Lenten Reflection – Week 5 – This journey will last a lifetime

As we wind down our Lenten observance, I wanted to remind you that this journey we are on will last a lifetime.

And you thought it was going to end soon. Lent is only 40 days. We are one week away from Palm Sunday and the start of Holy Week. Soon Easter will be here and we can end the fast.

Yes, this 40 days is almost over, but does that really mean we should stop our practices of prayer, fasting, and alms giving. I propose we should join in the great joy of our Risen Lord at Easter and that we should continue our journey toward a deeper faith and experience of God's love for us. If our Lenten practices just end because lent 2014 is over then we have not really changed our lives at all. Jesus is calling us to repentance. To constant, unending change. To a radical conversion. He is calling us to pick up our cross daily and follow him into eternal life.

This is no easy thing. This is not something you can do for just 40 days a year and be done with it. Being a Christian is a 24/7 task. It is unending. It lasts a lifetime.

The hardest thing that we are called to as Christians is to Love as the Father has loved you.

Yes, this isn't just a feel good sort of emotion. This is a deliberate decision we all must make. It is a decision, that no matter what the cost, we decide to always act in love. Always putting the other person first. Working with all people, of all faiths, of all beliefs, and of all denominations. Working with them and for them. Hoping for their own salvation. Praying with and for them.

One of the most common experiences of total self sacrificing love we can experience as humans is the gift of parenthood. When you are touched with the beauty and awesomeness of working with God and your spouse and together you create a new life, you become a parent forever. No matter what the outcome or circumstances that surround that new life, you are forever after a parent. No one, or nothing can take that away from you. You can run from the responsibility. You can try and hide from it. You can embrace this new life and support it. You could even be in a situation where you have to watch your child suffer and die while you still live. Even as painful and difficult as this may be, nothing can ever change the fact that you are a parent and that child is a gift from God to you.

God is our Father. He has chosen it to be this way. As he is our Father, we are his children. And we are his children forever, nothing or no one can change that fact.

“See what love the Father has given us, that we should be

called children of God, and so we are.” 1 John 3:1a

God has adopted us as his children. He will forever be our Father. We can and often do run from him. We try and hide ourselves and our sinful ways from him. We move ourselves into the darkness so to escape the light that pierces all things. But we can't ever take away the fact that God is our Father. Now and forever more. Even when we sin and separate ourselves from his love, he is still our Father and is waiting for us to turn around and come back home to him.

Our Lenten journey is a 40 day period of reflection and prayer meant to help us grow in our faith. A period of preparation. Making our hearts ready to spiritually die with Jesus only to rise again with him at Easter. This dying to self and rising to new life should remind us of our baptism. At our baptism we were washed with the life giving waters and entered into the Christian life. Listen to what St. Paul says about baptism:

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ

Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him

by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the

glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. Rom 6:3-4

Do you walk in newness of life? During this Lenten Journey we are called to die to our self and give to others. To dive into the water and take a plunge. To move deeper and deeper into a loving relationship with God and his creation.

Have you died to yourself this lent?

If we have practiced any type of prayer, fasting, and alms giving we can confidently answer yes to this question. If we have not, there is still time. Start today. There is great wisdom in these Lenten practices. Within these little acts we are slowly dying to ourselves and inviting the Lord into our lives. Even in the little things. Each act is a step into being more and more like Jesus.

Recently on Relevant Radio I heard a little nugget of wisdom from Fr. Albert Haase. He said something like this: “On our Lenten journeys we should not seek for spiritual perfection as if we do, we are setting ourselves up to fail. But instead we should seek spiritual progress. Every step moving us closer to union with Christ our Savior.” We are not going to do everything perfectly, but everything we do in love moves us closer to being the perfect lovers we are called to be.

Are you ready to rise into this newness of life?

For most of us our baptism was many years ago when we were infants. But each and every time we go to church we should recall our baptism. It is such an important part of our journeys as Christians. As a Catholic Christian I feel blessed because baptism is so much a part of every mass. We remember our baptism every time we bless ourselves with holy water. It is mentioned in the creed we recite every week. The baptismal font is an ever present fixture in our sanctuaries. At all Christian services we are called to remember our baptism in prayer when we pray in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Every Easter around the world all Christians are called to renew their baptismal promises. In this brief service within the Easter Liturgy of the Catholic Church, we are both reminded of our baptismal promises and called to live them out. Let us all take a moment to reflect on these promises and recommit to them. The appropriate response to each invocation is to say 'I do'.

