Lent, as our Bishops rightly said in this year’s Lenten pastoral letter, “is a beautiful period which is necessary for us to stop awhile from our normal routine and reflect on the truth about ourselves”. Self-reflection in the light of the Lord Jesus is pivotal.
Otherwise we risk ending up in stagnant waters. Thus, our Bishops exhorted us that “it is up to us to let God cleanse us from all external forces which distract us from that which is essential”.
A powerful way of letting God cleanse us is by meeting him face to face. Some may argue they are so busy they have no time to pray at all! They even equate prayer with wasting one’s time!
Fortunately, God’s Word teaches us the contrary. The more we are busy the more we need to pray! Take, for instance, the example of Moses. He was an extremely busy man. Nevertheless, the great Jewish leader understood that he could not lead God’s people without meeting Him regularly! So what did he do? Moses had a portable tent erected so that at every point of the exodus he could place the tent outside the camp and frequently entered it to consult with the Lord. The Bible magnificently captures the splendour of such a grace-filled meeting:
“Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend” (Exodus 33:11).
The great Moses teaches us an important lesson: we must re-enter our hearts to meet the One who has created and is continually saving us!
But what does it mean to re-enter into my heart? The restless Saint Augustine of Hippo nicely described it in this way in his Tractates on the Gospel of John.
“Re-enter your heart! Where do you want to go, far from yourself?
Re-enter from your wandering which has led you outside the way; return to the Lord. He is quick. First re-enter into your heart, you who have become a stranger to yourself, because of your wandering outside: you do not know yourself, and seek him who has created you! Return, return to your heart, detach yourself from your body... Re-enter into your heart: there examine him whom you perceived as God, because the image of God is there, Christ dwells in man’s interior” (In Johannis evangelium tractatus, 18, 10).
Saint Augustine’s famous appeal helps us comprehend that to return to our hearts practically means to return to our deepest personality and interiority. Being prisoners of external circumstances causes us great harm simply because it makes us feel bitter. If you are not convinced by what I have shared with you, have a look at what Augustine writes in his Confessions.
“Late have I loved Thee, beauty so ancient and so new, late have I loved Thee! Lo, you were within, but I outside, seeking there for you and upon the shapely things you have made I rushed headlong – I, misshapen. You were with me, but I was not with you. They held me back far from you those things which would have no being were they not in you” (Saint Augustine, Confessions, X, 27).
It is true that, to use Pope VI’s image, the “fever ... of noises and din have invaded almost everything”. It is true that “persons ... are prey to a thousand distractions, they habitually dissipate their energies behind the different forms of modern culture”. It is true that “newspapers, magazines, books [and the social network] invade the intimacy of our homes and of our hearts”. However, our hearts are craving for God.
Saint Anselm of Aosta exhorts us: “Come now, miserable mortal, flee for a brief time from your occupations, leave for a while your tumultuous thoughts. Move away at this moment from your grave anxieties and put aside your exhausting activities. Attend to God and repose in him. Enter into the depth of your soul, exclude everything, except God and what helps you seek him and, having closed the door, say to God: I seek your face. Your face I seek, Lord.”
Why do we not follow this life-giving advice, not just for Lent but also throughout our lives?
Mario Attard OFM Cap
San Gwann