RBWords - Volume 31 - Number 3: March 2018
Something to Think About
r.b.words – vol. 31 – no. 3 – march 2019
SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
Lent seems to be flying past. Perhaps it is because the season began late this year – March 6th. Perhaps, for me, it is because I have had some preaching events that have consumed some of the time in places outside of Lubbock, which has the effect of my losing track of time when on the road. One of the things that has caught my attention this Lent is the number of people coming to the Sacrament of Reconciliation who have been away from that sacrament for a long time. “A long time” means in this case, ten to forty years! My first statement on hearing this is always, “Welcome back!” The important thing is to give that person an experience of God’s loving mercy and not some scolding comment like, “Where have you been all this time?” They’ll generally tell me that without my asking.
If any of my readers have been away from that experience of mercy for more than a year, I hope you will give some consideration to re-establishing the experience as a part of your spiritual life. It is not just our relationship to God that is involved, it is our relationship to our neighbors, especially in the realm of extending forgiveness and asking for it from them.
I live in the midst of a big university community and am surrounded by youth which, in turn, makes me more conscious of my aging and how I am to manage that with gratitude and grace. That is a Lenten challenge! I am reading a STATIONS OF THE CROSS FOR OLDER PEOPLE and finding it very relevant. Perhaps that Lenten observance, in whatever form, can lead us to desire and experience the Lord’s mercy this Lent. AMEN
It Has Been Said
IT HAS BEEN SAID:
“God, I have spent a lifetime learning to be a giver, not a taker. In my later years the lesson may be to learn to be a gracious receiver. Open my heart not only to your gifts, but to the gifts – and good intentions – of those who care for me. Amen.
From: STATIONS OF THE CROSS FOR OLDER ADULTS by John van Bemmel