Tuesday of the First Week of Lent

“And I remember feeling sad, that miracles don't happen still,

But now I can't keep track, 'Cause everything's a miracle”

-Holy Now by Peter Mayer

            Hearing this song this weekend really impacted me and this line in particular stuck out.. Countless times I have heard people ask why there aren’t big miracles or why God doesn’t speak anymore. I used to wonder the same thing. Is God still present or is he the God of all these dead biblical guys?

            My time at Scranton has shown me that such an outlook could not be more wrong. Using our good old Jesuit ideals of seeing God in all things, we can see where God is in our lives and in the world. Perhaps we see Him on a personal level, like in our hearts or with friends, or a community, like our fantastic one. Small everyday things, like a smile or kind word, to something bigger, like a retreat or major change. By seeing God in this way, everything changes. I can appreciate all that happens in my life so much more, knowing that they are a gift from God rather than some cool occurrence.

But how this relates to miracles for me can best be summed up in this quote from Bruce Almighty: “Parting your soup is not a miracle, it’s a magic trick. A single mom who's working two jobs, and still finds time to take her son to soccer practice, that's a miracle.” When we start to see miracles as God’s love present in our lives, instead of big fancy tricks of power we’re really onto something.

This Lent I challenge you to look at your day, week, live and look for love, look for God. There you will find miracles.

* Holy Now: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiypaURysz4

-Lauren G. – Class of 2013

First Week of Lent: Tuesday

In Lent, we all decide that we want to give up something.  I don’t know, I feel like that’s not quite enough. It’s almost as if it isn’t really making much of a difference in our lives, or more importantly, in the lives of others. The gospel reading for today is the story of the goats and the sheep. The sheep were people who did good things for others and the goats were the ones who didn’t. Obviously, everyone would much rather be a sheep, but how do we do that? I guess Lent, for me, is a time of sheep-liness. I give up something, but I keep it personal so that it is something between Me and God.

More importantly though, during Lent I make sure to go out of my way to help others. Every day in Lent I set a goal for myself to do at least 1 good action I would not have otherwise done and to make at least 3 people smile. Spreading happiness and goodness to others is what Lent is all about for me, and I find that it feels amazing to do stuff like this. We all just have to remember that Lent isn’t just about giving something up, but also about giving ourselves up to others.

-Peter A. ‘14