He Sees

…and your Father who sees…Matthew 6:6

Happy Lent!  Welcome to that time of year when we set out with all our hearts to grow in holiness. For me, it’s easy to look at the road to holiness and feel a little overwhelmed because I get so off track.  It’s easy for me to look at lent as a time to “bear down” and do some really hard stuff to show Jesus I’m so thankful for all he did.  My intentions are good but I read something today that was so very simple and so very powerful that it adjusted my thinking in a beautiful way..

One of the prayer books I was reading mentioned that three times in Ash Wednesday’s Gospel it said “The Father Sees.”  Clear back in the book of Genesis he looked around and saw that it was good. How did I miss that?  I’ve heard that Gospel on Ash Wednesday dozens of times and never caught that!   More years that not, I set out to do some crazy long list of stuff in order to “make up” for all my shortcomings the rest of the year.  Lent certainly has a penitential feel and purpose but it’s not a time to lock ourselves in a personal dungeon and be crabby and miserable for 6 weeks.

I think I wanted to do hard stuff so Jesus would see me and notice all the sacrifice and love and suffering.  The author of this little article pointed out so clearly, the Father sees…he sees ALL THE TIME and he sees us with such love and mercy.  It made me think of a chubby cheeked baby and how I just want to kiss their face off when I see one!  I believe the Father looks at us that way every…singe…time!  He’s always looking, he doesn’t miss a thing so that realization changed the way I thought about Lent this year.  The point is not to get the Father’s attention; not to get him to look at me and the hard stuff I’m doing.  The point is to get ME to look at HIM!

One of the things I decided to work on this Lent was speaking patiently.  Sometimes people say silly stuff and it can be tough to resist the eye roll or stare or “Way to go Captain Obvious” attitude.  Today was one of those days when I had many opportunities to practice this Lenten Promise.  It was easier to do today because each time I wanted to react badly, I looked up first and quickly said, “Lord I see you and I will try to be like you.”  The wave of patience that washed over me each time I did that was amazing.

If you’ve ever taken children to the pool, you know how many times they can say “hey watch this” in thirty minutes.  That was the way I did Lent; hey Jesus, look at me I’m not eating chocolate or hey Jesus did you see that I went to an extra daily mass today, wasn’t that good of me, doesn’t that count for extra?  It was almost like a giant score card and Lent was the bonus round!  Now, I realize it’s me watching him.  It sure takes a lot of the pressure off!  My biggest Lenten task is to do the things that help me fix my gaze on him. If I’m looking to him and I know he’s looking at me, that influences my choices and attitudes; that helps me grow in holiness.

A Seed To Plant:  Look at your Lenten list, what things are there that will help you look at Jesus the way he looks at you?​

Blessings on your day!