Lent marks the time of year the church seems most focused and intent on its identity and mission. Through renewed attention to prayer, repentance, and generosity, we seek once again to incorporate ourselves more closely into the ministry, Passion, and Resurrection of Christ.

Remember when you were a kid, and you thought the Bible was a very large book of animal tales? The story went something like this: God created the world and all the animals including people in six days. Then later God drowned most of the people because they wouldn’t do what they were supposed to do but saved the animals in an ark.

At once, this same Spirit pushed Jesus out into the wild. For 40 wilderness days and nights he was tested by Satan. Wild animals were his companions, and angels took care of him.

Dorothy singing "Over the Rainbow" to Toto remains one of the most magical moments recorded on film. It touched something deep within many people’s hearts. In many ways, the only thing more delicate and ethereal than the colors of a rainbow in the still-glistening sky, its darkness being overcome by the bright light of the sun, is the look on a child’s face when he or she sees a rainbow for the first time.

My newest hero is my neighbor across the hall: a public high-school teacher thought of as funny, sensitive, but not all that deep.

There’s an old joke about the young man who went to Confession and said he had been experiencing temptations. “Did you entertain them, my son?” asked the kindly confessor. “No, Father,” replied the confused penitent, “but they sure entertained me!”

God renews the earth. We pray to take our part in that renewal.

When you fast, see the fasting of others. If you want God to know that you are hungry, know that another is hungry. If you hope for mercy, show mercy. If you look for kindness, show kindness. If you want to receive, give.