As I was leaving the house for work one morning, I heard the chirp of a Cardinal. I stopped to listen as it brought back memories of Grandma, as it always does. Scanning the trees, I searched intently seeking the source of the call. I found the male cardinal a top the neighbors’ tree, across the street. Its bright red feathers catching the morning sun. As I was thanking God for its splendor and my memories.
The cawing of a crow behind me, began nagging for attention. This distraction grew as I turned to see a flock of dozens of crows coming into view from the South. They circled the tree the Cardinal was in and landed in the tree to the West of me. They were a noisy lot. It was as if they were trying to drown out the Cardinal’s call.
The Cardinal did not flinch nor seem to take much notice of the crows as they passed and he continued his call and I found myself straining to remain focused on the Cardinal’s call.
On my way to work, I pondered the scene. It came to me that God is always calling us, but there are many worldly distractions that dull and even silence His call.
As we enter this season of Lent, I realized that today’s scriptures are a reminder of our Lenten disciplines of fasting, prayer, and alms giving. They also are a reminder of who we are as Catholic Christians.
“We are Ambassadors of Christ, as if God is appealing through us.” (2Cor 5:20) The disciplines are not about waving the Christian flag to suggest we are better than others. It’s not about showing our ashes in public or wearing the symbols for others to see. It’s about being Christ to the world.
It’s about personally practicing the discipline to return to living with God as the center of our ordinary lives. It’s about being reconciled into right relationship with Him who loves us unconditionally, and if we lost our vision, our way, because of cawing crows of worldly distractions—repent, for “now is an acceptable time, now is the day of salvation” (2Cor 6:2) for those who focus intently on hearing God’s call and practice these disciplines well.
God is the lone Cardinal’s call, among the many loud cawing crows.
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