Reflection

While in Perth with students last year at the Australian Catholic Youth Festival, we heard on a number of occasions a song from Fr Rob Galea that became stuck in our minds. The song is inspired by the famous parable of the Prodigal Son and the words ‘I’m coming back, I’m coming back, I’m coming back, the Father’s arms are open, they’re open wide’ were words we repeated many, many times during the Festival with great joy.

The Church has recently begun the journey towards Easter, the Cross and the Resurrection with the season of Lent. The Church in her great wisdom, gives us this season to prepare us to hear and celebrate this great and central Feast. This season of Lent is our time to reflect a little on where we are in relation to God and to come closer and if we have drifted, to come back to our Heavenly Father who waits with open arms and, in fact, is looking for us and wants to run and embrace us. No matter what we have done, no matter how far from God or unworthy we may feel, the arms of the Father are open ready to embrace us. On Ash Wednesday we heard the Reading from Joel 2:2, where the Lord calls to all of us, ‘Come back to me, with all your heart’. In different ways we all need to come back, as none of us live in perfect unity with God.

The Church offers us three actions during Lent to help us come back to God and to help us in our relationship with God, as well as helping us to grow in relationship with ourselves and our neighbours – who of course is everyone. Prayer, Fasting and Almsgiving are these three actions: -

Prayer - turning our heart and mind to God and spending time with God.
Fasting - acts of self-denial as an act of love for God, an act of penance and offering something to God and placing God as number one in our lives.
Almsgiving - an act of love towards others and their needs, which can be giving to the poor, but also acts of charity to the lonely and suffering in our family and neighbourhood are also great to do in Lent.

As Lent started the second Reading says in 2 Corinthians 6:2, ‘Now is the favourable time, this is the day of your salvation’. Now is the time to grow, now is the time to come back to God, and the Church offers us three concrete ways to do it. Let us embrace this invitation. If we have not already, let us embrace this season of grace, turn our lives around in the areas that need change, make little decisions in the three areas of prayer, fasting and almsgiving, so we can change our hearts, come closer to God, grow in faith, love and joy and be able to in a deeper way celebrate and live the Resurrection of Jesus in our daily life. If we have drifted a little (as we all do at times) ‘the Fathers arms are open, wide’ and they are waiting for us. It is time to come back home.

Holy Family of Nazareth – Be our inspiration and our guide

Jesus of Nazareth – Help us to grow in faith, wisdom and knowledge.