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We are
like children learning to walk
PRAISED BE JESUS
CHRIST!
(Now and Forever)
Lent calls us to conversion, a deeper relationship with God. The
Catechism of the Catholic Church in its glossary defines conversion in
these words: “A radical reorientation of the whole life away from sin
and evil, and toward God. This change of heart or conversion is a
central element of Christ’s preaching, of the Church’s ministry of
evangelization, and of the sacrament of penance and reconciliation.”
Imagine, if you will, a child’s first tentative efforts at walking.
Children don’t jump out of their cribs and suddenly begin to walk, of
course. There are interim stages. Eventually, however, a child is set on
his or her feet, an adult moves a few steps away, squats down and
extends his or her arms and hands in a gesture of support. There are
encouraging words like: “Come on, you can do it. Come on!” At first the
baby falls, but is persistent. The child never gives up. Neither does
the parent. No matter how many times the child fails, the parent remains
patient. The parent encourages. The parent always anticipates the next
time.
Through Jesus Christ, God stands in front of us, arms extended in
encouragement and welcome. He calls us by name, invites us to take one
step at a time toward him. He is patient with our fears. Frequent falls
bring no words of condemnation. He simply reaches out, sets us on our
feet, and has us try again.
The C Cycle readings for the third Sunday of Lent put Moses and his
initial encounter with God front and center. It’s a fascinating story.
And, God’s call to Moses is not much different than his invitation to
us. Moses is at work, tending his father-in-law’s flock. The God of
Abraham and Isaac and Jacob manifests himself in a burning bush.
It isn’t unusual for us to tend to think that God’s presence is limited
to certain times and places. We tend to listen for him in church or
times of prayer and reflection. Less frequently do we think of him
revealing himself in the events of daily survival. But, he does, day in
and day out — the events of daily life, including the workplace,
resonate with invitations from the Lord to give assistance, to listen,
to join his work of creation and sanctification.
In the Old Testament Book of Exodus, God calls Moses by name. He does
the same for each of us. He does not say “hey, you!” or “you there,” nor
does he use words like “jerk,” or “stupid,” or “dingbat.” No, he utters
our name with tenderness.
Moses stood on ground made holy by the presence of God. So do we. The
Lord has created all things and all places, filling them with his
presence. We find him on mountaintops and in canyons. He speaks to us
and we can speak to him around the dinner table, on the floor of the
family room, while in an easy chair, by the kitchen sink or stove, at
the computer, behind the steering wheel, in bed or in the bathroom.
This, as I read it, is the message of the Moses story presented for our
meditation on the third Sunday of Lent.
The passage from the Gospel according to Luke read at Masses this
weekend adds more details about this Father (parent) who invites us to
walk toward him.
He is a patient person, willing to wait another year for the tree to
bear fruit. He knows our weaknesses, limitations and fears. He knows
that it takes time to develop a relationship of trust and confidence. He
knows that we can’t walk perfectly, but sometimes slip backwards and
sideways as well as forward. He knows that we trip over our own feet,
lose our balance and get distracted easily. Yet he still stands before
us, hands outstretched, inviting us to try again.
This Gospel passage tells us that God is even willing to use manure.
There’s a lot of that in our life. We have our moments of inertia,
preferring to sit on the floor, doing nothing in particular. Sometimes
the pain we experience discourages us, as does our guilt and shame. We
have habitual patterns of sin, but would rather sit in the middle of all
that manure rather than seek the healing that is offered us in the
sacrament of reconciliation.
Even manure, however, can be useful. Our dark moments can yield a rich
harvest of faith and good deeds. God can raise us up from the dung heap,
but like a child who wants to learn to walk, we have to be willing to
try.
The marvelous thing about God is that he is not a disinterested
bystander. He is present in every moment and every place of our life,
constantly inviting, encouraging and supporting. He pursues each of us
and gives us numerous opportunities to walk as his child. When we shy
away, or express our painful discontent, God gently asks us to trust
him. He knows what we can do, and that’s what he challenges us so
tenderly yet firmly to do.
The call to conversion issued to us during the Lenten Season is a call
to reshape and reform our attitudes and behavior. The Scripture passages
selected for the third Sunday of Lent present us with a most attractive
picture of God. It is a picture that invites us to shed our insecurity,
get on our feet and try again. In this ongoing relationship we have with
God sometimes we fail; we take a few tentative steps and fall. There’s a
temptation to ignore the invitation. But Lent urges us to try again. It
is in trying that eventually we will learn how to walk as God hopes to
see us walk.
Part of the process, of course, is to take time for prayer. We need to
attempt to overcome addictions and patterns of sin. Spouses need to try
again to make their marriage better. Parents need to be patient with
challenging teenagers. Family members need to answer the incessant
questions of little ones. We need to make efforts to understand and
cooperate with co-workers, to find ways we can serve God by meeting
their needs. We need to try once more to heal hurt, to overcome
handicap, to seek the healing power of Jesus Christ in the sacrament of
reconciliation.
Lent encourages us to try, try, try. It’s about trying, getting up off
our bottoms, standing and taking that faltering step forward. That’s
what God asks of us. As long as you and I try, we are on the right
track. God’s grace then is able to transform our weak, tottering steps
into the confident strides of a person who is full of faith, hope and
love.
In our spiritual efforts to walk upright to the Lord, the sacrament of
reconciliation is of prime importance.
For many people, it has become the forgotten sacrament. The days when
good Catholics went to confession every month or every two weeks are
long past. Yet, the sacrament of reconciliation remains key.
Make it part of your Lenten observance. |
