Lent is for Losers
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March 2, 2025I am a loser. Don’t get me wrong, I think I have a pretty healthy sense of self-worth, that’s not what I mean. As I prepare to begin the disciplines of Lent this year (prayer, fasting, and almsgiving) I have an uncomfortable awareness that I regularly fail at this and I have difficulty overcoming certain sins. Sin makes us all losers my friends. When you consider the potential of losing Heaven, I would say our irrational attachment to sin makes us THE BIGGEST LOSERS.
I really appreciate the season of Lent. It’s our yearly invitation from our Church to look inward, mourn the Paradise we lost, reflect on the drastic measures God takes to redeem us, and recommit to the actions required to get right with God.
Turn away from sin and believe in the Gospel
The other day as I was on my daily commute to my parish job, I heard an advertisement come on the radio. In the ad, the plumbing/ac/mechanical company proudly declared their motto… “If you believe it, you will live it.” It was almost as if our Lord was speaking to me. Why do I struggle living what I believe? Do I really believe? Lord, help my unbelief!
I have always found it interesting that on Ash Wednesday, when we approach a minister he says, “turn away from sin and believe in the Gospel.” That implies an action (don’t do that sinful act), precedes belief (God loves me). Knowledge makes a difference, but the consequences of sin become manifest whether we have the knowledge its wrong, or not. These two things: action and belief go hand in hand. It is easy to say for instance: I believe in the sanctity of marriage. It’s hard to live like a saint in my marriage.
Wooden Beams, Splinters, and Fruit
It’s hard to imagine Jesus disliking anyone, but this weekend we heard the amazing parable in Luke 6: 39-45, in which Jesus talks about the importance of being authentic. People who pretend to be something they’re not, like the Pharisees, clearly got on Jesus’ nerves. The parable we heard this weekend is not directed at the Pharisees though, it’s directed at His disciples. “How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me remove that splinter in your eye’ when you do not even notice the wooden beam in your own eye? Remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter in your brother’s eye.” In case that wasn’t clear enough, Jesus goes on to explain it another way… “For every tree is known by its fruit,” translation… every person is known by his actions. “A good person, out of the store of goodness in his heart produces good, but an evil person out of a store of evil produces evil,” said Jesus.Back to Basics This Lent
A young author named Steffanie Aquila, who wrote Festive Faith, was recently at the parish where I work giving a presentation about liturgical living. When she came around to talking about Lent and the common practice of giving something up, she proposed something a bit controversial. She said, “give up one of the sins you take to confession frequently.” Giving something up is supposed to be about giving up something we like, not sin, we're supposed to always give up sin. But perhaps she’s onto something. Those sins we confess frequently are bad things we like! Why else would we do them? So perhaps the idea has some merit.
So, let’s focus on some basic things this Lent. Pray: attend Holy Mass as frequently as possible and go to Confession. Fast: Eat simple foods, 2 small meals. Give alms: give generously to the Church and other good causes.
Let’s make our actions truly reflect what we believe. While we may be losers in the sense that we lost our original unity with God, and we’re losers in the sense that we irrationally risk eternal separation from Him by our actions, we are still God's beloved children, and we are loved. What else can we do, but love Him back?
