Lent begins, but first, there is Mary's smile at Lourdes

At Lourdes, the Virgin Mary appeared to Bernadette Soubirous eighteen times in 1858. The apparitions began at the start of Lent. A number of times over the many weeks, when Bernadette asked a question or presented the priest's demands, the Mother of God  simply smiled. Heaven smiling on us: not grumbling, not frowning, not tysk-ing, not eye rolling - just smiling.

When I was a young priest I had a gentlemanly pastor who smiled a lot. He smiled at his detractors (every priest has them) and at those who didn't wish him well. I don't know if his smiles were genuine, but if they were forced, then AA would say, "Fake it till you make it." That alone is commendable.

What a neat idea for Lent: to learn from heaven and smile more. Maybe to consciously smile three times each day. At Lourdes, looking upon our complaining, our toxic arguing, our willful ignorance - heaven smiled. We might take the hint.

Spring Peeper

As mentioned in Tuesday's post, Lent is the Church's Springtime. And so from Ash Wednesday until Easter, there'll be a post each day, drawing our attention to  some aspect of Spring, looking to see how it might inform a spiritual life. Spring is the time of close observation, hatching, planting, sprouting, swelling, warming, lengthening, melting, birth-ing. These might sound like Weather Channel words, but all the more they're words with spiritual content.