LENT: ONE THING NECESSARY

At the beginning of the Lenten season, we are filled with fervor and enthusiasm. We have many noble ideas, beautiful plans and laudable goals. We want to do many things. We want to achieve many things. We want to begin many devotions, abandon many vices and reconcile with many people. At the end of the Lenten season, we may realize that we achieve very little or nothing. The Lenten season of this year, the Lord invites us to do just one thing- one thing necessary.

The rich young man had many things. He observed many laws. But the Lord told him: “there is one thing lacking” (Mk 10:21). Just one thing lacking! Is there one thing lacking in my life? One thing that only God can provide?

Martha was doing so many things at the same time. The Lord to her:  “Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things. Only one thing is necessary” (Lk 10: 41). Do I neglect the one thing necessary in my life?

The Psalmist said: “there is one thing I asked from the Lord, for this I long, to live in the house of the Lord, all the days of my life, to savor the sweetness of the Lord, to behold his temple (Ps 27:4). What is the one thing I am asking from the Lord in this holy season of Lent?

After getting involved in so many things, St Paul asserted: “ this one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and straining  forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil 3:13). What is that one thing I want to do during this lent?

The man who received his sight from Jesus emphatically affirmed: “there is just one thing I know, I was blind but now I see” (Jn 9: 25). What is the one thing I wish to know during this sacred season?

The Lord is asking us for one thing. Look for one door that leads to all other doors. Ask for one blessing that contains all blessings. Acquire one virtue that holds all other virtues together. Abandon one vice that facilitates other vices.

God is the one person necessary. Heaven is the one thing necessary. This should preoccupy our minds during this holy season of lent.

A Short Reflection on Ash Wednesday

The reception of the ashes is an outward sign of inward conversion. By receiving the ashes we acknowledge that we are sinners, that we have grievously offended God, that we have disobeyed his laws, but now that we are sincerely sorry and contrite. The ash will be utterly useless if its reception does not lead to true change of heart.

Repentance is the overriding theme of the period of lent. Repentance is at the heart of the Gospel. It is the basic condition of becoming an authentic Christian. Without conversion nobody can enjoy a meaningful and intimate relationship with Jesus, nobody can see the face of God or enter into the Kingdom of God.

The message of repentance can sound almost like a cliché in the modern ear. Yet the Church will never stop proclaiming this message. Conversion was the first topic Jesus discussed in the Gospels. As soon as He was baptized Jesus began to proclaim the message of repentance: the time is fulfilled and the Kingdom of God has come near, repent and believe in the Gospel (Mk 1:15).  And in Luke 13:3 Jesus warns us sternly: I tell you, unless you repent you will all perish.

St Peter preaching at the Portico of Solomon says “repent and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord (Acts 3:19-20). St Paul speaking to the Athenians says “overlooking the time of ignorance, God is telling everyone everywhere that they must repent, because he has fixed a day when the whole world will be judged” (Acts 17:30).

 The time for repentance is now. Now is the favorable time. If you hear his voice today harden not your heart. All our activities of this holy period of lent should lead to repentance so that we can celebrate Easter as new creatures, true sons and daughters of God, citizens of heaven.