A Lenten Thought for Saturday from the Gospel of St. John and Fairy Tales

I'm reading the gospels during Lent in no particular order. I started with Luke and began St. John yesterday. Actually, St. John is always a good gospel to start with since, like any good book, his opening sentence reads, "In the beginning...." That reminds me of fairy tales. You know, "Once upon a time...." Since fairy tales present moral truths in an endearing way, I can readily see them as companions to the gospels, especially when you are teaching moral truths to children.

The kind sister shared her lunch with an old woman in the forest.

Do you remember the story of the two sisters, one kind and good natured, the other nasty and rude. The kind sister meets an old woman in the forest and greets her cheerfully and readily shares her lunch when her companion begs for something. After she returns home, every word she speaks is accompanied by a diamond, sapphire, pearl or other precious gem. (Darned inconvenient if you ask me!) The other sister, greedy and desiring to receive the same riches, goes into the forest, meets the old woman, but is rude and refuses to give her even a scrap of bread. She returns home expecting (How could she?) to receive the same gift as her sister. But when she opens her mouth, what spews out but spiders and beetles and other creepy things. I often use that story with my grandchildren to emphasize the importance of our words being like beautiful jewels rather than loathsome creatures.

But I digress. 

After John's opening chapter he moves on to the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan and describes how John the Baptist points Him out to his disciples as the Lamb of God. Andrew and John go to meet Him and when they ask where he stays, he replies, "Come and see." They spend the day with him and John tells us that the very next thing Andrew does is go to look for Simon and tell him to come and see as well.

Come and See!

What great words for Lent. St. John invites us to "come and see" the Lord in every chapter of his gospel. And his words encourage us to immediately go forth and invite others to "come and see" what a wonderful God we serve!

This Lent, I hope to make my almsgiving more than sending aid to the refugees in the Ukraine or to the Poor Clares and the various apostolates of the pro-life movement. I want to make my almsgiving sharing the Word. What better gift can I give than to invite others to "come and see" the glorious plan the Lord has for each of us. How glorious when we embrace the faith and "taste and see the goodness of the Lord." Is there better almsgiving than that? Once we experience the sweetness of our Eucharistic Lord, how can we not want to share it with others?

Come and See! The banquet of the Lord awaits.