Even now, says the LORD,
return to me with your whole heart,
with fasting, and weeping, and mourning;
Rend your hearts, not your garments,
and return to the LORD, your God.
For gracious and merciful is he,
slow to anger, rich in kindness,
and relenting in punishment.
Who or what is God? How do we define Him? How do we get our minds around a being who is not a being, a power that is not power, a magnificence that is not magnificence.
What I mean is this, how can mere words explain something that is completely foreign and other to us.
Theologians have tried to explain and define God. They have tackled the problems of God —“ putting God on the analyst’s couch. If you were to delve into theologian’s explanations for God you would be just as confounded as if you were to delve into theoretical mathematics.
The point is that God can only be approached through faith. Study is important, but it will not answer the essential questions of: Who is God and who am I in relation to Him?
What we can know of God is in His self revelation, through scripture, through the revelation of His Son, and through His legacy —“ the Holy Church.
gracious and merciful is he,
slow to anger, rich in kindness,
and relenting in punishment.
John makes it even simpler:
God is love.
That is what we must preach.
Brothers and sisters,
Tonight we enter into Lent. We enter into a special time, a time of travel into the depths of our own lives, a time of reflection, and a time to pass through the curtain —“ deep into the mystery of God.
We cannot enter into this mystery through analysis, of God, or of ourselves, but only through total commitment in love.
That commitment means making love our own, making the cross our own.
Bishop Hodur quoted from The Realm of God, a book by L.E. Bennet, in a speech he gave:
The Kingdom of God comes not with observation; it does not promise to renew the earth in a day; silently but deeply it enters the souls of men; in a still moment when all the world is hushed, in a quiet atmosphere of a church, in the devoted life of the confessors of the religion of Christ
Passing into the mystery of God is passing into the mystery of true and pure love, love that gives us the life we have always desired, but cannot reach on our own. It is the silent and deep entry of God into us because He desires it and because we accept and allow it. We become enveloped in the mystery of love which drives out all else, perfecting our lives.
What does this love drive out?
It drives out hopelessness because:
Brothers and sisters:
We are ambassadors for Christ
We bear Christ to the world by our accepted name —“ Christian – and through that name we drive out hopelessness.
It drives out darkness because we see the only light that matters.
Do financial problems, marital problems, business problems, or interpersonal squabbles matter? Do personal opinions as to who should do this and who should do that count for anything? Does our rendering of judgment on others make one iota of difference in getting us deeper into the mystery of God?
No, because all else is driven out by love.
Take the ashes you are to receive and ponder them. Does anything else matter if we are joined in love to Christ —“ and His body among whom we sit. All that matters is that we act together in accord, in love, not counting the cost, not counting the sacrifice.
And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.
And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you.
