In this first week of Lent, quotes posted to social media (Facebook, Instagram, X) stick to a pattern: God invites us to contemplate him in gratitude as the Creator of creation, as well as in the people we meet. In fact, these are connected.

I spoke to him in all simplicity, of the river when I saw a river, of the mountain when I saw a mountain, of my sadness when I was sad or of my joy when I felt, happy. If I liked flowers, I told him so. If I loved God, I told him also of my love. God never neglects to listen to what one says to him, provided that what one says to him is said in love and with the intention of pleasing him. How good he is, the good God! How he deserves to be loved! — Marcel Văn

We must listen to the language of nature and we must answer accordingly. — Pope Benedict XVI

Jesus has issued us an invitation: Look at the flowers of the field! Yes, look at the lilies! Do you not see how lovely they are? The eternal beauty of God becomes successively present in the things that pass. As the blossom passes through its moment of splendor, God is present in it. Looking at nature is a way of looking at God. At the moment when the poor person is knocking at the door, this poor one is precisely the vehicle of the Absolute for me. They are not two, this poor person at the door and the Absolute in the sky, or the loveliness of the flower and the beauty of God. — Arturo Paoli

If you cannot contemplate nature it will be very difficult for you to contemplate people, the beauty of people, your brother, your sister. — Pope Francis

An Eastern Christian said to me one day, seeing a photo of Father de Foucauld that was sitting on my desk, “This face is an icon.” It’s true. And we too must become an icon of the mystery of God, become more transparent and show the eschatology of the world all by placing ourselves at the heart of the cross and the resurrection. — Marie-Joseph Le Guillou