These days you can’t call any large company without having to go through a lot of automated questions that you either have to answer by voice or push a number on the phone, which just leads to another set of questions and finger exercises (in more ways than one!) If you’re lucky, you may even get an answer from someone before you forget why you called. And even then, you can consider yourself fortunate if your issue is addressed promptly and effectively.
Unlike the large companies, Heaven is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and the phone lines are open, and you don't even need a phone! It’s called prayer; earnest, heart-felt prayer. Confident prayer. Short prayers. Long prayers. Formal prayers. Loud prayers. Quiet prayers.
God takes all calls immediately and simultaneously. And whether you’re calling to thank Him or ask Him for a favor or even complain about something, He will take all the time in the world—at least as far as we who are in time are concerned—to handle your call personally.
If for some reason you feel your issue isn’t worthy of God’s personal immediate attention, or you don’t want to “bother” Him with it, He also has experts standing by. These are the patron saints, who have certain experiences or traits that make them uniquely qualified to understand your specific plight and implore our Lord to help you out. You can leave a message with one of them and have confidence that Jesus will get it. His Blessed mother is your best bet. She has never failed to take one of my requests to her Son.
Those who don’t believe in prayer might say that with our instant communications these days through cell phone technologies, IM, Facebook, Twitter, and whatever else is out there, we have become so independent we don’t need God. Believe it or not, God knows what you need before you do! He just wants you to ask! What can be simpler than that?
We’re three days into Lent and the Church reminds us that it’s a time to grow closer to God. A time to reflect on how we are building up the Kingdom of God. Keeping the Sabbath and helping others in a time of need. Isaiah reminds us of the spiritual gifts that are given to us when we do good things for others and when our mind and heart are focused on God (Isaiah 58:9-14).
In the Gospel Jesus calls Levi, a tax collector, to follow Him. The next line is, “And leaving everything behind, he got up and followed him” (Luke 5:27–32). What is unsaid in the Gospel is that he must have walked away from all the money that he was collecting at the customs post. I wonder how long that stayed on the table before people started grabbing the money? He was probably not popular with the Roman authority over this and the scriptures never mention that the authorities came after him. One would think Levi would be afraid to do such a thing. When Jesus called Levi it had to be a powerful spiritual experience for him to be moved to just leave everything behind.
Maybe that is what this extra day is about. Leaving the ordinary Saturday tasks for something extraordinary. Taking time for quiet reflection. Listening to music and taking time to just be. To enjoy the “extra” day as a gift to be explored rather than filling it up. I see Lent as a time to allow myself more experiences of just being. To read the Sunday readings and ponder them. To not turn on the television, filling the house with useless noise and instead, spending time in silence and praying.
May you enjoy your extra day and discover what extraordinary experiences await you. Happy Lent!
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