Are you ready? The season of Lent begins at the Ash Wednesday liturgy with a prayer derived from Psalm 51: “Create and make in us new and contrite hearts . . .” The sense of the word is not about a broken heart, but rather, a heart broken open. This is a bidding to God, asking for God’s aid in our own heart’s being broken open to the needs of the world that surrounds us, a world that God so loves. It is also a prayer to retrieve, recover, and redeem what is most important – – – in this case, to be given a like-new heart. Whether we work, or walk, or weep, or wait, God is with us. Many of us need periodic reminders of this truth. Lent can be a great help to retrieve, recover, redeem what is most important to us, yet may have gotten lost along the way. The season of Lent can be very helpful in clearing out debris in our soul’s closet as we prepare for Easter.
March 1, 2017