I’m sure all of you have seen movies where a beautiful couple, meant to be together, break-up.

It is unusually heart breaking. We know they should be together. We know that they are destined for each other. The one left behind stands there as the other closes the door behind them, or goes down into the subway, or drives away.

The one left behind —“ almost always the guilty party —“ has a moment to think. Is there still a chance? Can I get him or her back?

If it’s a good movie the person left behind finally acts. They run after the other. They chase them down and in an instant confess their sorrow and undying love.

God said to Noah and to his sons with him:
—See, I am now establishing my covenant with you
and your descendants after you
and with every living creature that was with you:
all the birds, and the various tame and wild animals
that were with you and came out of the ark.

The action of God is a historical reality. The action of God is the historical reality of love. God is the consummate lover.

Throughout the Old Testament, God kept chasing after His people. They were the people who kept running away, the people who took on false lovers and other gods. Unlike the movies where the innocent one leaves, here the guilty parties kept running away. And here comes God, the true lover chasing after the ones who have run away; the ones who are guilty and sinful.

If you were here for Ash Wednesday you heard the prophet Joel telling us what God asks:

Come back to me with all your heart,
Turn to the Lord your God again,
for he is all tenderness and compassion,
slow to anger, rich in graciousness,
and ready to relent.

God made agreements —“ covenants with His people. He gave an eternal promise to Noah. Throughout the Old Testament God’s covenants and actions prepared His people for what was to come. He made covenants with Abraham, Moses, and David. He acted through the judges and prophets. He sang poetry to His people and chastised them when they were unfaithful.

Finally, in the fullness of time, God spoke His Word to us in the incarnation of His Son, Jesus, the Christ. Jesus who came to earth to reveal to us, in an instant, the fullness of God’s love for His people. Jesus, one with the Father and Holy Spirit revealed the fullness of God’s love for us.

St. Peter tells us how this was done:

Beloved:
Christ suffered for sins once,
the righteous for the sake of the unrighteous,
that he might lead you to God.
Put to death in the flesh,
he was brought to life in the Spirit.

Jesus, crucified, who died, was buried and is risen, has shown us the Father. Jesus even told us: —Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.—

So it is today. We have seen Him. We receive Him each week. We see the action of the Holy Spirit in our lives and in His Holy Church. God is still chasing after us.

The miracle is that God created us. An even greater miracle is the fact that no matter how many times we run away, fall, or chase other gods, God calls us back. He comes after us. He sent His only Son into the world to connect us forever.

The Spirit drove Jesus out into the desert,
and he remained in the desert for forty days,
tempted by Satan.
He was among wild beasts,
and the angels ministered to him.

So go into the desert of this Lent. Go back to Christ, you are meant to be together forever.

Remember why He came. Remember what he said:

Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God:
—This is the time of fulfillment.
The kingdom of God is at hand.
Repent, and believe in the gospel.—

My dearest brothers and sisters in Christ, so close to our Lord Jesus in your suffering, listen again to the words of the prophet Isaiah:

There was in him no stately bearing to make us look at him, nor appearance that would attract us to him.
He was spurned and avoided by men, a man of suffering, accustomed to infirmity, One of those from whom men hide their faces, spurned, and we held him in no esteem.

In Jesus there was no outward beauty. There was nothing in Him that would attract followers. He was the antithesis of today’s bright and beautiful. He didn’t fit in with the world of the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Scribes when he walked the earth. So too, He would not fit in with today’s Hollywood elite, glamour models, or jet set.

When we think of Jesus we picture the man portrayed in statues and paintings; strong, beautiful, gentle, and attractive. That’s because we as humans cannot portray Christ’s beauty any other way.

It’s too difficult to portray His beauty for what it is —“ the beauty that comes from union with the Father. The beauty of God. The beauty of truth, justice, compassion, and forgiveness. The beauty that heals not just the outward —“ the body —“ but most importantly heals the soul.

We can see His real beauty when we study the scriptures, especially the Gospels. We can see it when we look at the action of His Holy Church. But alas, some still focus only on what is on the outside.

Listen again to Isaiah:

Yet it was our infirmities that he bore, our sufferings that he endured, he was pierced for our offenses, crushed for our sins, Upon him was the chastisement that makes us whole, by his stripes we were healed.

Ultimately Jesus’ offering of Himself as the sacrifice, the offering of His body and His death upon the cross, is what has healed us.

His death was our salvation and His resurrection is our promise. You and I as Catholic Christians come here to understand Jesus Christ’s true beauty.

My brothers and sisters,

You share in Christ’s suffering and in His beauty. Your suffering in sickness is your joining in the sacrifice of Christ. You are closest to His heart.

Remember when Jesus told the children to come to Him. When He told His disciples not to hinder them, for to such as these belongs the Kingdom of God?

You are those children.

When we are sick are we not like children? We look to our Father in heaven and to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin and the saints. We look to them as we would look to our earthly parents. Daddy, please help me. Father, I am so sad and afraid. Mom, please hold me.

And we ask, please make it alright.

Jesus himself tells us:

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower.
He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and everyone that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit.

The Father sees that you are joined to the Son. He knows that your suffering has borne much fruit. You cannot begin to imagine how many miracles your suffering has achieved.

And the Father continues to prune you, making you sleek and beautiful for the sake of the Kingdom. That is the beauty you share with Christ.

He does not make us outwardly beautiful because the outside is only a faí§ade. He makes us beautiful in our very humanity and in the depths of our heart and soul.

He tells us:

I am the vine, you are the branches.

And so my faithful people you are the branches. And Jesus promises you:

If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you.

So when you come forward, come forward in faith. Offer Him your suffering. Lay it at His feet. Look upon His pierced feet with love, seeing not only the pain of His suffering, but the beauty of God’s truth in that suffering. That, is the truth that saves you.

Amen.