But I, with shouts of graceful praise, will sacrifice to you.

What I have vowed will make good.

I will say, "Salvation comes from the Lord."

Jonah 2:10

The month of February this year is very important to Christians worldwide. Feb. 20th marks the first day of the great Lent that lasts 50 days. In addition, for us Marthomites, the week-long 117th Maramon convention begins on Sunday, Feb. 12th and the theme is "Arise let us go forward." This is a great time for us to reflect back on our lives and turn back to God.

We all know the story of Jonah. He was asked to go to Nineveh to preach against it, because of its wickedness. Instead of obeying God, Jonah fled to Tarshish. He was thrown overboard the ship, was swallowed by a huge fish where he stayed in distress for three days and three nights. We read that the fish vomited Jonah on to the dry land, and for a second time, the word of the Lord came to Jonah to go to Nineveh, despite his disobedience. We later read that the people of Nineveh turned to God, and He spared them from perishing. Jonah was angry at God for being compassionate and not destroying the city, not thinking the fact that he himself was given a second chance. We understand that we have a compassionate God who forgives our sins and inequities when we reconcile and repent.

In recent times, we have experienced many challenges within our parish. This Lent period each one of us should take a deliberate effort to reflect back on the series of events that took place. You will come to a realization of where you stand. Are you a sole standing for peace and reconciliation? Upon self-examination, if God reveals that you have acted in ways that broke the peace and sanctity of our worship place, would you genuinely repent and ask for God’s forgiveness?

Getting ready for Lent involves some thinking, praying and setting the stage for the changes that we hope to introduce into our lives in the weeks ahead. Lent does not merely mean giving up one of your favorite food items. Lent is a season of being invited by God in a deeply personal way. "Come back to me, with all of your heart," our Lord beckons. "We will," we respond, but we aren’t quite ready yet, our hearts are not prepared. We want to squirm, evade, and avoid. Our souls not yet perfect, we are not ready for God to love us.

Yes, of course we want to have a deeper relationship with God, we tell ourselves earnestly. And we will….Soon. God calls to us again: Come back to me, with all of your heart.

Ok, ok, I really will, just a few more things to do at work. Let me spend a little more time in prayer first. Let me get to reconciliation. Let me clean my oven, tidy my closets. Check a field I have purchased, and so on…

Come back to me, with all of your heart.

It is an extraordinary invitation to each one of us. To me, in a personal, individual way. God invites me to drop the defenses that I hold up between myself and God. All God wants is for me to realize that my standards, my way of judging and loving are so very different from God’s way, and so much smaller. God offers an entire Lent season, an entire lifetime, of loving me unconditionally, no matter what I have done or how much I think I have hidden from God.

"A clean heart create for me, O God," Psalm 51 offers. "Give me back the joy of your salvation." That is exactly what our loving God wants to give us, the joy of salvation. God is the parent of the Prodigal Child, waiting faithfully, eagerly on the road for our return, night after night. There are no folded arms and stern judging stares, only the straining eyes of a parent eager for our return, longing to embrace us and rejoice in us.

Our acceptance of this call, this appeal to our hearts is simple if we can only get beyond the fear. All we have to do is say to our Lord, "I'm here. Where do I start? Yes, I want to be with you." Our hearts have been opened and we have taken the first step toward the rejoicing father. No explanations are necessary, only to pause and picture in our hearts the joyfully loving and unblinking gaze of God that falls on us.

What's the next step on our journey home? We could take the earliest moments of our day, before we have gotten out of bed to thank God for such a loving invitation and ask for help in opening our hearts to it. We could remember throughout the day the invitation that has moved our hearts: Come back to me, with all of your heart. And we can rejoice along with God.

That is the invitation of each day of Lent. Today is the day to accept it. Lent offers us all a very special opportunity to grow in our relationship with God and to deepen our commitment to a way of life, rooted in our baptism. In our busy world, Lent provides us with an opportunity to reflect upon our patterns, to pray more deeply, experience sorrow for what we've done and failed to do, and to be generous to those in need.

May Our Lord grant us all the graces we need and desire.