MaryBeth LaMont

So many cancer defeating treatments!
Humans on the moon!
Smart phones, smart TV’s & computers!
Theory of Relativity!
Solar technology!
Virtual meetings, phone calls, & even virtual hugs!
Rapid COVID tests and vaccines!
Heart by-pass surgeries!
Organ transplants!
Kindness!
Love!
Memory!
Kraft Macaroni and Cheese!
Just a handful of wonderful human inventions, discoveries, and qualities that can make one proud to be a human.

                                                    War!
                                                    Holocaust!
                                                    Racism!
                                                    Poverty!
                                                    Injustice!
                                                    Slavery!
                                                    Violent crime & abuse!
                                                    Hatred!
                                                    Prejudice!
                                                    Narcissism!
                                                    Rudeness!
                                                    Apathy!
                                                    NY Yankees & their fans!

Just a handful of very bad human qualities that make one question humanity.

Which are we? Of course, the answer is both. Lent and the upcoming events of Holy Week are a sobering reminder of the dark side of humanity….even and especially the humanity that struggles with its dark side and strives to overcome it. We need Lent and Holy Week to remind us all the hope of Advent nor the joy of Easter are not the only part of life with which faith needs to deal. The point is not to distress us but to be aware of who we are in our entire human existence.

That which is denied cannot be overcome or defeated. In that sense, even Lent is a time for hope. Get it all out there! Something wonderful might lay ahead of Lent. The hateful might become loving, the rude kind, and swords may be turned into plowshares.

Is humanity basically good or bad? The answer is “yes!” That is why Lent does not stand alone. Help is on the way! We humans may be a mixed bag, but God is not. God is good! Lent has its appropriated and necessary time. However, it is not the final word. The list of good things does not erase the pain and suffering caused by the bad. It can make it bearable and help us go through and even overcome that which is bad, that which is evil. The current war in Ukraine is, simply put, evil on display every day. It is not, however God nor goodness that is being defeated. God is there at work suffering along with the victims. ….suffering, but not defeated. Hold on to this hope.