Do you reject Satan?
And all his works?
And all his empty promises?
Do you believe in God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth?
Do you believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was born of the Virgin Mary was crucified, died, and was buried, rose from the dead, and is now seated at the right hand of the Father?
Do you believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting?
God, the all-powerful Father of Jesus Christ has given us a new birth by water and the Holy Spirit, and forgiven all our sins. May he also keep us faithful to our Lord Jesus Christ for ever and ever.
R. Amen.

(this baptismal renewal service appears from the site www.catholic.org)

Reflecting on these things over the past few years while I was sick and unable to work I have come to the conclusion that in order to rise with Christ in new life we must also die with him. We must pick up our cross and carry it. We can't leave it for someone else to carry. We can't ignore it and think it will go away. We must walk with our Lord. We must live as he lived or we will experience no life at all.

Just going through the motions is death. Living in lukewarmness is a prison sentence. This is no way to live. As a Christian we must be courageous! We must be bold! We must be different! We must be like Jesus!

Beloved, we are God's children now; it does not yet appear what we

shall be, but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, for we

shall see him as he is. And every one who thus hopes in him purifies

himself as he is pure. 1 John 3:2-3

We are God's children!

We shall be like him!

We shall see him as he is!

We will be purified as he is pure!

I could spend a whole reflection on each of these statements. Think about how powerful they are. Read each one slowly and pause to think about them.

The movie version of the book “Heaven is for Real” will debut in theaters next week. I have read this powerful book and hope to see the movie. In this true story, a 5 year old boy dies and goes to heaven. Then he awakes again on earth and in the years to come tells the story of his time spent in heaven.

We are called to put our hope in Christ Jesus and the promises he made to us. He has promised us a seat in his kingdom at the royal banquet. His Father has given everything to him and he offers everything he has to us if we just trust in him. Put your faith in Jesus and his promises. Heaven is for real because he tells us it is. God is really our Father because Jesus tells us he is. God really loves us because Jesus told us he does.

Put your hope in Jesus! Listen to what he is speaking to you this lent and carry it with you throughout your entire life. Don't just stop loving because the 40 days of lent is over. Be the change that you want to see in the world. Go out and make a difference. Be the best version of yourself.

Wow! I'm full of cliches today, too bad I borrowed all these from other people much more intelligent than myself. Maybe I could coin some great phrase for myself. How about this one from the first Lenten post I made back on Ash Wednesday. I'm sure someone else has said this before but I don't know who. So until I hear otherwise I'll give the credit to the Holy Spirit who inspires all my writing.

I'm just a regular guy, who works a regular job, just like most of you. But in and through

Christ I am made extraordinary. I hope one day to be a saint and enjoy the gift that my

God has prepared for me since the beginning of time. I pray the same for you. I pray

that this special season of lent will be enriching and will help you to grow into the

person that God created you to be.

All of us are called to be saints. To live forever in eternal love with our creator. He gives us everything we need to make this a reality. Put yourself on the shelf and put your life in his hands. Be the clay on the potter's wheel. Let him guide you, shape you, purify you with fire, and then let him show his greatness to the world through you and your life.

This lent is just a small step in that process.

• This week I am taking a break from making suggestions on the three pillars of lent. You are on your own to pray and discern what God is calling you to. You could go back and read some of my earlier blogs. You could spend quiet time with the Lord and take the time to listen to him speak to you. Do something small or do something big, just be sure to do it with the extraordinary love that God has given to you. Share yourself and give the gift of life to others.

Let us end our reflection in prayer:

Lord Jesus, you are my light in the darkness. Let me never stray

to far from that light. And if I do let me always have the courage

to turn around and come back into the light. Your light is love

in a world that is full of sin and hate. Shine your light in and

through me so that I can bring you into this world of darkness.

Please let me finish this lent with increased fervor and

zeal for spreading the good news of salvation to the world.

Jesus, I am ready to die with you so as to live in the

newness of life you promise to me.

Amen