Seek the Lord whose mercy abounds. Call aloud to God who is near. Today is the day and now the proper hour to forsake our sinful lives and turn to the Lord.
These revised lyrics of the popular Saint Louis Jesuit hymn composed by Roc O'Connor (based on Isaiah 55) are a fitting introduction to this Lenten reflection.
Today is Laetare Sunday - the 4th Sunday of Lent. We rejoice with all Christians who will soon celebrate the sacred mysteries of the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus. It is in the Holy Word, the Sacred Scriptures, that we find the Passion Narratives that are recorded in each of the four Gospels. Might Jesus be inspiring us to ponder His story of salvation as we continue our Lenten journey?
How are you doing with your Lenten resolutions? Know that when I ask you such a question, I am passing the same question to myself, as well. Have we been able to carve out the quiet time needed to “seek the Lord whose mercy abounds?” Have we stopped to review our lives, to search and find how God has walked with us in our sicknesses, in our disappointments, in our successes and failures, and in our personal and communal losses?
The readings for today's Sunday liturgy were beautiful and it was difficult to choose one to focus on for tonight's Vesper Service. I decided on the letter of Paul to the Ephesians, Chapter 2. it reads like a love letter from God.
As you heard, Saint Paul writes that God's boundless mercy and love brought us life when we were still dead, alienated by sin. Twice we heard the powerful statement, “By grace you have been saved.” By God's life and love we are saved. This is all gift. We cannot earn it or by our works and best efforts deserve it. It is pure gift.
I also love the line, “For we are God's handiwork” (v10). God fashioned us and is hopelessly in love with each of us. It is God's desire to be in relationship with us.
I once read that mercy in the Hebrew Scriptures is described as God's special covenant of love with God's people. It struck me how providential the question the Church posed to us on our reception day and our answer was. Do you remember? We were asked, “What do you desire?”
Our response was, “The mercy of God and your mercy, and the holy habit of the Order of Saint Dominic.”
That day we were asking for the mercy of God, we were asking for a covenant with God, a deep relationship that would take a lifetime to grow and flourish. Like all relationships, they need to be refreshed and renewed.
As Pope Francis has written, “Lent is a time of renewal for the whole Church, for each community and every believer.” Father Pedro Arrupe, former Superior General of the Jesuits wrote a short piece that speaks to this relationship far better than I can. He said,
More than ever, I find myself in the hands of God. This is what I wanted all my life, from my youth. But now there is a difference, the initiative is entirely with God. It is indeed a profound spiritual experience to know and feel myself so totally in God's hands.
I wish to close with another spiritual gem which was formerly attributed to Father Arrupe but today's research has named another Jesuit, Father Joseph Whalen as the author. I have placed copies of this piece on the altar that is titled, Falling in Love. If you'd like a copy, kindly pick one up at the end of the service as you leave the Chapel. The reflection reads:
Nothing is more practical than finding God, that is, then falling in love in a quite absolute, final way. What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination, will affect everything. It will decide what will get you out of bed in the morning, what you do with your evenings, how you spend your weekends, what you read, who you know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude. Fall in love, stay in love and it will decide everything.