Basic virtues like compassion, forgiveness, prayer, understanding, loyalty, and loving affection, make the difference between heaven and hell, the difference between life and death. The prophet Jeremiah clearly expressed this on God’s behalf to our ancestors in the faith: “Only if you reform your ways and your deeds, if you deal justly with your neighbor, if you no longer oppress the resident alien, the orphan, and the widow, and if you no longer shed innocent blood, or follow strange gods to your own harm will I, your God, remain with you.” (7, 5-7)
The Lord blesses us so that we might seek virtue, but how often do we prefer to grumble and complain about how hard the truly virtuous life is? How often do we focus on what we do not have or on what is wrong in our lives or the lives of others?
An important Lenten lesson is this: how much we need to keep praying for the gift to see as Jesus sees. He saw the working of God in creation, in the sower of seeds, in the vineyard, in the flowers of the fields, and in birds of the air. He saw God’s presence in those whom many people had written off. He even saw the glory of God awaiting Him in His dying and rising at the end of His earthly journey. He teaches us to see with His generous and hopeful eyes. And, seeing in such a way, the truly virtuous life begins to unfold in us, for us, and through us.
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“Escuchen mi voz,” dice Dios por medio de su profeta Jeremías (7, 5-7), Y, después, se queja de que el pueblo de Dios no quiere escuchar. Se escuchan a sí mismos y siguen sus propios caminos. Sus obras no hablan el lenguaje de Dios. En una palabra: no siguen a Dios.
La Cuaresma nos está enseñando que debemos dar gracias a Dios de que nos haya hecho su pueblo. Y hagamos lo mejor que podamos para vivir como pueblo querido de Dios.
Oremos. “Señor Dios, tú nos pides no tanto que observemos ciertas prácticas, sino que nuestros corazones estén vueltos a ti. Queremos hacer en todo tu voluntad, fielmente y con generosidad como lo hizo tu Hijo, quien cumplió tu voluntad porque te amaba y que por eso vive contigo por los siglos de los siglos. Amén.”
