A Lenten Journey

Forgive them, Father...

In his Lenten sermons of 1622, our wise Founder and Doctor of the Church, St. Francis de Sales, reminds us that God created us in His image and likeness. Therefore, he tells us, we ought to love and honor God’s image in everyone, even our enemies, as God has commanded us. He goes on further by stating, “For really nothing is lovable in us which is of us, since not only does it not enhance this divine image and likeness, but it actually disfigures, defiles, and stains it so that we are scarcely recognizable.” And yesterday’s first Mass Reading (from 2 Kgs 5:1-15) gives us a classic example of how “stained” we can be. Upon receiving a letter from the king of Aram, which expresses clearly the reason Naaman has come to his country, the king of Israel completely misinterprets the letter. Even in the face of the facts ~ Naaman’s arrival with a peaceful retinue ~ the king fabricates his own tale of what’s occurring, ascribing malicious motives to the king of Aram. The text asserts that Naaman is a valiant man who is disfigured exteriorly from his Leprosy, hence, his trip to Israel to be cured. Yet the harsh and false judgment of Israel’s king manifests his own interior disfigurement.

Alas, such is the human condition: we can be so quick to attribute negative or spiteful motives to the behaviors of people with whom we live or work, forgetting that they carry the precious image of God within them. We have all had that happen to us, and we know how painful that can be. After all, how often has anybody ever been correct when they’ve imputed harsh intentions to our actions?

In these last few weeks of Lent, let us work on being more gentle in our thoughts towards one another. Let us ascribe the best interpretation we can on the deeds of those with whom we work and live. And while God has given us the intellect to judge actions, we can never judge a person’s motivations. So if we see an action that is purely evil in and of itself, let us turn to God and utter our Savior’s words on the Cross, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”