Mending Broken Relationships
Wednesday of the First Week of Lent
My dear encountered couples:
Though we are made in the image and likeness of God, though God is our loving Father and we are his children, there is one thing in particular that can give us trouble - real trouble. Ourselves!
We can be, and often are, the source of our own troubles. When we sin, we are turning our backs on God our Father; we are cutting ourselves off from his care and protection; we are denying ourselves the solution to all our problems. Sin is the choosing of something else in place of God. We might not think about that at the time we sin, but that in essence is what we do. We reject God, his will and his help, we choose something else to be like a god for us. We become like little children who run away from home and separate themselves from the love and care of their parents. They decide to make a go of it by themselves when it is impossible for them to do so.
None of us can make a go of life without God no matter how old we might be. I’m sure you know that. That is why we pray and go to Mass daily or every Sunday.
In our first reading today, we find Jonah preaching to the Nineties to return to God, to come home to God. In our gospel we find Jesus telling his Jewish listeners to do the same. We are all to turn our backs on things we have chosen in place of God and return our hearts fully to our Father. That’s what Lent is all about - a time when we are to mend and deepen our relationship with God. And what is the best way to accomplish that? By for a mending our relationships with one another. That should keep is all busy long time to come. Shall we begin today?
