Scripture:
Joel 2:12-18
2 Corinthians 5:20 – 6:2
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18
Reflection:
You are merciful to all, O Lord, and despise nothing that you have made. You overlook people’s sins, to bring them to repentance, and you spare them, for you are the Lord our God. -Wisdom 11:24, 25, 27
And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.…and your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you. -Matthew 6:6,18
Today we begin our Lenten journey. The words quoted above from the Book of Wisdom are taken from the introductory rites for Ash Wednesday. In a sense, they encapsulate all of Lent. We are called to return to the Lord. He is ready and willing to take us back into His care. We only need to repent, to turn our thinking back to what is right and real. If God truly despises nothing He has made, aren’t we called to do the same? There is a story told of Jesus walking along the streets of Jerusalem with His disciples. They turn a corner and there, lying on the side of the road is a dead, decaying dog. The disciples recoil in horror and disgust. One thing to remember is that in Jesus‘s time dogs were, in general, considered unclean and to be avoided, not looked upon fondly as pets, as we do today. So we have the disciples trying to avoid what they perceive as something that will contaminate them, both physically and spiritually. But Jesus leans in, looking carefully. His followers implore him, “Come away, Lord.” But Jesus just looks all the more closely and says, “Look how beautifully white the teeth are.”
And so it is with God our Father. We tend to look at the world and see only its sorrows, it’s troubles, and difficulties. But God sees what is good amid all these tribulations and calls us to see with Him. He truly sees what is hidden and secret. During Lent we are called to look with the eyes of God. Can we see beyond the surface? Can we look for and find what has been called, “collateral beauty,“ in our lives and the world around us?
My prayer today and for all of Lent is that we look with the eyes of God at our lives and allow ourselves to be called back to His side.
Talib Huff is a retired teacher and a member of the retreat team at Christ the King Passionist Retreat Center in Citrus Heights, California. You may contact him at [email protected].