What did Jesus write in the sand?

 I often wonder what Jesus was writing in the sand when he challenged the Pharisees who were about to stone the woman caught in adultery. Many commentators assume this may have been the sins of the people who wanted to condemn a person to death. By bringing their lives into sharp contrast between their own lives and their ability to judge another they were conscious of how their sins weighed down upon them. It may even be that some may have been complicit in the very action for which they wished to condemn another. We will probably never know.

However, I believe just focussing on our sins or the sins of another does not draw us closer to a relationship with God or the rest of humanity. We can become limited in noticing what is falling apart in our lives rather than on the mercy offered by God. This builds on the story of the forgiving father from last week in noticing that God meets us in our own reality and seeks for us to experience an encounter that changes our lives. The purpose of Lent is not just to confess our sins but rather to experience God's healing touch which removes us from our own isolation and alienation from humanity.

The readings help us to see and experience that it is in this relationship that God transforms our life. In this Jesus was not writing a list of our sins but rather the areas in which we need to experience transformation but are deaf to his voice. In this way, Jesus sits down with us not to focus on our sins but rather on how our wounds are healed. This is a profound surrender because it allows Jesus to become close and personal in areas of our life that we often say is off-limits. This loving persistence seeks a way through our wounds to be present to God in a new way. One which does not condemn others because of the disorder we experience within ourselves but rather a liberation that lives mercy.

Who we are and how we act

 There is often a cynical reflection of many priests and parishioners that confirmation is the sacrament at which a person exits the Church. This reflects an understanding which shows there is a difference between what we believe and how we act. In many ways, it shows a culture of religion that is superficial and seeks to receive blessings rather than entering into a deeper relationship with God. There is a tendency to hold God at arm's length and a belief that religion belongs solely to the private realm.

The challenge of our time is the discovery that we have an interior life that guides our external actions. Often we are taught that if we make behavioral changes then we will live a more fulfilled life. Yet anybody who has tried to enter into a diet or given up a long-term addiction knows that external actions can only have a limited effect on the person. This is why whole services have emerged to guide us on how to lose weight or overcome a particular addiction. However, if we put all our reliance on a person or a program which is external to ourselves we may find ourselves wasting a lot of time and money on what cannot satisfy the deeper longing within our hearts.

What appears to be missing is that we seek a deeper meaning to life which can sustain us against our own inner contradictions and the ability of people to take control of our vulnerabilities. I believe this is where our disciplines of prayer, fasting, and alms giving become important practices. They help us to make connections between our interior selves, the places where we are bound up in attitudes or behaviors, and how we can become people who are authentic in our concern for others. Lent is not designed to make us more introspective or isolated from God but rather to see how we are drawn into deeper communion with what brings faith, hope, and charity.

In this Mary provides us an insight into her spiritual life which acknowledges her fears, her practical situation, and a decision made out of freedom to be herself in response to God's invitation. She does not hide or play games with God by running away like the prodigal son or harboring grudges like the older son. Rather she reveals herself to the hidden mystery of herself which allows God to enter into her in a way that transforms her life and the life of the world. Lent allows us the opportunity to encounter God as we are and discover how we are called to respond. 

My plans for your are for peace and not disaster

 In Harold Kushner's book, "When Bad Things Happen to Good People", he explores what happens when disaster seems to strike and how easy it is to blame the victim for something that has befallen them. It is so easy to make the connection between a natural disaster and the moral state of the person. We are a people who seek an explanation for everything and the causal links can be made too easily. We see elements of this in the way some people blamed households affected for the floods that inundated their homes. This does not mean that we do not learn from these difficulties but that our first thoughts should be for those who suffer a disaster.

In the gospel we see Jesus noting how Lent recognizes that while disasters can befall us we are called to notice how easy it is to fall prey to the destroyer within. That critical spirit can spark wars between us and within us. During this season we are called to be people who are on guard against the evil spirit which sink deep into our psyche and cause harm to our world.  This is like a parasite that can draw all the nutrients out of our body and harbor ill will within us. This can too easily be seen in the conflicts between people, especially in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. There needs to be a desire for peace which is not just an absence of hostility but also a deeper sense of God's merciful action in the world.

This I believe is behind Pope Francis's consecration of Russia and Ukraine to our Lady Queen of Peace through her Immaculate Heart which renews the consecration made by Pope John Paul II in 1984. At the heart of this consecration is a spirit of conversion of heart that stands against the madness of war that threatens to destroy us. As Our Lady at Fatima warned it is possible that the seeds of destruction can be born within us and that God does not seek our destruction but a spirit of repentance that turns back to Him. In this, we see God who seeks us to encounter his plans for peace and not disaster. To broaden our vision in seeking the goodness of God in all things. We pray that peace may reign in our hearts and in our world for the good of all.

