Dear Friends,
It is good to be back home from my trip to Patagonia. Patagonia is an incredibly beautiful part of the world but has a climate that is quite challenging. It is very close to Antarctica and was carved from the granite by glaciers over thousands of years. We faced lots of wind and rain and cold. On occasion, the clouds would clear and the sun would shine. During those moments, we could see the amazing beauty of this glacier carved world that God sculpted leaving towers of stone.
Having only momentary glimpses of majestic beauty reminds me of how God reveals himself to us. Most of the time we do not readily experience the wonder of God, but every now and then for a brief moment, we are able to catch a glimpse of God’s glory. Those brief moments of God’s revelation can only be experienced if we prepare ourselves by being in the right “place” at the right “time”. On my trip to Patagonia…if I had not journeyed there, if I had not put on the layers of clothing to face the rain and cold, if I had not gone out on to the mountainside, then I would have never seen its beauty when the clouds broke. I would have missed it. In a similar way, how do we prepare ourselves to encounter God, to be ready when the “clouds” break?
If we want to experience the wonder of God, then we have to do the work of preparing our hearts and minds and bodies to be in the “place” where God may reveal himself. If we do nothing to prepare, then there is a good chance that we will never see or experience the divine. And, we will probably blame God for hiding and not revealing himself but, in reality, it is our own fault for not doing the work of preparing ourselves to encounter God when God comes.
Today’s gospel from John is the long story of the man who was born blind and is healed by Jesus. The theme of who can see and who is truly blind permeates the story. The first and second readings explore the same theme of the ability to see, the ability to see as God sees. Some are able to see the divine in Jesus while others miss the revelation.
The readings reveal that one of the first steps in preparing ourselves to encounter God is to be honest about ourselves. Honesty about ourselves is a challenging step. During Lent, the Church reminds us that all of us need to recognize that we are sinners and in need of God’s forgiveness. The acknowledgement of sin links our faults to the weaknesses of all who have ever struggled and with all who will ever struggle. A sense of sin grounds us in history. To admit that we sin gives us the space to be honest and a place within which to receive forgiveness. Not to admit sin forces us to rationalize, to give excuses, to project blame, and to over emphasize psychological and sociological influences on our behavior.
It is when we can stand before God and others, as some in the gospels did, and say in the face of our betrayals, “These things are wrong. I shouldn’t be doing this, but I can’t help myself,” that we can receive the forgiveness that washes us clean. Forgiveness doesn’t wash away immaturities or weaknesses. It washes away sin. It is when we humbly and simply own our sin that we take our place among God’s broken, the ones Jesus came to save, and are given the chance to start again, new, fresh, loved.
The Sacrament of Reconciliation begins with a greeting between priest and penitent where the penitent acknowledges their need for healing. Some have been instructed to begin by saying, “I am a loved sinner, bless me Father.” In that expression, the penitent admits that she or he is a sinner and is loved in spite of it. To admit sin sets us free to receive love under the only condition it can be truly offered. To acknowledge that we are loved, in spite of sin, sets us free from false guilt and shame.
Being honest about our sin and about who we are before God puts ourselves in the “place” where we may be able to see the divine when God chooses to appear. This Thursday, our parish will hold its Lenten Reconciliation Service at 7:00 pm. We will have priests helping us from Creighton University. Come and join fellow parishioners in preparing your hearts and minds for an encounter with the divine.
Peace,
Fr. Damian