Saint Frances Cabrini Parish

Father Kleppner - March 18, 2007

Lenten Meditation
Fourth Sunday of Lent
When God Enters Our Picture
“Falling and Recovering”

“Help! I’ve fallen and I can’t get up.” These words bring to mind a picture of an elderly person, who has tripped or stumbles at home and is unable to reach a phone. A feeling of helplessness leads to a cry for assistance. What a relief it is, if someone hears the call and responds!
There are many times, though, when people have fallen or need help in less dramatic ways and they do not cry out. They feel that they should be able to handle the problem themselves or that no help is available. Sometimes we do not realize the nature of our need nor its extent.
John, the Baptist, spoke to such people. The residents of Judea lived in a time of hardship, ground under the heel of the abusive Roman Empire. John, though, reminded them that part of the despair was of their own making, a lack of faithfulness in living up to ideals that their own faith and tradition held up before them. They had lost faith, hope, and love — all three — and were living empty and sinful lives. He called them to repent, to acknowledge their “fallen-ness”, and to find the new hope that God can give even in adversity. God hears our cries and, if we change our ways, will help us to get up again.
The Lenten emphasis on repentance is not a scolding or finding fault. It is, rather, a call to realize our need and to reach out and up for the help that is available. God did not create us to live in the proverbial “vale of tears”. Jesus promised us abundant life. All of us fall at times and we need God’s help to recover. Make Lent a time to cry out and then to listen for God’s answer.
God does respond.

The Smell of Rain
A cold March wind danced around the dead of night in Dallas, as the doctor walked into the small hospital room of Susan Blessing. She was still groggy from the surgery. Her husband, David, held her hand as they braced themselves for the latest news. That afternoon complications had forced Susan, only 24 weeks pregnant, to undergo an emergency Caesarean to deliver the couple’s daughter, Dana. Dana was only 12 inches long and weighed one pound nine ounces, so they already knew she was perilously premature. Still the doctor’s words dropped like bombs. “I don’t think she’s going to make it,” he said as kindly as he could. He went on to explain that Dana had only a 10% chance of making it through the night. The doctor also explained that even if she did survive she would have numerous problems. She would never walk or talk. She would probably be blind and had a strong possibility of being mentally impaired.
Susan sobbed with grief as David tried his best to comfort her. They, along with their 5-year-old son, Dustin, had dreamed of the day they would become a family of four. Now as time passed that dream was slipping away. As if that wasn’t painful enough, because Dana’s nervous system was so underdeveloped, neither Susan nor David would be able to hold Dana, because it would cause her to feel too much pain. All they could do was pray that God would stay close to their precious little girl. As the weeks went on, a strange thing started to happen. Dana started to gain weight and strength.
At long last when Dana was two months old, her parents were able to hold her for the very first time. Only two months later, and to the amazement of her doctors, Dana was sent home from the hospital. Five years later, Dana was a petite but feisty young girl with glittering gray eyes and a zest for life. She showed no signs of any physical or mental impairment.
But that’s not the end of the story.
One summer afternoon Dana was sitting in her mother’s lap in ball park bleachers, while her brother’s baseball team practiced in front of them. All of a sudden, Dana got very quiet. She hugged her arms across her chest and said to her mother, “Do you smell that?” Her mother replied, “Yes. It smells like rain. Dana closed her eyes and said again, “Do you smell that?” Her mother was starting to get worried and said, “What do you smell?” Dana replied, “It smells like Him. It smells like God when you lay your head on His chest.
As Dana scampered off to play, Susan let the tears flow freely. Before the rain came that day, her daughter’s words had confirmed what the entire Blessing family had known all along in their hearts. During those long days and nights when Dana’s nerves were too sensitive for her parents to hold; God was holding Dana on His chest and it was His loving scent that she remembered so well.

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