Readings: Joel 2:12-18; Psalm 51: 3-6a, 12-14, 17; 2 Corinthians 5:20-6:2; Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18
“Even now, says the Lord, return to me with your whole heart, with fasting, and weeping and mourning; Rend your hearts and not your garments . . .” Joel
Lent is the season of interior spiritual renewal. It is an opportunity for transformation. We enter into the Paschal Mystery by dying to sin and rising to new life. We strive to change an aspect of ourselves that keeps us from loving God wholeheartedly. But it is God who sanctifies us. And the end of our Lenten practices is God, not self-perfection. Too often we get caught up in our practices and make them an end in themselves. But the purpose of Lent is an inner transformation. Is there a heart change? Are we growing in God’s love? The Spirit alone can bring about this new life, but we need to cooperate.
“When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites . . .But when you fast, anoint your head . . .” Matthew
As we do penance, we do so in secret and with bright and cheerful faces. While we are called to follow Jesus, called to embrace the serious work of reform and renewal, we are to do so with a joyful spirit and a smile. The church reminds us of this in the preface of Ash Wednesday:
“Each year you give us this joyful season when we prepare to celebrate the paschal mystery with mind and heart renewed. . . . As we recall the great events that gave us new life in Christ, you bring the image of your Son to perfection in us.”
In Our Way of Life we read: “Precious Blood spirituality calls us to lives of continual conversion and transformation . . .”
As we choose our Lenten practices, how open are we to God to effect a true conversion within us?
Reflection by: Sister Genevieve Volk, C.PP.S. (Dayton, Ohio)