Remembering

[amai heian]

We ought to remember that He hasn't forgotten us.

If not for the calendar, or by memory, or the church's reminders, many people would have forgotten that the Lenten season is approaching. Perhaps a telltale sign is the new dishes being served by many fastfood chains: all seafood, guaranteed no meat. It is usually then that we remember that the time to remember has indeed arrived.

Children usually grumble at the first signs of this season. After all, a day without their favorite foods and their favorite television shows seems unbearable. They see it as an unexciting affair, full of days of pious prayer, "church-hopping", melancholy expressions and quiet afternoons.

Even devout Catholics, once upon a time, may have felt this way too. Perhaps all of us had felt this way--that is, before we began to seriously contemplate the significance of the season, and why we had to be melancholy in the first place. When we read--with understanding now--all that had been written about Christ's passion, His suffering, and why He did it, somehow everything just made sense. Somehow we feel quite ashamed of feasting and celebrating, complaining about the lack of good television shows, or the lack of something much more exciting to do rather than say prayers all day long, prayers that before did not mean anything other than invocations we never fully understood. Somehow we feel ungrateful--who would celebrate at a time when your Savior was suffering? Somehow we feel remorseful, guilty--we who were saved forgot to remember.

This time, let this year's Lent be different. He saved us. He needn't have, considering what we give Him back in return. But He did it in spite of it all, simply because of this mysterious driving force called love. Isn't it time to give Him the love He longs for from us?