+ What amazing readings we have on this third Friday of Lent. Fridays in Lent are always
geared remotely to the events that take place on Good Friday – which will be
three weeks from today! This particular Friday, we see the inner workings of
the very heart of God the Father – the Fatherly tenderness that yearns for
his people’s return and repentance. He is always poised “like a mother lion” to
come quickly to the aid of her errant children – but they must make the first
move because they have free will. If they freely chose to walk away from her
(Him in this case, God the Father), then it is they who must of their own
free-will and desire turn and face the other way: the way that leads back to
him: but he is there in a flash to aid them and welcome them every step of the
way:
and so the book of Hosea tells
us:
It is
God who speaks:
Return,
O Israel, to the Lord your God; you have collapsed because of your guilt. Take
with you words (of repentance) and return to the Lord. ….. Then, later, I will
heal their defection, says the Lord, I will love them freely; for my wrath is turned
away from them. I will be like the dew(fall) for Israel, he shall blossom like
the likely; He shall strike root like the Lebanon cedar, and put forth his
shoots.
What an amazing story, a
love-story unparalleled.
And what an unparalleled time
in the history of the world, do we find ourselves in today – in these the
beginning stages of a global pandemic that has already brought much of our
country to a hunkered down standstill. Perhaps this is an excellent time, in
this Lent that will probably be like no other, for us to pause, sit, be silent,
letting God’s Holy Spirit of Consolation and Comfort fill us, and then ponder
our past, (or even current) ways, repent and return to the Heart of God the
Father, and experience his unparalleled sense of well-being, health, and
wholeness no matter what is going on in our household, our city, our state, our
country, our world.
And we must be clear – that God
does not punish, he does not get angry, he only loves, he only soothes, he only
heals, he only inspires leaders across the board on how to resolve situations –
especially the most serious ones that we are now facing. And so the Old Testament
readings like the one mentioned above is not about God retaliating or getting
even with us because of our sin – but it IS about, his willingness to untangle
whatever messes our sins may have gotten us into.
In the gospel passage we have
enumerated the life-style of those who truly “get it,” get the message and
meaning of being a disciple of Christ, a member of the new people of God, a
partaker in the redemption wrought and available to those who to this day
pause, reflect on the direction of their lives, and who choose to follow the
standard of the Cross, rather than the deceptive and dangerous standard of the
world – based on lies, and perjury and chaos, and start marching in the correct
direction: to the Bridge that leads across the River Chaos and Catastrophe, and
into the new Promised Land of Joy and Peace.
Yes, the Kingdom is to come,
yet it is already here – and it dwells primarily for us, deep inside of us –
who are members of his Mystical Life, his Mystical Kingdom, his very real, risen,
glorified Mystical Body – so that we can appreciate and act on helping others,
and help others to do the same.
Amen.
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