March 1st
Second Sunday of Lent
“Bleed the Line”
I want to share with you something that happened to me almost 50 years ago at Mt. St. Francis in Indiana. (Share “Hug from God.”)
This “hug” was given to me before I did anything with my life. And this memory came back to me this week as I prayed over today’s scriptures, particularly St Paul’s letter to St Timothy…
You see, Paul tells Timothy that we are called to a holy life, but that holiness is not the result of our works. Rather a life is holy “according to God’s design and a grace bestowed on us before time began.” In other words I believe Paul is telling Timothy that a holy life is a life lived in union with God… any holy actions on my part are simply the “fruit” of this union, not its cause. Union with God (proximity to God) causes holiness!
The problem is SIN blocks my union with God.
Now many would dismiss this as impossible… any “sin” I might commit must be like a tiny bubble of air (a nothing) next to the power of God who creates all completely from nothing and whose majesty is utterly beyond our capacity to even comprehend.
True enough, a tiny bubble of air in and of itself is nothing; but in an artery or vein it can become an air embolism that kills you!
Just like tiny bubbles of air in the confined space of an artery, so too sins of mine in this confined space of time I call my life can bring horrible consequences. God thought enough of the danger to send Jesus to his crucifixion to save us from it. Jesus Christ remains God’s mercy offered to us today through His Church.
Our 40 days of Lent is a time for each of us to “bleed the line” so to speak; to provide God an opportunity to eliminate any “air bubbles” that block the free-flow of God’s grace through us. So we fast so as to sharpen our ability to see God’s fingerprints in our lives. We pray to know God’s will for our lives. We give alms to soften and open our hearts to God’s embrace.
All is done so we can strip away our illusions of self-sufficiency and self-righteousness; name our “air bubbles” and afford God the opportunity (through the sacraments of forgiveness He entrusted to our care) to “bleed our lines.”
Ultimately, next to the eternity God wishes to be in union with us, this life is but a blip; a tiny moment that comes and goes in less than a flash. This life is fragile, fleeting, even precarious. Next to eternity this life is but a blip.
But this blip is critically important for within it our unity with God is either embraced or blocked. Hence Jesus’ urgency. Leaving the mountain his teaching becomes razor focused; his passion predictions become more frequent. He makes a beeline from today’s mountain top embrace to his cross for he knows now that his blood and his forgiveness alone can afford us the chance to “bleed our lines” of the sin that separates us from the Father.
All we offer this Lent is meant to help you “bleed your lines” and avail yourselves of God’s Presence and the “hug” he wishes you to know… be it our reconciliation services or adoration days or Friday Stations of the Cross or collections for the poor or Sunday Masses… all of it is done for YOU. God wants to get to YOU!
Now is your opportunity; this Lent is your chance. My mind wanders back again to St. Paul as I wrap up this preaching… back to that time he went to Athens, Greece, and preached Jesus’ invitation to draw close to that gathered crowd. As The Book of Acts attests, the crowd found his words interesting, but they stumbled a bit at the news of Jesus rising from the dead. They said, “We should like to hear you on this some other time,” and they wandered off not realizing that Paul was to leave Athens for Corinth and with him their opportunity.
Perhaps this is why Paul would write the Corinthians (as we heard on Ash Wednesday) “Behold, now is a very acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”
I remember the Kansas song played upon my return from my high school retreat:
I close my eyes only for a moment and the moments gone.
All my dreams pass before my eyes, a curiosity.
Dust in the wind; All they are is dust in the wind.
Same old song, just a drop of water in an endless sea.
All we do crumbles to the ground though we refuse to see.
Dust in the wind; All we are is dust in the wind…
But we are dust God wants to love into eternity!
If the Holy Spirit is nudging you today, I pray, follow Him.