![\"Google](\"http:\/\/nicksenger.com\/onecatholiclife\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/google_maps_rome_sm_sepia.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
One of the most useful apps on a smart phone
\nis the Maps app.
\nYou type in an address of the place you want to go
\nand you\u2019re instantly given not only written directions for how to get there,
\nbut you also get a map that shows
\na path for how to get to your destination.<\/p>\n
You don\u2019t even have to know the name or even the address
\nof a place you\u2019re trying to get to.
\nYou can simply type in \u201cfood near me\u201d or \u201cshopping near me.\u201d
\nand you\u2019ll get a list of places you\u2019re looking for
\nalong with directions for how to get there.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re walking,
\nyou can tap the little icon of the person
\nand you\u2019ll get walking directions.
\nIf you\u2019re driving,
\nyou can tap on the car icon and you\u2019ll get driving directions.
\nIf you want to take public transportation,
\nthe apps will even tell you which bus routes to take.<\/p>\n
You can also label places that you visit frequently
\nto make it easier to get directions.
\nFor instance, you can type in your home address
\nand give it a label, \u201cHome,\u201d
\nso that no matter where are you are,
\nyou can always type the word \u201cHome\u201d in the search bar
\nand you will get directions for how to get home.<\/p>\n
These apps even tell you which direction you\u2019re facing,
\nso that if you have walking directions,
\nyou just turn yourself around and watch the little arrow on your phone
\nuntil it points you at the little blue dots on the map
\nand you can tell which way to start walking.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve been thinking about these kinds of apps lately
\nbecause I think they can help us understand the work of Lent.<\/p>\n
As we heard in the gospel again today, Lent is a time of repentance.
\nJesus says twice,
\n\u201cIf you do not repent you will all perish.\u201d
\nWe heard that word on Ash Wednesday, too:
\n\u201cRepent and believe in the gospel.”
\nRepentance is a word we hear over and over during Lent,
\nbut is often only partially understood.<\/p>\n
Often when we hear the word \u201crepent\u201d
\nthe first thing that comes to mind
\nis how we ought to recall all the sinful things that we\u2019ve done
\nand feel remorse or regret for having done them.
\nWe might repent over the way we gossip,
\nor, we might repent over losing our temper and yelling at our children,
\nor we might ignore someone who is in need.
\nWe often think of repentance as an effort to feel more and more guilty
\nover what we have done or failed to do.<\/p>\n
Remorse and regret are certainly a part of what it means to repent,
\nbut there is much more to this important word.<\/p>\n
The word \u201crepent\u201d is a translation of the word metanoia<\/em>, We remember that sin is a turning away from God. It\u2019s as if we are looking at the Maps app on our phone, Repentance means re-orienting ourselves towards God. And wouldn\u2019t it be great if we had something like Google Maps God, after all, is our true home, Instead of directions like, Each of us is in a different spiritual place, Lent is the time to ask ourselves, Sometimes we or someone we love A few weeks ago, some of our family and I had the chance At one point I was searching for some destination in Rome, We were so far away from home The same thing can happen in our spiritual lives. First, they remind us that God is patient with us. And second, no matter how far away we are, God can bring us back. God tells Moses that he has come down to rescue his people Lent is the time to repent, There is no app to help us find our spiritual way,
\nthe Greek word that means \u201cchange your heart.\u201d
\nAt its root, repentance is a change of heart,
\na change of direction,
\na turning of one\u2019s life from rebellion
\nto obedience towards God.
\nThat\u2019s the message of Jesus, his very first message in fact:
\n\u201cRepent and be faithful to the Gospel.\u201d
\n\u201cTurn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel.\u201d
\nRepentance is not a state of being
\nbut is an active movement of the will and of the heart away from sin.<\/p>\n
\nEvery time we lie, or cheat, or gossip,
\nwe turn a little further away from God.
\nSometimes our sins turn us completely away from God,
\nand we put our backs to God and walk in the opposite direction.<\/p>\n
\nand God is in one direction,
\nand we can see that we are pointed in another direction.
