Present in the Partnership

The texts today from the Roman Catholic Lectionary present the power of our petitions to God to be restored to intimacy with Him. Our experience of distance from God, like that shared in the confession from the Book of Daniel, is an invitation to declare to God our desire to return to righteousness. Friar Jude Winkler reminds us that the forgiveness of God for our transgressions is already for us. The Great Mercy honours our freedom and awaits our request. Our contrition for the periods of turning away from the Divine direction tends to be incomplete and partial. We benefit from the attitude of the psalmist to praise God in the moment for compassion and deliverance and in reflection for the great good He has brought to our lives in the gifts to us and our loved ones. Our deeper understanding of our giftedness brings the proper position of thanksgiving and humility to us. From humility and awe we understand the power of the partnership which God desires with us. In the gift of seeing with His eyes, hearing with His ears and being present with His touch is the power of mercy, forgiveness and generosity for all the human community far beyond our capability on our "best day".  The discipline of Lent opens our consciousness to the Love which exhorts us to "Return to Me".