The dangers of a privatised and exclusive faith

 We are now in the first week of Lent and we approach the readings of the Transfiguration. This is the encounter with Jesus that demonstrates that he is the fulfillment of the Law (Moses) and the Prophets (Elijah). This revelation to Peter, James, and John notice the two movements in the spiritual life. The first is the overwhelming sense of the immanence of God which confounds the disciples expressed in their perception of who Jesus is. The second is the overshadowing of God which removes all reference points and plunges them into a cloud of unknowing where they are called to listen to the voice of God. These two movements recognize that we are called to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind and to love our neighbor as ourselves.

The difficulty in commencing Lent is that we realize the perceived distance that can seem to exist between God and our neighbor. Two images that I have been pondering during the week have been the response of those who have been affected by the floods in NSW and Queensland and the unfolding humanitarian crisis in Ukraine. As I have listened to the reports we can experience being overwhelmed by the enormity of the tragedies which are unfolding and plunged into spiritual darkness where we seem unable to respond adequately. Like Peter, we can pray that God is present in guiding us to an appropriate response to what breaks our hearts and clouds our thinking. We can seek to provide a response that makes the best use of our time, our talent, and our treasure.

Yet the danger is that as I read through the paper or listen to the news the current tragedies can fade into the background and we can focus on more immediate needs. This spotlighting of tragedy rather than empowering us can lead us to privatize our faith into the immediate moment. We can seem to bounce from one thing to another rather than being focused on how our faith is called to engage us in a creative response to the needs of our times. This does not mean that we become deaf to those in need but we develop a deeper sense that our faith is not our own private possession. The searching for the common good seeks to move into an engagement that sees God at the heart of all creation. 

This seeking of a corporate response acknowledges that our prayer, fasting, and almsgiving is not private pious action but rather a commitment to allow God to guide us in our daily life. Our solidarity and common purpose allow us to know God in the way we witness to the person of Jesus. We seek to reflect and act which develops a prayerfulness that allows God to build good foundations for the whole of society by incarnating the Gospel. This transformation conforms our hearts and minds to God.

The temptation to be powerful, spectacular and rich.

 As we enter into the desert of Lent we are called to examine what feeds and nourishes us. There is always a temptation to be satisfied by illusions that can seem to fill us but do not satisfy us. When faced with circumstances that seem to be out of control we can pray for miracles or for someone who can provide the external help we need to fix an immediate problem. In the midst of the tragedies unfolding in Ukraine and the floods affecting the East Coast of Australia, we can feel overwhelmed and powerless wondering how to respond. Many have sought to provide practical help, financial resources, and emergency aid. There is a natural outpouring of compassion that can be present for those distressing images that confront us. We also wonder what we would do if we were placed in similar circumstances.

I believe this is where how we enter into Lent is important. We need to be people who are prayerfully aware of how we are present to God and to each other. This recognizes how we surrender our whole lives over to God so that we can be fully present to how we can be open to the opportunities each day. This surrender is not about giving up and throwing up our hands in despair. Rather it allows us to become aware of what is within our providence to influence and change. Here the abilities given to us demonstrate how we come closer to God through the gifts entrusted to us for the good of the whole. This allows us to discover who we are called to be and to discover that we can change things for the good of all.

This also looks at how we are emersed in the environment where we are called to live. This is not just isolated into our own parochial setting but rather a recognition of what we do locally has a global effect. We are called to discover that our capacity for action in our daily life has an influence that can transform our community and our world. We discover that our actions for peace, compassion, and hope can counter those who seek to focus the world solely on themselves. We grow together rather than pursue solely our own interests. We are called to reflect on the principles which govern our lives and what direction we wish to follow.

Lastly, our prayerful awareness and consciousness of the environment can direct our efforts to take action. This needs to be considered and thought through as we help others to rebuild and relearn how to become people who imagine a better world. When we are confronted by the immediate man-made and natural disasters which confront us we need to discover wise hearts and discerning minds who can guide us in these efforts. This is most evident when we realize that many of the bushfires, floods, pandemics, and wars can cause people to become isolated and forgotten when they disappear from the news cycle. Our actions need to be built on being people who show the courage to build on solid foundations that show our faith in action. This helps us to experience that our lives are shaped by the person of Jesus who faced the temptation to be powerful, spectacular, and rich but to recognize it is God who can work with us and provide us with more than we can ask for or imagine. Our faith is built on this relationship, not on positions, experiences, or stuff that we may own. Our Lent helps us to rebuild our trust in God, trust in ourselves, and trust in our neighbour who walks alongside us as a pilgrim on the journey.