In recent Lenten seasons, I focused on waking up to greater awareness of being loved by God and our mission to be signs of God’s love for my brothers and sisters. But it is not a totally new approach.

Lent as paying attention on a journey

Over the last 30 years, I have been learning to pay attention to the opportunities hidden in the events of my life.

I thought I knew who I was and what being a Vincentian meant when I entered our college seminary, was ordained,  and when I celebrated my 25th anniversary

To be sure, in each of these stages I woke up to many things about my life.

Yet it took a life-threatening car crash, in 1993, ten days in intensive care, and almost a year of recovery to really wake me up. In retrospect, I saw how my life had drifted off course despite being good as a classroom teacher. I began to look more closely at how what was happening in my life fit together into God’s bigger picture made up of the interlocking pieces of our lives.

Looking back I thank God for the “wake up” call to recognize my actions as signs of God’s love

Vincentian heritage of paying attention to what is happening

I now see myself in the long line of Vincent, Louise, and their followers. What unites us all is the change that happened when we paid attention to the bigger picture revealed in the details of their lives.

• Vincent de Paul thought he knew what he wanted from life – security and the ability to care for his parents. Events of Chatillon and Follevile woke him up to the reality of spiritual abandonment and physical misery of those on the margins. The insights of Chatillon and Folleville took him a lifetime to unpack.
• Louise de Marillac had hoped to spend her life in a convent but was refused. Then she thought she might find what she was looking for in her marriage and her children. Finally, she woke up to the needs of the world around her. To her surprise, she became the guide for generous young peasant women who wanted to serve their less fortunate sisters and brothers.
• Frederic Ozanam began using his intellect as a staunch defender of the faith. Then he was challenged by an atheist. Paying attention to the challenge, he accompanied Sr. Rosalie on her rounds. He became the champion of the marginalized of his day.
• Elizabeth Ann Seton had it all – privilege, security, and a loving marriage. She then lost it all but went on to discover the Eucharist. She found so much more and on the way to sanctity, She laid the foundations for the Catholic school system and the Daughters of Charity in the United States.

By paying attention to events they each woke up to how God used the pieces of their lives to shape a picture of God at work in and through the details of their lives.

They each woke up to paying attention to the needs of their brothers and sisters.

Lent – time to pay special attention to what is happening… and not happening

Lent reminds us to step back and look at our priorities and awareness of God’s love for us and how we “pay it forward” in the details of my life.

Lent is waking up to the implications of being called to be a sign of God’s love for my brothers and sisters, especially the least of them and those otherwise outside my circle.

How do the pieces of the puzzles of our lives fit together reveal the image of God’s love today?

Originally posted on Vincentian Mindwalk