Turning to God

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary support the day for Christians to begin the discipline of Lent in preparation for the celebration of Easter. The Prophet Joel speaks of the call of God to people to return. The verb used in Hebrew means to turn around and to change direction. The context of the writings of Joel is a time of disaster in Jerusalem when the population is attacked by locusts. In the difficult times, we too often are turned away from God. The steadfast love of God is proclaimed by Joel. It is affirmed by Psalm 51 through which we reflect on the serious transgressions which even the great and blessed like King David experience as personal pride, power and passion for pleasure overtake us and move us away from our intimacy with the Divine. We join David in the prayer for renewal and we understand that our restoration to life will be the attraction we present to others who seek reconciliation with God. Paul exhorts the Corinthians and us to know that now is the acceptable time. Our tendency is to plan to take on those changes and seek that forgiveness sometime soon. The traditional steps toward restoration of prayer, fasting and almsgiving are presented in the Gospel of Matthew as quiet rather than public opportunities. The great bluster which we sometimes think will cement our resolve to change direction is not as effective as the quiet steps which are known only to ourselves and God. Our return is personal. We can move towards God as we see His Presence in those to whom we give time, treasure and talent as we remove some of the distractions from our life and pause to look inward for the changed heart sought by Joel, David and Paul.