Last weekend, the movie, Les Miserables, based on the novel by Victor Hugo, was showing at the Clyde Theater. I didn’t see it, but years ago, I did see the play and I was moved by its drama, which, like today’s readings, deals with new beginnings.
Jean Valjean was imprisoned for stealing a small loaf of bread to feed his niece. Paroled after 20 years of hard labor and brutal treatment, he is a bitter and broken man. He is desperate for work but no one would hire him. Cold and hungry, he is taken in by a kind bishop. That night, Valjean steals the bishop’s silver plate, but soon he is arrested. The police bring him to the bishop’s home and ask the bishop to identify the thief and his silver. Indeed, it is his silver, the bishop says but then he explains that he gave Valjean the silver. He thanks the police for bringing Valjean to him because he was concerned that his guest had forgotten to take the silver candlesticks as well.
Valjean is stunned by the bishop’s extraordinary kindness and forgiveness. The bishop only asks that Valjean use the silver to recreate his life and return God’s goodness to others. “God has raised you out of darkness,” the bishop tells him, “I have bought your soul for God.” It is a moment of transformation for Valjean, who rediscovers within himself the love and mercy that led him to steal bread for his hungry niece. As he turns the cache of silver into a fortune that will benefit many, Valjean comes to realize that to love another person is to see the face of God.
Today’s readings talk about three men who also saw the face of God in unexpected ways. We think of Isaiah, Paul, and Peter as saints yet none of them saw themselves as being worthy enough to be in the sight of God.
Isaiah cries out, “Woe to me, I am doomed! For I am a man of unclean lips.” Paul can never forget that drunk with pride and self-righteousness, he did the work of the devil instead of God before his encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus. This prompts him to confess, “I am the least of the apostles; not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God, I am what I am.” Then, Peter, who pleaded with Jesus, “Leave me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.”
But their pleas fell on deaf ears. God did not leave them nor punish them. To the contrary, God overlooked their claims of inadequacy, unworthiness, and sinfulness. You may have heard the line, “God doesn’t create junk.” A person’s worthiness is not an issue for God. Understanding that, Isaiah, Paul, and Peter ventured forth to discover and celebrate the presence of God in their lives. With grace, humility, and trust, they helped numerous others to realize God’s presence in their lives as well.
A diplomat once said, “If you want to get across an idea, wrap it around a person.” God did, and sent his son, Jesus, to get the notion across to us that we are unconditionally loved and that no matter what we think of ourselves, God sees the same potential in us to be people of holiness that he saw in Isaiah, Paul, and Peter, and dares us to likewise celebrate with others the presence of God in our lives by what we say and do.
Recall Jean Valjean. He realizes the ember of God’s goodness that has continued to burn within him despite the brutality and cruelty of his two decades in prison. That same touch of divinity exists within each one of us as well. God is present within us, animating us to do good and holy things; guiding our steps as we try to walk justly and humbly in the ways of God; enlightening our vision with wisdom and selflessness to bring the justice and mercy of God into our world.
At the start of our liturgy, we sang, “Here I am Lord,” in response to his question, “Whom shall I send?” Then we promised, “I will go, Lord, if you lead me.” God meets us where we are to lead us in ways we may not yet have considered.
Just as God believed in Isaiah, Paul, and Peter; God believes in you and me. Instead of focusing on our limitations, God is interested in our potential, urging us to concentrate on his love, mercy, and grace working in us and through us to build his kingdom in our midst. Together, we can make a difference.
Lent begins in a few days. Have you given much thought to this season beyond the notion of giving up a favorite indulgence, such as alcohol or candy? How willing are you to give up something that allows you to be more present to God? Some options I invite you to consider include: turning off the TV to read scripture or a spiritual classic, getting up a bit earlier to attend daily Mass, cutting back on unnecessary shopping and giving the money saved to a charity to help the less fortunate, shutting off the computer to write a letter to a friend in a distant place, inviting a neighbor to have a cup of coffee or share a meal, bringing joy to someone who is ill or homebound with a phone call or a visit; these are just a few of the ways in which God could send you so that you can hold God’s people in your heart.
Some people use their sins and/or weaknesses as an excuse for not even trying to be more present to God. Using them as crutches, they give into both cowardice and laziness, which Thomas Merton notes, “are the two greatest enemies of the spiritual life.” If we kept our focus on our inabilities and shortcomings, the work of God would never be accomplished.
Lent provides us with a time to step out of the ordinary and be filled with grace, just as Isaiah, Paul, and Peter were, to be purged of our sense of sinfulness through reconciliation and discover the inner freedom that allows us to truly say, “Here I am, Lord, send me!”