The
Face of
Mercy / Daniel Conway
Lent invites us to open our hearts, see God’s gifts
We’re used to thinking of Lent as a time of prayer, fasting and almsgiving, and that’s certainly true. But Pope Francis challenges us to think differently about the season of Lent, to view it from the perspective of the Easter mystery. He wants us to use this time to grow in our appreciation for the gifts we have received from God—especially the gift of one another, our sisters and brothers in Christ.
The pope’s 2017 Lenten message features a meditation on the Gospel story of Lazarus and the rich man. Here is how Pope Francis begins his reflection:
“The parable begins by presenting its two main characters. The poor man is described in greater detail: he is wretched and lacks the strength even to stand. Lying before the door of the rich man, he fed on the crumbs falling from his table. His body is full of sores, and dogs come to lick his wounds [Lk 16:20–21]. The picture is one of great misery; it portrays a man disgraced and pitiful.
“The scene is even more dramatic if we consider that the poor man is called Lazarus: a name full of promise, which literally means ‘God helps.’ This character is not anonymous. His features are clearly delineated, and he appears as an individual with his own story. While practically invisible to the rich man, we see and know him as someone familiar. He becomes a face, and as such, a gift, a priceless treasure, a human being whom God loves and cares for, despite his concrete condition as an outcast.”
As long as the rich man refuses to see Lazarus, he cannot acknowledge, let alone appreciate, the “priceless treasure” that this man is “despite his concrete condition as an outcast.”
Spiritual blindness is an image that Pope Francis has used frequently in his homilies and talks. “For those corrupted by love of riches, nothing exists beyond their own ego,” the pope teaches. “Those around them do not come into their line of sight. The result of attachment to money is a sort of blindness. The rich man does not see the poor man who is starving, hurting, lying at his door.”
What is the cure for this kind of blindness? Christian tradition says it requires conversion, a change of heart. Until we let go of our self-centeredness and the ego, which causes us to focus only on our own needs and desires, we can never really see the treasures that are right before our eyes. Only when we begin anew, opening our hearts to the Word of God, who alone can set us free, will our eyes be opened as well.
According to Pope Francis, the rich man’s real problem, the root of all his ills, is his failure to heed God’s word. “As a result, he no longer loved God and grew to despise his neighbor.” The pope reminds us that “the word of God is alive and powerful, capable of converting hearts and leading them back to God.” When we close our heart to the gift of God’s word, we end up closing our heart to the gift of our brothers and sisters.
This hardness of heart is what prevents us from opening our eyes, and recognizing the gifts that God gives us in the people who are right before our eyes even if we can’t see them! Lazarus means “God helps,” but if we cannot see our neighbor in his or her suffering, we’ll be blind to the help that God offers us.
And so, the Holy Father prays: “May the Holy Spirit lead us on a true journey of conversion, so that we can rediscover the gift of God’s word, be purified of the sin that blinds us, and serve Christ present in our brothers and sisters in need.”
Lent is an ideal time to undertake this “journey of conversion.” By paying careful attention to the word of God, we can open our hearts to the gift of God’s word and to the gift that other people are to us.
“Let us pray for one another,” the pope says, “so that, by sharing in the victory of Christ, we may open our doors to the weak and poor. Then we will be able to experience and share to the full the joy of Easter.”
Let’s make Lent a time to open our hearts and truly see God’s gifts!
(Daniel Conway is a member of The Criterion’s editorial committee.) †