Once again, though much quicker than we are accustomed to…the season of Lent
is upon us.
And every year we go through the practice of deciding our Lenten practices.
What do we give up? Specific foods or drink, sweets, smoking, television, the
internet, whatever…the list is endless.
What do we take up? Praying a divine mercy chaplet every day, praying the
rosary, reading more scripture, whatever…the list is endless.
Of course there are less material and less obvious Lenten practices we can dive
into…
staying positive, giving up being negative, being a better friend, a better spouse,
whatever…
though truth be told these are probably things that we really should be working
on all the time…
but Lent has a way of focusing the mind and providing energy for our resolutions.
But whatever it is that you decide, I just want to say…I don’t care what penances
or practices you are taking on. I really don’t.
…your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you…and that is good enough.
But for some reason our Lenten practices have become like badges of honor…look
at what I am doing for the Lord…look at what I am giving up, look at what I am
taking on…Lent becomes a battleground and I fear that Christ becomes a mere
spectator and is not the central figure in this great drama we call Lent.
And that’s the real trick isn’t it…where is Christ is all of this?
Whatever you are doing for Lent this year…who are you doing it for?
Why are you doing it?
Are your Lenten resolutions going to improve your relationship with Jesus Christ?
Or are they just going to make you mad?
If your Lenten resolutions are making you a jerk then they are not good.
If they are solely focused on the external, the physical, then they are not good.
Rend your hearts, not your garments.
Now I am not saying that taking on penances and mortifications are a bad
thing…they aren’t.
Self-denial can be a powerful tool that will help lead us closer to the Lord.
If you look at the lives of the saints… most them were taking on penances and
were doing them all the time…
but they knew why they were doing them, they knew who they were doing them
for. Through their penances they were being drawn closer to Christ.
But for the rest of us, who are not quite saints yet, we need to recognize that if
our resolutions, penances, practices, and mortifications this Lent are not there in
order to make more room for Christ, we might want to rethink them.
If they are for the greater glory of ourselves, if they lead us to pride and
arrogance, if we catch ourselves thinking, look what I’m doing for Lent, we might
want to rethink them.
Now maybe we succeed in everything we want to accomplish this Lent.
Penances are picked up, shortcomings begin to fall away, and our relationship
with Christ expands by leaps and bounds…
but maybe we fail, and our fast is over by next Tuesday, and we continue to get
frustrated or annoyed with people, and our rosary lays strewn across our
bedroom dresser…maybe…
Brothers and sisters…For our sake he made him to be sin who did not know sin,
so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.
Take up your penances, take up your practices, but understand that we are not
saved by any merit that we here possess.
We are not forgiven, we are not loved, based on our ability to abstain from meat
and soda or to pray the rosary three times a day.
We are not forgiven, we are not loved, because we are good.
We are forgiven, we are loved because God is good.