God sends us the same message in the same way during the Lenten season. He misses us, and He draws us close by touching our sensitive side. During Lent, we are asked to expose those places where God has made Himself vulnerable to our human condition. He forgives our sins, so we confess them to know His mercy. He heals our brokenness , so we pray for consolation and peace in grief, loss or rejection. He feeds our hungers, so we seek help in physical or spiritual need. God enters into our sin, brokenness and desires with the transforming power of His grace. This grace allows us to accept His forgiveness, healing and help without embarrassment. In these ways, our weak underbellies are touched by the careful, gentle hand of God’s mercy, and we are reconnected to the source of our life and its meaning.
Lent is not meant to be hard to make us tough. It is meant to soften us so that holiness can penetrate our lives. It is a time to go deeper into our faith--deeper into our understanding of God’s ways, deeper into our intimacy with God’s love, deeper into how we are connected to each other as God’s children. Going deeper increases our sensitivity to the holy in our midst, to its sometimes wounded face and shy ego. Like the crucified one, holiness can seem defeated by our harsh world. But as we move deeper into Lent, we find that the servant may appear weak, but, in truth, is strong and vital.
To become truly vulnerable for others in their service is to become powerful in grace. As Peter preaches in the Acts of the Apostles, “Therefore let the entire house of Israel know with certainty that God has made Him both Lord and Messiah, this Jesus whom you crucified.”
So maybe we need to turn ourselves over and allow God to touch the sensitive spots of our lives, the places we have been hiding or been afraid to admit are part of us. Lent is a time of conversion. We are changed by inviting God’s gentle mercy where we need it most. That becomes a homecoming for both us and the God who lives in and with us.
-Monsignor Statnick
