One of the many things I have come to truly appreciate about my relationship with Sam is that since he was raised Baptist and I grew up Catholic, we often talk about the beliefs, traditions, views, etc. we were taught while growing up that make us “different” from one another. Many times we end up picking up the Bible or doing a little Internet research on the meaning of a certain festivity or tradition, and try to understand it as much as possible. Ironically enough, I have come to understand the Catholic faith more because of these talks. You see, Sam is the kind of person who wants to understand the “how” and “why” of things, and I’m embarrassed to admit that sometimes when he’s asked me why Catholics follow certain traditions, I don’t know what to say. Unfortunately this is the case for many Catholics around the world: initial meanings and intentions are with time forgotten, and eventually traditions become chores. With Sam I’m getting to understand, little by little, what it means to love God. The point of our conversations is, of course, to be able to find unity in our beliefs so we can ultimately provide our children a unified view of what it is like to live with God and for God, regardless of religion.
Yesterday marked the beginning of the Lent season, so naturally the topic of Lent, repentance and sacrifice came up. We talked about how a sacrifice or “giving something up for Lent” can easily become something automatic, almost robotic, that Catholics do every year for the sake of getting’ it done, do good and move on. In reality, sacrifice has the potential to mean so much more..!
Yesterday’s reading, Joel 2:12-13, explains the origins of this tradition:
"Yet even now," says the LORD, "return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments." Return to the LORD, your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and repents of evil.”
I’m coming to understand that sacrifice means not only stripping yourself from material commodities; it doesn’t only mean giving up something you like to eat, or not doing something you like to do for 40 days. Sacrifice means finding oneself humbled by our weakness as human beings. When we realize how attached we have become to earthly things, we realize how much we need God right beside us, because only He can keep us from being seduced by distractions that will prove utterly insignificant when our time here on Earth ends. The detachment from a material life has the potential to lead us to a deeper spiritual life… if a sacrifice is done with the right intentions in mind.
One of my many vices? The Internet. I seriously doubt that God will care, at all, when I try to explain that “I’m sorry I didn’t care to read Your Word. I was too busy Facebooking. And watching American Idol. Oh and watching Lady Gaga’s latest performance.” Hmmm. There’s something seriously wrong with this picture. Sometimes it hurts so badly to think that because of all these distractions, we have turned our backs to our Creator the way we have, for so long. Imagine a married couple who are expecting a baby. They are excited and cannot wait to see the fruit of their love; the baby is born, and the parents bestow their love and wisdom on their beautiful son. They watch him grow into a toddler, a pre-teen, a teenager... and at some point the son tells his parents: “I will forget about you now. It doesn’t matter that you gave me life. I want to do with my life anything I want. I will forget about your advice, and I will forget about the love that you gave me.”
And then we wonder why our quality of life is so poor. We wonder why our children are having sex and killing before they enter into their teenage years. We wonder why there are people who are willing to kill their unborn child. We wonder why as a society we are so miserable.
But hold it! Above all, THE most amazing thing about God is that He DOES NOT give up on us. He is always waiting. There are no limits to His mercy; He always waits for us to return to Him. And in this, I find solace and joy. This is the best reason I can think of for the Lent season. I once thought that God could never forgive me for my sins; I found it hard to live with myself knowing I’d failed Him so badly. Then He sent Sam in my direction, and I came to understand that God’s grace knows no limits. All it takes is a WILL and a DESIRE to be SAVED.
