Laetare Sunday 2023

Today marks the half-way point of our Lenten Journey. Here is a thought to carry us through these last three weeks before the remembrance of the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus:

The great sculptor Michelangelo once ordered a small block of marble to be delivered to his garden. He set it on a table there and began to chisel and cut, chip and coax the stone. A little child wandered into the garden and asked to stay and watch. Michelangelo said, “Yes, you may, but you will have to be very quiet because I’m thinking special thoughts while I am working.” The child sat down and gazed, fascinated, while Michelangelo did what sculptors do.

Several hours later, the artist, finished with his masterpiece, wiped the dust from his hands, sat down, took the child onto his lap and whispered, “What do you think about this?”

The little boy shook his head slowly, then asked in wonder, “But how did you know there was an angel in there, wanting to get out?”

I suggest that this is a question that filters down the centuries to this very day. I would like to hear it when I come up against someone who strikes me as odd. Or one who riles me because of her rather selfish ways. I want to hear it in me when I find myself waiting impatiently for someone who seems not to care that my time is precious.

It’s hard to be good sometimes. And it’s very hard to be good to someone else who isn’t good to me. But I am trying hard this Lent to be good….

Maybe we both have an angel inside us wanting to get out.

Next time we feel like we just can’t put up with that hard-as-stone person one more minute, recall the question of that little child in Michelangelo’s garden. Maybe there IS an angel inside, wanting to get out. So. let’s just allow the master Sculptor do His Work–in them, and in us.

God bless your Lenten journey.