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March 8, 2025Lent is a season not to count calories and lose a few pounds. Nor is it a time of year to keep tabs on what others are doing for Lent, or to critique or judge their success or failure.
Lent is a season for the conversion of the human heart; to place our hearts of a trajectory toward the Will of God. This conversion of heart is certainly a time of reflection, of penance and of almsgiving—yes; but, it is also a time of action, or movement toward the Good of the God. A time to see with eyes of the faith God’s Will for us, and then to put that action into Habitus, as St. Thomas Aquinas would say, practice.
The context of Lent, then, is to meet the challenges of resisting sin head-on and then possess the wisdom of the importance of relying on God and His grace.
In our readings this first Sunday of Lent, we begin with Dueteronomy, in which we hear of the ritual of the first fruits’ offering and the recognition of God’s blessings upon the Israelites. This reading is part of the Torah, the first 55 books of the Bible, and is of the teaching of Moses as his people enter the Promised Land: It is important to acknowledge God’s faithfulness and the need to express gratitude. The act of Offering symbolizes the acknowledgement that all good things come from God!
The question we should ask ourselves is, how do we see our blessings in our lives? Do we believe and acknowledge they come from God? Or, are we like the old prayer for a parking space: “Hail Mary, full of Grace, find me a parking space. Then, you see the rear lights come on, and respond: never mind, I found my own.” Sometimes it is easy to take credit for things that “fall into our laps.” As Catholics, Lent should be a time to develop that “attitude of gratitude,’ to remember to give thanks.
In Romans, our second reading today, we hear of the importance of having faith in Jesus Christ as the singular conduit to salvation. Let us take a look at some of the finer points St. Paul offers us today:- Salvation comes through confessing with one’s mouth that Jesus is the Lord. Faith in Christ is both a personal and communal act. Our Church, instituted by Christ, calls us with the free ascent of the Will to come to Mass and to worship as a community.
- St. Paul notes that salvation is open to everyone, regardless of their background or status. A universal Church welcomes everyone into His fold. God’s grace is for all.
- Call to Evangelization: the message today is that believers in Christ are called to share their faith with others. Don’t hold our faith close to the chest, but joyfully proclaim what we believe. This is widely connected the end of the Mass and the great commissioning that all are called to.
- Dependence on Grace. Salvation is a gift from God, and it stems from our Catholic doctrine of grace. From grace, we are able to believe and confess that Jesus is Lord. While it is impossible for humans to achieve salvation; nothing is impossible for God!
- We have assurance of salvation in the last sentence of this reading: “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” JUST think how much this means that GOD does love us. He is forgiving beyond all telling. And that He died and Rose again, for us! That’s Love.
- Nature of Temptation, which comes to everyone and looks for a “crack”, in our armor of faith. A way to invade us.
- Importance of scripture and its power to guide. As we pray the Scripture we grow in grace and wisdom, coming to know God’s call for us.
- Conversion of heart and deepen one’s day-to-day relationship with Jesus. Yes, it take’s work, and it is hard. But the end result is to become, as St. Catherine of Siena has said, “the person that God made you to be, and then you shall set the world on fire.” Growing in the faith, the practice of it, leads us to become what we practice, our habitus, and then that is who we are! May we all grow in the Catholic faith and light the world on fire with His Goodness. Amen!
