Thursday of First Week in Lent
Dt 30: 15-20; Lk 9: 22-25
Lent- it’s all about making a commitment- a commitment to choose God’s way to live our lives rather than world’s way. We do it every year in order to preserve what we have, our faith and our path to eternal life.
In the first reading, the Lord, through Moses, promises the Israelis a long, prosperous life in the promised land if.. If they follow the laws of the Lord and do what he commands of them. The process takes 40 years, and is a painstaking struggle in the desert wilderness. Now indeed, 40 years was a lifetime for the people of Moses day. We have a lifetime as well, but every year we are given the 40 days of Lent to reflect on our lives and to put ourselves back on the proper track. For just as the Israelis seek the promised land at the end of life, we are seeking eternal life with God- that is our goal. And life in this world isn’t the same thing as eternal life. Because no matter who you are focusing on preserving our lives is ultimately fuitile- we are all going to die.
Jesus gives us the keys to how to deny ourselves and follow him. First, he speaks for himself- he is going to suffer and die, but then be resurrected on the third day. And He will be resurrected to eternal life with the Father. After giving his life as an example, he tells all of the disciples that they must deny themselves and follow in his ways. Clearly, he is not excepting himself from the reality of what it takes to live a life pleasing to God. Because first he gives uses his own life as an example, and then he tells his disciples to do the same.
Yes, being a Christian means denying self. But exactly what are we to deny ourselves of? Well, when we fast, we deny ourselves. But, let’s take a deeper look at fasting then we usually do. I’m not talking about giving up something as a token denial, although that kind of fasting can establish discipline and we all need discipline. Rather, suppose the ultimate purpose of our fasting is to turn ourselves Christ-like. For example, we can nail the unruly parts of our life to the cross and kill them all off by fasting from them. That means cutting out those habits and things that we do that are sinful or occasions to sin. Things like gossip, alcohol, pornography, cell phones, video games, TV, Facebook, and a host of other things can be addicting. We need to deny ourselves of these occasions to sin and sin itself. That is denying self in the purest sense, because it does away with our selfishness.
Second, we need to renew our relationships with our neighbors. It’s called living a life that reflects love the way Jesus did. Jesus talked about loving neighbor as ourselves. And this was the most important of all the commandments God gave to Moses.
So, as you reflect on your Lenten duty, consider what you will fast from, and make a real commitment to deny yourself of something that nails the unruly part of yourself to the cross.