Fourth Sunday of Lent

Fourth Sunday of Lent Reflection
Brother Alan Parham, FSC
Spiritual Advisor

Lent is all about walking in the Light. It is an opportunity to come into the Light again if we have strayed. Once we become more attentive to the Gospel, the challenge of Lent is to embrace what we know to be true once again, or, as today’s Gospel says: “Whoever lives the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God” (John 3:21).                                                                                       

When King Cyrus wanted to restore the Temple (2 Chronicles 36), it must have been quite a surprise because he was the ruler of the Persians. For about seventy years, the Jews were captives in Babylon; the Persians conquered the Babylonians, and thus emerged the benign King Cyrus.

We too need restoration at times. That is what coming back to the Light is all about. As Christians, we are actually temples of the Holy Spirit, as St. Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20: “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit?” Lent gives us the chance of restoration, to reclaim our identity as followers of Christ.

​I was monk for few years. After I left the monastery, I had an identity crisis. Fortunately, the first job I found was to prepare a Geology Camp for its summer program. It was on a mountain overlooking Dayton, TN. I was alone for three weeks before the college students arrived.  As I sorted and somewhat grieved, I also understood who I was. I was not an ex-monk. I was still a disciple of Christ, and I still had a call, though not to monastic life. After that, it took me many years to find the path I wanted to follow and to discern where and how I could live out my baptismal call. But the invitation was clear, that this temple of the Holy Spirit could be restored. Now, as I look back at those weeks on the mountain, I am simply grateful for the chance to clarify my call and the restoration which took place in my spirit. ​