“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:19-20

It wasn’t exactly strange but definitely unusual in these strange times. Our Sunday afternoons are spent reading the gospel of Matthew together with Felipe in a “park”. This “park” is really a highway which is closed on the weekends and the residents of this city treat it like a “park” even without the trees, benches and anything that actual parks possess. We are a people desperate for any space to walk and just hang out in small groups without violating the restrictions. This is where our tiny church meets to study the Bible and pray. There is always a large movement of people in this place and strangely, we never ran into our friends for the past year. However, on Sunday, we ran into two friends on two different occasions. One in particular had expressed a keen interest in participating in our little church. However, the pandemic got in the way of her plans. It was nice to finally introduce her to Felipe. Surprisingly, he did not seem to be awkward or reserved like most of our homeless youth when they meet someone outside their circle. It shows how much he has grown over the past year. For a moment, I had a glimpse of all our friends from different worlds coming together to share a meal in our home. It is going to happen one day.

Our friend wanted to see us the next day. We met outside in an open space not far from our home. She was overjoyed to see us. It has been a year since she talked and laughed with her friends.
She works in the medical profession and everyone around her is going through a stressful time. After work, they just want to go home. They don’t have an outlet to share and talk with anyone. It has been a lonely and depressing year for her. Our conversations zigzagged around countless topics and then finally rested on the subject of Lent. Our friend is an agnostic. She was brought up in a pentecostal church and spent much of her youth actively involved in its religious programs. When she started working in Jewish social center for people who have suffered trauma, she saw that things which she was taught in church did not match up with the reality she faced. She found herself slowly drifting away from her faith. However, she never ceased to be interested in God nor religion. In fact, our conversations often times ended up on the subject of God.

Even though this is a predominantly Catholic society, our friend never heard about Lent until recently. She is not the only one. Most people here think that Ash Wednesday is the end of Carnaval and not the beginning of the Lent. The Protestant churches consider everything Catholic suspicious. They avoid adopting any of its traditions. Her Catholic friends were quite disappointing too. They told her that Lent was about giving up alcohol or chocolates. In many places, people talk about Lent in this way. It is an impoverished idea of a great tradition. Fortunately, our friend sensed that there was something more to it. She asked us about it. For her, the idea of having a special time or period consecrated for something specific was appealing. She wanted to know the purpose of this special season.

The Bible has many examples of periods of fasting. However, it is never about giving up food. God does not delight in depriving us of our natural sustenance. On the hand, we spend a great deal of our time on food; preparing, thinking about it, organizing our day around our meals. Fasting does free up our time. Lent is about consecrating our time to reflect.

We begin Lent with the story of Jesus going into the wilderness. Before this, He was a carpenter; His time and energy and identity were contained in this role. In the wilderness, He was free from everything. He had time to reorganize His priorities. He needed time to change His mindset from being a carpenter to someone whom God had called Him to be. We need forty days every year remind ourselves of our vocation.

Every year is different. Therefore, we cannot apply what we did in the previous years to this year. We have a Pandemic. It is not going to end soon. In fact, in many ways it can help us go beyond our superficial Lenten practices. The situation has deprived us of many of favorite activities. Most of us have given up way more than chocolates this year. Many have lost friends and families. I have lost some friends this year and never had the chance to say goodbye to them. Many are isolated and lonely. Many are afraid with no one to console them. The political situation is moving from bad to worse. No one can say that things are getting better, even with the vaccine around the corner for some. We are living in the wilderness. When Jesus came out of the wilderness, He became a healer. Remembering the story of His temptation, Jesus was given the choice. He could have walked the way of the devil. The devil’s arguments were reasonable. Jesus listened to the voice of the Holy Spirit.

During the past year, names of many came popping up. Some of them are our homeless youth that we haven’t seen for more than a year. There were many that were once dear friends who left a distinctive mark in my life but unfortunately time and space have kept us apart for many years. I often wondered if they were fine or how they were dealing with this time. It never occurred to me that perhaps they were brought to my memory because the Holy Spirit wants to use me as an instrumental of healing. Maybe they can bring healing to my soul too. This Lent I am going to listen to these gentle promptings of the Holy Spirit. Many times I have disregarded them, considering them to be fleeting thoughts because I was busy with my life here. I was very concerned about the state of the world. I was disturbed by the political situation. I was occupied with things that I was powerless to change. Thankfully, Lent is here. I am given the chance to reorganize my priorities. For Jesus, healing and restoring souls was His priority. Lent is about following in the footsteps of our Lord.

We were able to spend just an hour with our friend, mostly because it was getting dark and she had a long bus journey home. It was a short time after a year of absence. However, there was a sense of healing in our souls. Our meeting with our friend has made me realize that our simple and genuine contact with another human being brings so much joy to our souls. It doesn’t take much to bring joy into someone’s life. All we need to do is to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit who brings names of people to our attention. People who might feel forgotten but a simple note or a phone call might bring them the joy and healing they need. I haven’t paid attention to the Holy Spirit. Lent is giving me a chance now. I am going to start looking for the people whose names pop up in my my mind. Maybe we will never restore the friendship we once had. However, this is not the priority. It is just important for them to know that their lives have left a permanent mark in our souls. The love which they shared with us has an eternal place in our hearts. Knowing this in a time where uncertainty reigns helps us to anchor ourselves in what is the most important treasure in this world.