The one thing that creates some problems for us and makes us feel aged is this thing called forgetfulness.
Forgetfulness afflicts everybody, and especially when we are no longer that young and we forget this and that, then we become the butt of jokes.
Anyway if our individual forgetfulness can give us problems, how about the forgetfulness of a nation?
Certainly it would be disastrous, as in the case of Israel.
It was not that long ago since they experienced the liberation from Egypt and the miraculous parting of the Red Sea.
But soon they forgot about the God who saved them and they created an idol in the image of an animal!
In fact, forgetfulness is too lame a word to be used here.
The word should be stupidity. The Israelites were stupid enough to forget, and for that they wondered in the desert for 40 years just to have their memory corrected.
The 40 days of Lent is indeed a time for us to recall and remember the saving acts of God and the wonderful graces He poured into our lives so that we won't forget the meaning of love and mercy.
It is also a time to cleanse ourselves of other distractions that have come into our lives that make us lose focus and forget about God in our lives.
For it is to God alone that we must say : You alone are my God.