Sunday, February 21, 2016

Second Sunday of Lent - February 21, 2016

Some years ago my father had cataract surgery on both eyes. His cataracts had grown gradually, so he did not realize just how much of an improvement he would have in his sight. In the weeks following each surgery, he would point out common objects and tell me their color, as well as what color he used to think it was. “That chair is blue,” he would say, “and I always thought it was black.” The only problem was that gave away a nice tan shirt he had been wearing. It was no longer one of his favorite shirts once he realized it was not tan after all. Rather, his shirt was pink.

We sometimes speak of seeing the world “through the eyes of faith.” In other words, we have a different point of view than our secular society because of our faith in Christ. The problem is that “the eyes of faith” can develop spiritual cataracts. We can get so caught up in the day-to-day events of life and all that we have around us that we do not recognize how dull the eyes of faith are becoming. That is one of the benefits of the season of Lent, particularly through our Lenten fast. As I pointed out in this column last week, the Church recommends three pillars to this season – prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Fasting is in some ways the most popular. As I said last week, many of us remember going to school on Ash Wednesday and asking one another, “What are you giving up for Lent.” We would consider Lent successful if we made it through forty days without eating chocolate or watching certain TV shows. The grown-ups around us would go through Lent talking about how much longer until they could again drink a beer or smoke a cigarette. Fasting, then, became the main feature of the season.

I would like to look at fasting as a kind of cataract surgery. By setting aside some of the good things God has given us, we can see God Himself more clearly as the center of all that we do. There is nothing wrong with an occasional piece of candy, for example, but when eating candy becomes a habit, then we forget to see our treats as a gift from God. The candy becomes an end in itself. So we set it aside for forty days, and we are more open to seeing God’s presence. And when we dig into our Easter baskets on Easter Sunday morning, the chocolate we find there will be something we appreciate all the more. Fasting also supports the other two aspects of Lent. If we turn off a certain television show, we find we have time for prayer (which I wrote of last week). If we do not indulge our every desire, then we are more aware of those who do not have so many of life’s blessings, and we are more willing to reach out in almsgiving (as I will write of next week).

The most obvious Lenten fast, of course, is that we do not eat meat on Fridays. (The Church still says that we should continue this or some other penitential practice on Fridays throughout the year.) Friday is the day of the Lord’s crucifixion, so by our Friday penance, we join ourselves to His Passion and come to a deeper appreciation of the love He showed us. So by our Lenten fast, may God remove the spiritual cataracts which build up on the eyes of faith. Then we will be amazed at how much more clearly we can see God’s love in the world around us.              


                                                                                                      Father H