Dear Parishioners:
We are at the halfway point of Lent. That means we still have three weeks until the Holy Week and Easter Sunday. Some people say that time passes quickly. But often, I hear people say that Lent seems so long. Lent seems so long for two reasons. The first is completely objective: Lent is, in fact, the longest season of self-denial during the Church’s year. No other season requires sustained fasting from worldly pleasures like Lent. Many people make truly heroic sacrifices for six full weeks (without cheating on Sundays), such as giving up sugar, alcohol, red meat, curse words, gossip, and even cigars! Lent is not for spiritual wimps. It is for spiritual warriors willing to fight to express their devotion to God.
The second reason follows directly from the first. We are often unwilling to endure even the simplest sufferings over an extended period. We don’t like to go without a whole meal for a whole day. We don’t even like to go without snacks between meals for a whole day. Further, we don’t like the daunting task of forming a new and good spiritual habit. For these dispositions of mind and heart, we must repent. We must allow Christ to teach us His way instead of our own (see Luke 9:23). We must never forget that our life on this earth is the only chance to prove our love for our Lord.
It is about this time each year, about halfway through the spiritual boot camp and marathon that is Lent, that we should remind ourselves of the purpose of Lent. Recall that Jesus never promised that life as His disciple would be full of daily pleasurable experiences. Rather, He taught that the way to abundant life is through the ongoing death to self that one learns by detaching oneself from worldly cares and associations like food, money, lust, ego, and laziness. We take up our cross, deny ourselves, and follow him.
The Scriptures remind us that the journey toward communion with Our Blessed Lord is arduous and requires great discipline and unending work. In his first letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul writes, “Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we are imperishable. Well, I do not run aimlessly…but I pommel my body and subdue it, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified” (1 Cor. 9:25-27). Here, the Apostle recognizes that the goal dictates the measures one takes to keep progressing. In the case of Christians, the goal of eternal happiness with God causes us to reject habits and vices that might destroy our souls.
Another Scripture passage is from the letter to the Hebrews. The author writes to exhort his audience: “Let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us” (Heb. 12:1). In this brief moment, the reader understands that heavy things prevent a runner from running quickly and effectively. In our spiritual lives, sin is that weight that keeps us from progressing toward the finish line.
With this heaviness in mind, the author offers encouragement by stating that we run while “looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb. 12:2). Indeed, when we see and understand the crown of glory that we will share with Jesus Christ, the sufferings and trials endured along the way seem to vanish. We realize we can endure anything if the reward is so great as heavenly bliss.
Therefore, we should not lose heart during this second half of Lent. Rather, we should encourage one another to continue the effort to gain control over our minds and our bodies for God’s glory. And let’s never forget that this process always and only begins with His divine grace: we can do nothing alone. Any victory over Lent and spiritual death is ultimately His victory. To God belongs the glory, now and forever! Stay the course and continue to run the race of Lent!
I am away this week, preaching the Lenten Mission at St. William’s Parish in Naples, Florida. Please pray for me and the success of the Mission. Be well. Do good. God Bless!