Happy Lent

"But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly."

Today is Ash Wednesday which marks the beginning of Lent.  Lent used to be a big deal to me, since I grew up in the Catholic Church, attending a Catholic school.  On Ash Wednesday the day would begin with mass, and we would all have a black cross of ash smudged on our foreheads.  The nuns in our school would have us fill out cards listing all the things we would give up for the forty days of Lent.  We would also list all the extra devotions we would do in preparation for Easter Week.  In my younger years my family took the season pretty seriously.  We usually gave up all sweets (except on St. Patrick's day), we would also attend the stations of the cross on Fridays and say the rosary every night.  I really don't have any problem with the practice of giving things up for Lent, as long as ones heart is right, in the giving up of things.  As a youngster my heart wasn't exactly right, my primary motivation was scoring bunches of spiritual points with God, and my parents, and the nuns.  Jesus warns us about fasting with wrong intent.  He tells us that God is in that secret place, that is our hearts, He knows our unseen motives and intents.  It is easy for us to look upon our fasting in a prideful or competitive way as the Pharisees did.  If pride is involved it can lead to comparisons with others, expecting that the more I give up, the more spiritual I am, and the more God owes me.  The right motive in fasting or giving things up for a season, is not the giving up, but setting our focus.  Our tendency is to be too flesh centered or self focused.  The fast is to get my focus off of me and my flesh, and set it upon the Lord and the spiritual.  If I give up television or the computer, or newspaper, or meal, I do so that I might take that time that was for physical activity and fill it with something spiritual, like prayer, worship, or the word.  Again, the focus is not the giving up of something, but in setting my heart to focus on the Lord.  I remember another problem I had with Lent as a youngster, those forty days were the only days I gave up anything for the Lord.  I would put in my time at Lent, and bingo, I was done for the year!  It is not about spiritually gutting it up for forty days.  We ought to have a Lenten type lifestyle throughout the year, looking to always live more and more unto the Lord, and less and less unto ourselves.  There is no need for you to run out and put ashes on your forehead today, just let the beginning of this season remind you of the great grace we celebrate in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.  And let that great grace stir your heart to live all the more for our precious Lord.