Change is Good !
We’ve all heard the saying Change is good, right? Without change throughout history, we would still be living in caves and dying before we were 25. We wouldn’t have our modern medicine or good roads or our various means of transportation or any of our modern conveniences.
What we have experienced and learned from the past is extremely important because it’s a part of who we are—a part of us. Without it, we wouldn’t be who we are today—sort of like a ship without a rudder—just floating along waiting for the next thing to happen to us. So, it’s great to remember the past and learn from it but it’s not OK to live and linger in the past without looking forward.
Many of us may remember Latin Masses with the Gregorian chant as the music and receiving Communion only on the tongue and only from a priest as we knelt at the altar rail. We might remember religious sisters wearing those stately habits who lined us up and took us from the school to the church where there long lines for Confession every Friday afternoon. Nothing is wrong remembering these things, since it is part of who we are. What would be wrong is if we linger in and try to relive those times again, without looking forward in hope. We can’t turn back the clock. We might wish it were so, but it just can’t be done.
There’s a song by Bruce Springsteen named “Glory Days”. It’s very sad song because it’s about some people who come together frequently and all they do is talk about the past—how pretty or handsome they were, what a good athlete they were, how they were going to “be somebody” someday. But, somehow, all of the potential that they had, just turned into empty dreams.
Some of us, I think, tend to do the same thing at times, don’t we? If we linger and fret over the challenging things that happen to us in life or whatever our situation is, we sometimes feel diminished—less worthy. It’s natural to try to relive our glory days. But as we all know it can’t be done. We can remember those times as part of our past but we have to move on with life. So in this sense Change is good.
Jesus tells us that our true glory days are ahead of us. Those glory days are the ones that we’ll be spending with Him in eternity in heaven. Any glory here on Earth is only a foreshadowing, a small foretaste of what’s to come. We can’t let earthly prestige or power rule our days. So, we can’t fix our eyes on a dead past. We should rather fix them only on our living and loving Lord. We can reminisce about the past, but we can’t live there. Jesus has an abundance of what is good for us in store for us in the future. In fact, the best is yet to come.
Something else for those who live in the past to consider is that sometimes we tend to be unable to accept God’s forgiveness of our sins. Those who live in the past, still wallow in guilt; tormented by past offenses. Those who live in the past are constantly worried about what is to come and are unable to make peace with their human frailties. God certainly didn’t die a horrible death on the cross for us to live in constant worry ! We need to trust in his forgiveness and in his love by coming to the Sacrament of Reconciliation often.
So often, we take this sacrament of God’s forgiveness for granted, don’t we? If we were fully aware of the depth of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, we might ask ourselves exactly what have we done to deserve this forgiveness. In actuality, there is absolutely nothing that we can do to “make up” for our sins. Only Jesus was able to pay the price of sin and He did that once and for all by dying on the Cross. No, God’s forgiveness is free—absolutely and completely free. But, it’s certainly not cheap. It cost Jesus His life. That’s why this sacrament is so necessary and so valuable. Jesus offers us this costly but free gift of forgiveness out of love—not our love for Him, which is weak, intermittent and sometimes fickle. No, the source of our forgiveness is God’s love for us, which is total, complete and eternal. How fortunate we are to be able to just turn every one of our sins and every one of our inner demons over to God and be free of our fears and worries. God’s love persists through all our infidelities and weaknesses. So, let us not fix our eyes on yesterday’s sins. Rather let us fix our eyes on today’s forgiveness and tomorrow’s hope.
A story comes to mind about 2 monks. One day many years ago, two monks were walking together down a muddy road. The rain was still coming down and there were potholes everywhere. As they were coming around the bend in the road, they met up with a beautiful young woman dressed in a lovely long silk kimono. She wasn’t able to get across the road without lifting up her kimono. By tradition this was forbidden for her to do. So, the elder monk picked her up and carried her across the intersection. After he placed her down at her destination they parted ways without a word. The second monk didn’t say word until later that evening, when they had reached the monastery. Then he couldn’t restrain himself any more and asked the elder monk, “We monks don’t go near women, especially young and beautiful ones. It’s dangerous. Why did you do that”? The elder monk answered, “I left the girl back on the road. Why are you still carrying her”?
On Ash Wednesday we heard these words as the ashes were being placed on our foreheads, “Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel.
Are we turning away from our past sins? Are we letting go and moving forward ? Lent is a great time to do just that, isn’t it? If you’re still looking for something to give up—some sort of self-denial—give up living in the past. Let Jesus embrace you with His ever-present love— a love that is ever present because He can’t ever take His eyes off of us.
Have a happy and prayerful Lent !
Deacon Ed