Look up and see
The poet says: "horror and there is no end to horror, crime and no end to crime". The poet probably watched TV too often (it is like us). And, in turn, he looked too rarely into the Gospel (like us?).
Two sentences from the Gospel of St. John “Look up and see the fields ripe for theharvest. The reaper is already receiving his payment and gathering crops for eternal life “(cf. Jn 4:35-36) perfectly illustrate the purpose of Lent: Look Up! Let your heavy heads turn to the light, see something more!
Christ heals hardness of heart. He heals usfrom looking at the world through the eyes of routines that we have become so used to life that only violence and other people's tragedies makes us look more closely over and over again. But such impulses work for a brief time and do not give much, routines makes uslower our heads and our world ends abruptly at the tip of our noses.
The history of humankind is not only a story about the brutalities of nations and thedomination of some over others. The Human Day is not a soap opera, with more or less effective twisted actions. Both the entire history of humankind and today: it is the growth of theKingdom of Heaven.
Lent, through prayer, alms, mortification - makes us sensitive to human beauty and good. Lent realizes where it all comes from: from God, who, as St. Ignatius of Loyola said, "works and works for me in all things created." And even more - Lent allows us to see "how all good and gifts come down from above, just as rays come out of the sun."
It is good to see the world, sometimes crazy world, as harvester work on it, harvesting its crops for eternal life. All of this is happening in the rays of God's grace. And you will be surprised when it turns out that we too are reaping the fruits of salvation from this earth.
Until Tomorrow
fr. george