As we begin our Lenten season I offer you this quote from Archbishop Charles Chaput where he writes, “Sinners hide among the saints, and saints among the sinners. Only God knows the truth of each person. And only he can winnow the wheat from the chaff at the end of time. Meanwhile the two cities interpenetrate and overlap. That leaves Christians with the task of seeking to live their faith well in a fallen world.” (p. 13 “Strangers in a Strange Land”)
Archbishop Chaput is commenting on St. Augustine of Hippo’s work “City of God” and the difficult question of sin and why Christians continue to sin even knowing the love of God and the blessing of mercy. When I first read this book last year I had underlined this quote and later made a small version that has been sitting on the table in my prayer space which helps me to do my nightly examen as I prepare for bed. I use it because it reminds me that I am called to be a saint but sadly I continue to be a sinner. And while it try to hide my sins among some saintly qualities I also know God sees my totality and calls me to seek repentance and healing…to live my faith well in a fallen world. And so, to live my Lenten life well…I should seek
To not take God for granted. It is easy to rely on God’s mercy in a bad way where the sin of laxity and presumption of grace interpenetrates they virtues leading us to goodness and holiness. It is where we are challenged to be honest with ourselves and recognize where we can get better and what we need to do to get there. A roadmap of prayer and discipline to follow out of love of God and for the other in our lives.
To seek the good in the other. It always seems far simpler to remember faults more than blessings. We often notice our neighbors for what they have done wrong rather than the gifts they have shared. As Christians we are called to do the opposite to seek the good and draw forth the better from each other. Parents do this quite naturally as they form their children to be good moral participants in the life of the family. They praise the real and the good within their children seeking to guide them closer to God through union in the family. But to seek the good in others we are also called to recognize the good within ourselves…to permit the grace and blessing of God to interpenetrate our sins and hurts…in other words to “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”
To share in gratitude. We are reminded by St. Paul that Jesus “though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped.” (Phil 2:6) Gratitude is the act of hopefulness and thanksgiving where we see our lives as gifts and blessings we are called to share. In gratitude for God’s gift of life and the gift of his Son, Jesus Christ, who offers us forgiveness and mercy we share this blessing with everyone we encounter.
To become a saint. “If you don’t behave as you believe, you will end by believing as you behave.” (Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen) To be a saint isn’t a luxury it is a necessity if we truly believe what we say we believe. We know by personal experience how actions often speak louder than words and the example we set are in truth more important than the homilies we preach to one another in life. We are reminded time and again how we are saints in progress and we must through reflection and conversation with others determine which direction our progress is heading. Because if it isn’t towards the good, the holy, the graced, then it isn’t towards God and that’s not a good thing.
We are invited to daily conversion in renewing our relationship with God. Be courageous, be a saint!
God bless,
Fr. Mark