LENT 2007
The Call To Come Home
Strangely, there is something very attractive about the season of Lent. Although it is a time for others, it is also a very personal time. With a certain passion, people really seem to want to give up something, or to do something special as a positive gesture. Actually, all of this is probably just the call of the heart to go within and to touch again all those things we believe in.
Lent is also a call to come home to the intimacy of a personal God who lives within and to touch again our deepest desire. Patiently, God holds and guards this desire for us. Spiritual writers tell us that our deepest desire is to know that we mean something to the One who created us, back on “that other day”, as St. John of the Cross puts it. If we think about it seriously, we know that God really doesn’t need what we are inclined to give up. God only desires that we come back to a life of intimacy. For some reason, opting for being loved can, at times, be difficult.
Even though God may not need what we are prompted to give up, we know from experience that doing something concrete can be helpful. Perhaps, a Lenten offering could be the resolution to pause at least twice a day at a designated time and to say a prayer that comes from the heart.
Gracious God, I believe that I am known by you
and deeply loved.
For me, this is enough. You will always be my All.
Sister Mary Jo Loebig, O.C.D