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Lent.
There are the Old Standards – giving up sweets, Netflix, the radio – and there are the creative ways we come up with to deny ourselves (no cheese, no looking at billboards, no sitting on comfy chairs…).
As we enter into the Garden of Olives with Christ, once again beginning the journey with Him towards the cross, many of the meditations I’ve heard in the community remind me that all our noble (and sometimes downright endearing) attempts to mortify ourselves pale before the true, and ultimate, sacrifice.
"Not my will be done, but Yours."
There is only one denial that splits the darkness of that Garden with the radiance of the Resurrection: Christ’s denial of His own human will in submission to the will of the Father.
It’s good to be reminded, as Lent begins, that ultimately our entrance into heaven won’t depend on how many desserts we didn’t eat…it will depend on how much our hearts reflect the Heart of Christ as He uttered those words in Gethsemane.
How much are we trying to make our self-denial resemble His?
Let’s devote this Lent to discerning God’s will and putting it into practice…even to the cross. (cf. Phil 2:8)
“Has the LORD as great delight in…sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice…” (1Sam 15:22)
Lenten Challenge: Spend some time reading and praying with Isaiah 58 sometime within the next three days. How can you "fast" this Lent in a way that is "acceptable to the Lord?"
This Lent, Lord willing, we will be journeying through the Sorrowful Mysteries,
sharing further meditations from our community
that will focus in a particular way on the imitation of Christ.
Check back on the blog each Sunday for a new reflection!
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