Being deployed is a sacrifice. I have learned through prior deployments that during the time away from home is where I gain a greater appreciation for the things I generally don’t get here. Lent this season has called me out of the darkness and into the life of the Church.
I downloaded an app onto my iPad called iBreviary a while back and did not really forgotten about it but I certainly did not utilize the program as I should have in the beginning of this tour. I decided that as I was preparing for this deployment, compounded by the personal struggles I was already experiencing with having my single-ness confirmed, that I would be the Sergeant that my soldiers needed. This in my mind was a call to the vulgar and the profane. I allowed pornography back into my life because for many of the men here, it part of their life. As a few blog entries before, I also learned that where sin runs deep, God’s grace is there all the more. But it wasn’t until Lent came along that I opened my heart again once I discovered that a priest would making his residence among us here.
The gift of the sacraments and their accessibility to me made manifest my cause to renew my faith. While in confession, the Lord, through the priest, called me back to the Church’s prayer in the Liturgy of the Hours. I have been making the hours but not as often as I’d like. I try to make sure that at a very minimum I say Night Prayer. I have found that my need for God’s grace and the strength to combat temptation is most needed when I am tired and sleepy. I’ve also remembered my love of the Mass. iBreviary also has the Missal with all the prayers for the Mass. Not only can I read through the daily readings, but I can follow the prayers and make a spiritual communion with the greater Church. Interestingly enough, that brings me to this reflection on today’s readings.
Thematically speaking, the readings today are about God calling. God is calling Abraham to be the father of nations. God the Son is calling the Jews to know him. The Church has long advocated that we must have a friendship with God through the person of Jesus. Jesus is the word by which we live.
The Old Testament reading introduces the concept of friendship with God. However, the Old Testament author chooses much more authoritative wording. The first reading details for us the goodness of God to our father in faith, Abraham. He explains just how greatly will Abraham will be blessed. And then, spoken to Abraham, but also spoken through the fullness of time to us, he says that “you and your descendants after you must keep my covenant throughout the ages.” This is the call to us to continue to remember. We must call to mind that our faith and our friendship with God is not myopic. I have learned quite clearly that I cannot delegate God to a particular time or circumstance in my life. God calls and does not stop being God or let me stop being his child because I am deployed.
The Gospel today entertained me greatly and at the same time called me out. Jesus is speaking to the people and does as he has done throughout his public ministry by stating that belief in him merits eternal life. But he also speaking metaphorically but I will get to that. The first thing I noticed first was that his own people said that he must be possessed. This was interesting because Jesus is speaking and the people make accusations against him because he his words begin to hit close to home. The next thing that stood out to me in this passage is that Jesus does not deviate from his message. He is the way to life and goes to far as to outrightly say that he is God. I imagined that during this scene Jesus makes his great claim and the Jews in the height of their anger all pick up stones. Just as the stones are about to be thrown, Jesus just walks away. The scriptures say he “hid” and then left. I don’t imagine that the temple area lends itself to hiding. I am sure that the evangelist is alluding to a divine act by God to save his son for the appointed hour of his death which redeems us all.
The scriptures call us to friendship with God. Jesus tells us that keeping his word will keep us from seeing death. Temporal death is all but certain for us as our God is a just God. However, we are still brought into eternity and into life through the sacrifice of Jesus. It is this time of Lent where we embrace fasting, prayer and almsgiving. These are the principal actions of the season which encourage us to participate in the life of the Church. These actions also help encourage us to unite our sufferings with the sufferings of Jesus. We cannot save ourselves, but Jesus offers us salvation by having faith in him.
Jesus wants more than to just save us. He desires a friendship with us. No one cares more for our joys and pains, delights and sorrows, than the Lord. All the things of this world can be passed along to him. Our burdens he offers to bear and he offers to share in our joys. He loves us and it is natural to love him back. So naturally, this love begins with friendship.
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