The Bishop Writes

(From the Feb. 26, 1998 edition of the Inland Register)

Every Lent provides the opportunity to spend a few weeks renewing our lives before we celebrate the Sacred Triduum. There is something about these 40 days which energizes us even though we take upon ourselves additional spiritual practices or works of charity. Whatever we do during this Lenten season, I would respectfully suggest that an important goal for all of us is to deepen and strengthen our relationships.

The most important relationship we have is with God. We embark on all sorts of ways during Lent to deepen that union. Some of us go to daily Mass. Others attend special Lenten services each week. Some fast from food, television, or music. A few make the decision to lengthen their time of solitude with the Lord in prayer and quiet. All of this points us to a closer relationship and a deeper appreciation of God in our lives.

All relationships take effort to sustain and help grow. God always takes initiative in us, loves us, and fulfills our deepest desires and needs. Each of us bears the responsibility of responding to this initiative if we are to grow in relationship with our good and gracious God.

Every good marriage relationship takes effort to sustain and deepen. Lack of effort weakens and devalues. St. Paul uses the image of marriage as a symbol of the marriage between Christ and the Church -- all of us. Lent is such an opportune time to deepen and appreciate our relation with the Lord.

Secondly, Lent provides a time to have an honest look at ourselves. Sometimes we are afflicted with a spiritual blindness or a lack of an honest appraisal of where we are on our spiritual journey. The journey of the 40 days of Lent calls us to conversion of heart, to an appreciation of God’s unconditional love for us so clearly manifested in Jesus’ ministry.

Just as Jesus promised, the Holy Spirit continues to teach us about ourselves and the gift God has bestowed on each of us as ones uniquely created in the image and likeness of God. Our Creator is never finished with us. For us, a great loss on our spiritual journey is to be oblivious to that loving presence of God who helps us to see, who forgives, and who heals.

St. Peter is a good example of a person afflicted by blindness of heart, yet God touches him powerfully. The same thing happened to St. Paul, perhaps in an even more evident way. We would be terribly naive not to think that in one way or another we are spiritually blind. With the blind beggar, we can cry out from our hearts during this Lenten season, "Lord, that I may see."

Our examination of conscience, our celebration of the sacrament of reconciliation, our humble admission that within us there is great room for conversion and improvement, provide us during these Lenten days a way to know ourselves better as we really are. We should leave the door of our hearts open so God can do God’s work in us.

Finally, in Lent we can look at our relationship with others. How many people do I cut off or block out because of attitude? Jesus calls us to love neighbor as ourselves. Jesus asks us to have a relationship with every person. Everyone needs to be treated as a person representing Jesus. When we get into the language of "those people," "that ethnic group," or we are concerned about another part of the world only because of U.S. interests, we fail to recognize the basic message of the Gospel and its implication for us as God’s people.

I know a bishop who took as his Lenten resolution a commitment to pick up at least one piece of garbage from the sidewalk or street each day. A few weeks ago as I was riding in a cab from the airport in very heavy traffic across the 14th Street bridge in Washington, D.C., there was an injured, paralyzed cat in the middle of the roadway. The car next to us stopped, a lady jumped out, picked up the cat and took it to her car. All of the traffic stopped. There was no impatient honking of the horns. The respectful quiet and waiting spoke its own message.

The love of neighbor demands sacrifice. Lent should remind us that going out of our way for others should be a lifestyle and a witness to the presence of Jesus in our midst.

May your Lenten season be a fruitful journey of better relationships. Please pray that mine will be as I also pray for you. Best wishes for a blessed and joyful Lent!

Home