Family. That one word is perhaps the simplest way to get our heads around why God created us. He created us to be His family, His sons and daughters, brothers and sisters all. Given that, in these initial weeks of Lent, perhaps it might especially be worth asking the Father to help us better see both ourselves and all those we encounter as He does. There are no unimportant people to God. There is no one our Father doesn’t want to know His reckless love. There is no one who is not supposed to be here. There is no one for whom God did not become a man, go to the cross, and do battle against our ancient foe. There is no one I will meet today who is not my brother or sister and His son or daughter. No one. I, for one, can easily forget that. 

How might we best enter into this season of grace, especially the first half, which is something like an extended examination of conscience, before we start to focus on preparing for the celebration of Jesus’ triumphal Passion, Death and Resurrection?

A mentor of mine used to compare the Christian life to walking up a down escalator. What happens if you stop walking? You go down. As we prepare for the great season of Lent, now just a week away, let’s ask the Lord what we should focus on, not only so that we can grow in wisdom, but so as to better remain vigilant and keep walking.

In the meantime, however, it is the task of His disciples to get about the work of being both working models of this restoration and active agents in Jesus’ hands, animated by the power of the Holy Spirit. In other words, much as we don’t think this way very often today, the proclamation of “the mystery of God” had a most definite political dimension to it. Jesus, Paul teaches and preaches in various ways, didn’t rescue us from the world but for the world.