March 2011
Reflections of God's Goodness
“God’s light will break through the darkness in our lives and in our world.”
This promise from scripture helps us understand that Lent is not a time for gloom and doom. Lent brings an invitation to deepen our relationship with Jesus — to follow Him on his journey from a dynamic public life to his acceptance of death and glorious resurrection to new life.
Jesus lived his life trusting his heavenly Father and we are called to do the same. Jesus summed it up this way,
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, your soul
and strength and then love your neighbor as yourself.”
This is what Lent is all about. Learning to love God and each other in new and deeper ways.
In one of my favorite Lenten books, Forty Holy Days, the author talks about Christian love this way… “The mark of Christians is love, manifested without ostentation, because it flows from their hearts good as the heart of God, revealed by Jesus…See how they love one another.”
How can I come closer to God? How do I love myself and how can I better love the people around me? We know that part of the answer is to give ourselves to God, by making God first in our life. By giving God our time and our treasure. When we move closer to God, we find him very close already.
Lent gives us the time and space to look at ourselves and to consider change — that’s one of the things we like about our Lenten Practice. We want to be less selfish and more caring of others and this season helps us to focus our efforts. It’s not easy but love is our call and it is also our answer. Not the romantic, casual or syrupy love the world portrays but the love that St. Paul describes in Colossians:
“Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if one has a grievance against another; as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do. And over all these put on love, that is, the bond of perfection…Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, as in all wisdom you teach and admonish one another, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God…do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”
This passage speaks to our hearts and our desire to live as Jesus did. Full of love and self-sacrifice. As we move through Lent, our prayer continues to be that we can imitate Jesus and lay down our life, our desires, our needs to see and meet the needs of the people around us.
Again, the author of Forty Holy Days puts my thoughts into words, “The hardships of our exodus are mixed with joy because we know the Easter light will brightly shine at the end of the journey…"
May the Easter light guide you on your Lenten journey.
Blessings,
Sr. Mary Ann Barnhorn, SNDdeN
Director of Development
