RA Paulette has spent his life for the past twenty-five years pursuing his passion, which is transforming caves into breathtaking, poetic and massive pieces of art out of sandstones.
Every day, alone with his dog, Ra Paulette would scrape and sculpture sandstones of Northern New Mexico’s caves. Some of his friends think that he is crazy to spend his life doing this solitary and tedious work. But in 2013, people in the media recognized his artistic works and efforts through a documentary film entitled Cavedigger, which gained nomination for the Oscar Awards for best short documentary film.
I’d like to use the images of “scraping” and “sculpturing” during this season of Lent. Beneath the practices of fasting, prayer, and almsgiving is the fundamental call of Lent: to scrape the rough edges of our hearts in order that their beauty would come out and to sculpture our souls according to the image of Jesus Christ.
These acts of “scraping” and “sculpturing” hearts and souls take patience, perseverance and humility. It takes patience to curb bad habits; it takes perseverance to stay away from sin; and it takes humility to realize our weaknesses and need for growth. But these virtues are full of promises of beauty, healing, and peace. They help us endure the pain of personal scraping and sculpturing. And to have them requires a strong faith in God.
This is why Lent is about dying to our sins so that the original masterpiece of God in each of us would come out. Lent is about coming out of our caves of sinfulness so that we can dwell in the light of the Resurrected Christ.
The Good News is that we have the grace of the Sacraments, particularly the Sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist, to help us with this task of scraping and shaping. And we have one another’s love and support to fulfill this task. We’re a family that encourages and challenges one another to be the face Christ in a world of arrogance, violence, and hatred. We’re never alone in these humble acts of scraping and shaping. The Church is with us!
And so, we must never give up or feel discouraged in our desire for growth and spiritual healing. For sure, God would never give up on us for he is slow to anger, abiding in love, patient and forgiving. We must continue walking on the path of righteousness.
Other people might discourage us as we walk this path of righteousness, but we must carry the arms of love and mercy as we encounter this people. In fact, we must carry their names along with us in our prayers. We pray that they too would realize their need for conversion and growth.
In the Letter of Paul to the Romans on this First Sunday of Lent, we read that one who believes with the heart is justified and one who confesses with the mouth is saved. Let’s remember these words as we follow the mandates of the Gospel, because as Scripture says, “No one who believes in him will be put to shame.” (Romans 10:8-13)
As I often say, there is one person who would never be happy as we walk the path of righteousness. That person is the enemy of Christ, the devil. It’s no wonder that he even tempted Jesus Christ at the beginning of our Lord’s ministry. He tried to disrupt God’s salvific action–Christ’s life, death, and resurrection– but he never succeeded.
Like Jesus, let’s not listen to the voice of the devil. Let’s resist his temptations. Let’s be firm and courageous, unwilling to be trapped into Satan’s deceit and despair.
Lent then is the season of taking care of God’s masterpiece: the human person. Its beauty has to come out; its strength of character has to shine; and its hopes and dreams should never cease. The human person is destined for greatness, not according the materialistic standards of the world, but according to the eyes and will of God, our Creator.
Let’s do these tasks of “scraping” and “sculpturing” during this season of Lent. Let the best version of ourselves come out!
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From a Filipino immigrant family, Reverend Rodel G. Balagtas was ordained to the priesthood from St. John’s Seminary in 1991. He served as Associate Pastor at St. Augustine, Culver City (1991-1993); St. Martha, Valinda (1993-1999); and St. Joseph the Worker, Canoga Park (1999-2001). In 2001, he served as Administrator Pro Tem of St. John Neumann in Santa Maria, CA, until his appointment as pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary, Los Angeles, in 2002, which lasted 12 years. His term as Associate Director of Pastoral Field Education at St. John’s Seminary began in July 2014.
