Word to the Wise
Thursday, February 23, 2023 - Thursday after Ash Wed.
[Deut 30:15-20 and Luke 9:22-25]Moses said to the people: "Today I have set before you life and prosperity, death and doom. If you obey the commandments of the Lord, your God, which I enjoin on you today, loving him, and walking in his ways, and keeping his commandments, statutes and decrees, you will live and grow numerous, and the Lord, your God, will bless you in the land you are entering to occupy. If, however, 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." [Deuteronomy] "If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. [Luke]
Moses and Jesus challenge us to make an important choice. The choice is between life and death! However, I suspect that most of us don't see our faith in that light. We go about our lives and follow certain patterns of faith like Mass and the sacraments and favorite devotions. Some of us even make an annual "retreat" to refresh our spirituality. Some especially motivated folks engage in direct apostolic efforts to help others. But, life is "now" and death is "later." We don't see ourselves as making "life or death" decisions everyday, at least as a matter of faith.
But Moses and Jesus challenge us to be intentional about our faith. In parish missions, I challenge the participants to be "intentional" and not "accidental" about their faith. We who are "cradle catholics" can go about our "catholic lives" because that is how we were raised! Yes, it is an important thing but it also becomes a habitual thing. We just happen to have been born to a Catholic family. Those of us who go to college at a non-denominational place like a state university are occasionally challenged to give a reason why we "choose" to be Catholic! That can be a revealing moment.
Lent offers us a chance to respond to Moses and Jesus and ask ourselves why we are Catholic and continue to be. This might be a more beneficial decision than the one about choosing what to "give up" for forty days. AMEN