Monday of the Second Week in Lent
Daniel addresses the Lord today as “great and awesome God.” We might add the word “lavish.” And the more we share God’s gifts, the more abundant they become.
Jesus concures: “Give and good gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down and overflowing…for the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you” (Luke 6:38).
We can be certain of one thing—with our God there is always more.
Pope Francis' favorite movie is Babette’s Feast, adding that with each viewing it grows richer. A Danish film with English subtitles, it is the most Eucharistic of films (with Sally Field’s Places in the Heart a very close second. To appreciate both they must be seen more than once.)
In Babbete, God is generous beyond measure, despite Babette’s adopted community’s lack of acceptance that
overflowing generosity is precisely what God wants to do. In the end, the formally rigid, even severe Dean of the town says: “The only things we can take with us from this life are those which we have given away.”
We will be graced with mercy to the degree that we show mercy. As a young Jesuit, Pope Francis (Jorge Bergoglio, SJ) rose quickly in leadership within the Order. But he showed himself harsh in dealing with those under his charge. His superiors intervened and assigned him to the “boonies,” where he was forced to confront himself, learning humility and patience. The Holy Father is quick to say that the “demotion” was his greatest gift, where he learned poverty of spirit, encountering the God of mercy. In fact, it has defined his papacy and the Church he leads.
So sometimes what appears to be bleak and forlorn in life, like that which our Holy Father knew as a young Jesuit, may be God’s greatest grace of all.
Babette’s Feast & Places in the Heart are recommended viewing this Lent.