The Grammar of Lent
Son
Starting with Life…
The word son makes us think of relationships. We are always the children of someone. We are never completely detached from the world.
To be a son or daughter is a vocation: we are always called to share our life with someone else.
We are sons and daughters because there is always someone who preceded us: life does not start with us. To be sons/daughters means that we received life from someone else.
Sons and daughters are the future. They are the perpetuation of life. But precisely in this lurks a risk: just like we cannot control the future, in the same way we cannot control the life of sons or daughters.
Listening to the Word…
The Word of God offers us many different ways of living the parent-child relationship: God calls Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac because Abraham has confused gift and Giver. In Abraham’s heart, there is room only for his son. Isaac becomes the center of his life. Thus God invites Abraham to put his heart in order and realize that Isaac is a gift of God.
Jacob, instead, demonstrates such a notable preference for his son Joseph that his brothers become jealous.
And finally, Mary knows how to accept the painful detachment that allows Jesus to proclaim the Kingdom of God to everyone.
Where can we find the word “son” in the Bible?
Genesis 27:27
Jacob went up to [Isaac] and kissed him and Isaac smelled the fragrance of his clothes. With that, Isaac blessed him, saying:
“Ah, the fragrance of my son
is like the fragrance of a field
that the Lord has blessed.”
John 19:26
It was by faith that Sarah, in spite of being past the age,
was given the possibility to conceive,
because she believed that he who had made the promise
was trustworthy.
For reflection:
• How have you lived your condition as son/daughter up to now?
• How much room is there in your heart for God?
