Thursday after Ash Wednesday
So here we are, already in the season of Lent, and today’s readings present the choice before us: choose life or choose death. The choice seems so obvious, but in our daily lives, day-to-day decisions, it isn’t as easy or as obvious as it sounds, is it?
Today’s first reading from the book of Deuteronomy (30: 15-20) reminds us that if we love God, walk in God’s ways and keep God’s commandments, we will live. We are also cautioned that if “you turn away your hearts and will not listen, but are led astray and adore and serve other gods, I tell you now that you will certainly perish.” Granted, I don’t think any of us are intentionally adoring or serving other gods, but before we rule ourselves out of this caution, let’s consider what other gods there might be in our lives.
I know I am sometimes led astray by the desire to have newer things, nicer things, more things, to want to look good in other people’s eyes, to want to slow down the aging process and look more like the young models or celebrities our culture idolizes. Or what about the false god of power, status, violence, or addictions? Aren’t we sometimes fooled into believing that these things will bring satisfaction, when they really just bring more dissatisfaction and anxiety?
In today’s gospel reading (Luke 9:22-25) Jesus again offers the opportunity to choose life. We must deny our very selves, take up our cross daily and follow him. And what does that mean? I think it means that we are to deny/let go of our false self, the selfish desires that can imprison us, and take up the cross of forgiveness, justice, loving service, and compassion for the poor and those we find difficult to like and love. For the way of the cross is the way to real life, true freedom, inner peace and the joy of resurrection. This is where we fully become the people that God has intended us to be.
Today’s psalm (1:1-2,3,4 &6) is one of my favorites. In beautiful language, the psalmist reminds us that the one who “follows not the counsel of the wicked nor walks in the way of sinners…but delights in the law of the Lord…is like a tree planted near running water, that yields its fruit in due season, and whose leaves never fade.” If we want to choose life, if we want to thrive like the tree in this psalm, we need to stay close to the source of life. Let us stay rooted in God’s word, in God’s love, and hold fast to God this Lent.
What if each of us made a choice to daily turn away from one of the false gods in our life and do something instead to strengthen our connection with the Source of Life? What if we turned our selfish desires into acts of love for someone else? Let’s take some time to reflect on what God is calling us to let go of and what cross we are being asked to take up this Lent. And let us pray for one another and the daily choices we make to choose life.
- Eileen Mille