Lenten Reflections
Many years ago, when Lent ended at noon on Holy Saturday, two little girls
sat across from each other at a small table, waiting those last ten
minutes before the end of Lent. Between
them was a container of peanut butter candy.
They had piously not eaten any candy for all of Lent, and now that
those long weeks were over, they were more than ready to dive into the
sweet treat before them.
Since then, my friend Betsy and I have learned that Lent is about
far more than giving up candy--or giving up anything, for that matter.
We are told that the word “lent” means “springtime,” but
not the kind of springtime that heralds budding flowers and the chirping
of birds. Even if the ground
is still frozen and there isn’t a green leaf in sight, we have the
blessed opportunity in Lent to turn the “earth” of our hearts to God,
who is our source of light and life, our “sun.”
The One who created us and keeps us in existence at every moment
surrounds us with his love, hoping that we will respond.
So Lent is not so much a matter of doing things or doing without
things as it is of taking a good look at our ongoing relationship with
God, and making the changes in our daily life that will make that
relationship better, more rewarding, more fruitful.
Every marriage, every friendship, needs to be evaluated from time
to time. The season of Lent
is a perfect time to look at how we are “getting along” with God.
The saints, those great men and women of prayer, were always aware
of God’s immeasurable goodness and love for them. St. Clare of Assisi, in looking back over her life, said to
herself, “He who created you has made you holy. And, always protecting you as a mother her child, he has
loved you with a tender love.” Clare’s
life, like ours, had its share of painful losses and great
disappointments, but she knew that God was with her in every joy and in
every sorrow, loving her and sustaining her.
In Jesus, God became visible, one of us, yet truly God, and Clare
fell completely in love with him. Her
way of living out that relationship of love was to leave her noble station
in life with all its wealth and privileges, to spend the rest of her life
devoted to prayer in poor circumstances, with other women who were
captivated by that same Love.
Obviously, we are not all called to return God’s love in the same
way. But we are invited to
step back from the busyness of our days, to sit quietly with the One who
loves us more than we can imagine, and to take stock of where we stand
with him. It may be time to
let go of a habit or a preoccupation that stands in the way of deeper
friendship, and move into a place of peace that we have not known before.
We may find, as St. Clare wrote to a friend, “He will be your
helper and the best consoler.”
Sister Catherine Cook, O.S.C.
