no need of penance and repentance. Even as a youngster, I realized that I was far from perfect—not quite “the feller mi mudder t’ought I wuz.” But even as a kid, I did better with positive affirmation.

Ash Wednesday is like New Years Day. People make lots of resolutions only to be broken by Saturday. Well, not quite but close.

The word Lent comes from the German word meaning “lengthen.” The liturgical season is allied with the season of the year. Yes, the days are getting longer and the frozen earth is getting soften. The birds are chirping earlier and the buds are getting ready to burst. The sun is getting warmer as it heads toward the equator.

So Lent is a time to till the soil of our souls. It’s a retreat that we might not choose on our own but a necessary retreat. In essence, it’s a drive or a campaign for holistic living, for healthy living.

Let begins not with resolutions but with an attitude adjustment. The three days between Ash Wednesday and the First Sunday in Lent are what I might call a respite from the routine in the midst of the routine, if you know what I mean. It’s a time to walk through the ‘field’ or the pasture and take a hard look at the soil to see if it’s ready for the seed. The seed is God’s Word and the soil is our soul.

You got it. It’s time for a little soul work with a hard look at what’s not working in our relationship with God, with our families and with our ‘neighbors.’

Turn the soil over (metanoia) and you’ll know what is necessary for a more fruitful way of life. Then the resolutions whatever they be—not too many—will work.

If Lent works well, then we will want to continue our Lenten ‘practices’ after Easter.

That’s what true conversion is all about.

Second Sunday of the Year 'B'

Friday January 13, 2012

There are many layers to our life in grace.

The first reading from the first Book of Samuel contains a dramatic description of the call of Samuel. He was already serving as a temple priest but God had something more in store for him. The high priest Eli tested Samuel’s discernment and in the end validated his prophetic call from God.

It takes a long time to discern a call from God. When I was in seventh grade, I “knew” I wanted to be a priest. Then I went to high school and started dating and “knew” I didn’t want to become a priest. Then I went back and forth for a while until I became convinced that indeed, I might have a call to priesthood. The call was validated not by a priest of the temple but by the manager of the jewelry store where I worked as a stock clerk after school. I told him no dice. He said, “You will be a priest some day.” He eventually became mayor of the town.

But the ‘dating game’ is no different. The first girl or boy rarely turns out to be one’s life-long partner. It takes lots of testing and lots of feedback from family and friends but sooner or later, God speaks and we know “when the right one comes along.”

Jesus also had to discern his call but not until he encountered John the Baptist was his call validated. Today’s gospel gives us some insight into how quickly he took hold of his mission and ministry or rather, how quickly his mission and ministry took hold of him. It didn’t take long for people to take to him and accept his invitation to follow him. “Master, where do you live?” He said to them, “Come and see.”

No matter what our foundational call or career, there often is something more in store – a call within a call. So we need to keep our minds and hearts open to the inner urging of the Spirit.

Several weeks ago, CNN featured a celebration of Heroes – several people who were nominated and then selected out of hundreds as honorees for their extraordinary work among the most needy across the globe. Some were celebrities in their own right, stars of stage and screen; many were ordinary folks like you and me who felt there was more to life than their chosen career. It was heartwarming to review their extraordinary stories to bring help and hope to the forgotten people in Haiti; to paraplegics injured in war or in sports; to so many people lost and forgotten folks who have slipped through the cracks.

On this day, I think of Laura, a retired nurse about whom I have spoken in previous homilies over the years. At the’ young’ age of 72 she received the call to go to Calcutta to work with Mother Theresa. This is what she wrote to her friends and to me during her stay in India:

“This time I shall write a little about Calcutta. I wish I had time to write to each one of you individually. My time is so taken up with work that I do not have an extra hour in the day. Never in my life have I worked so hard, but I am happy. I have learned more in three months here than I think I have learned in my whole life. I have seen the suffering Christ. I have seen my crucified Christ, and most of all, I have seen my glorious risen Christ in the eyes of these poor suffering people. How I have learned to love them!”

“My dear Savior is with me all the way. I know that is the reason for the happiness I feel when I am walking. The street people know me now. They call me ‘Auntie.’ You will never know how many babies are put in my arms every day for a blessing and for me to make the sign of the cross on them. It does not matter whether they are Hindus, Moslems, Bengalis or one of the many other religions, so long as they are blessed every day. The smell of the garbage on the street and the sight of small children trying to find some food, even though it is rotten could make me sick but I am fine and working hard. Maybe you now understand what a wonderful life it is to be so loved of God and be loved by all of these poor people. Yes, I am so thankful to everyone for the wonderful opportunity. Yes, I do love my Savior and I shall always serve him. Where he leads me I shall go.”

All of us have our own story. For one it might be a called to organize a soup kitchen or simply to serve food on the bread line. Others may be called to bring the Eucharist to the sick and infirm. Still others may be called to lobby in the legislature on behalf of civil rights and equal opportunity and we can’t forget those who advocate for victims of abuse. At times our call may bring us into conflict with the status quo. The servant is not greater than the master in this regard.
But for most, the call will not be dramatic nor draw the attention of the crowds. Instead, it may be a new commitment to the ordinary but doing it in an extraordinary way.

“The two disciples heard what he said and followed Jesus. Jesus turned and saw them following him and said to them, ‘What are you looking for?’ They said to him, ‘Rabbi, where are you staying?’ He said to them, ‘Come, and you will see.’”

Indeed, there are many layers to our life in Christ. No matter what our age, our original call and career, God may have more in store for us. We need to be alert to the voice of God’s spirit for she speaks many languages and sings many different songs. We need to go to our prayer chair often. We need to listen to voices of those in the street and most of all we need to be faithful one day at a time.