\nAnd if we keep walking in the direction we\u2019re pointed,
\nwe\u2019re going to walk further and further away from God.<\/p>\n
\nNow, we might stop and consider our sins and feel remorse,
\nbut at some point we need to turn ourselves around
\nand start walking back to God.
\nThat<\/em> is repentance, that<\/em> is metanoia<\/em>,
\nto change our hearts,
\nchange our direction.<\/p>\n
\nfor our spiritual lives, for spiritual navigation,
\nlike a spiritual GPS?
\nWouldn\u2019t it be great if we could open up Maps on our phone,
\ntype in \u201cGod,\u201d
\nand get a list of directions for how to get back to God?<\/p>\n
\nheaven is our true home.
\nWhat if we could type \u201cHome\u201d into our phones,
\nand get directions for how to return to God?<\/p>\n
\n\u201cTurn east on 29th Avenue towards Freya, .3 miles\u201d
\nwe might get directions like
\n\u201cTurn off the TV and read the Gospel of Luke. 3 Chapters.\u201d
\nOr instead of
\n\u201cContinue on I-90 East, 18 miles,\u201d
\nwe might get,
\n\u201cContinue praying with the children at dinner, 18 years.\u201d
\nThose kinds of directions would lead us closer to our true Home.<\/p>\n
\nand so each of our paths to God is different.
\nIf we could get navigation to God on our phones,
\nwhat would directions would each of us get?
\nWhat is the one thing you could change in your heart today
\nthat would re-orient you toward God?
\nIn other words, if you could type \u201cGod\u201d or \u201cheaven\u201d
\nas a destination in your smart phone,
\nwhat is the first direction you would get?
\nWhat path would you need to turn away from,
\nand what path would you need to begin following?<\/p>\n
\n\u201cHow do I get back home?\u201d
\nThat\u2019s why we fast, pray, and give alms.
\nThe things we give up and the things we add to our lives
\nare intended to turn us around and put us on the right road.<\/p>\n
\nis so far away from our true home
\nthat we don\u2019t know if we can ever return,
\nand we can\u2019t even see the first step we should take.
\nWe not only facing the wrong direction,
\nbut maybe we\u2019ve been going in that wrong direction for a long time,
\nand we\u2019re far, far from home.<\/p>\n
\nto go visit our daughter Tessa in Italy
\nwhere she is studying abroad for the semester.
\nWhen we were there, Google Maps came in really handy
\nas we tried to find our way around Florence and Rome.<\/p>\n
\nI don\u2019t remember what it was, but it must have begun with the letter \u201cH\u201d
\nbecause \u201cHome\u201d showed up in the search bar.
\nJust for fun I tapped on it to see what directions it would give.
\nThe answer I got was both eye-opening and sad.
\nWhen I searched for directions home, Google Maps said,
\n\u201cCan\u2019t find a way there. Try again.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nthat Google Maps couldn\u2019t find a way for us to get back.
\nWe couldn\u2019t walk, and there were no cars or buses we could take.
\nThere was an ocean between us and our home.<\/p>\n
\nWe can get so far from our spiritual home
\nthat we can\u2019t find our way back.
\nOr we fear that our family and friends have drifted so far away,
\nthat they can\u2019t find their way.
\nBut the scripture readings today offer us hope in two different ways.<\/p>\n
\nGod is the gardener who tells the owner not to cut down the fig tree,
\neven though it\u2019s not bearing fruit.
\n\u201cIt may bear fruit in the future,\u201d he says.
\nGod is patient with us.<\/p>\n
\nOceans and mountains and even isolated islands
\nare no barriers to God.
\nWe can never get so far from God
\nthat he cannot find a way for us to return.
\nIn fact, the reality is that God comes after us when we turn away.<\/p>\n
\nand lead them out of the land of slavery
\ninto a good and spacious land,
\na land flowing with milk and honey.
\nHe has come down to lead them Home.
\nHe has come down to lead us Home.<\/p>\n
\nto change our hearts and change our direction,
\nto orient ourselves to our true home.<\/p>\n
\nthere is something greater:
\nJesus Christ,
\nthe Way, the Truth and the Life.<\/p>\n