Show Notes
Lent is a time to renew our faith life, not punish ourselves. Fr. Rob reflects on Lent and its goodness.
Gospel: Mt 6:1-6, 16-18
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Episode Transcript
[00:00:12] Speaker A: Welcome to the Blessed Sacrament Homilies podcast where our mission is to help everyone recognize and experience the presence of God. We hope you are nourished and encouraged by the word. Thank you for joining us.
[00:00:26] Speaker B: The Lord be with you and with your spirit. A reading from the holy gospel according to Matthew.
Jesus said to his disciples, take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them.
Otherwise you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father.
When you give alms, do not blow a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets to win the praise of others.
Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right is doing, so that your alms giving may be secret and your father, who sees in secret, will repay you.
When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners so that others may see them.
Amen, I say to you. They have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your inner room, close the door, and pray to your father in secret, and your father, who sees in secret will repay you.
When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites. They neglect their appearance so that they may appear to others to be fasting.
Amen, I say to you. They have received their reward.
But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face so that you may not appear to be fasting, except to your father who is hidden, and your father, who sees what is hidden, will repay you.
The gospel of the Lord.
[00:02:23] Speaker A: Praise to Jesus Christ.
[00:02:26] Speaker B: Have you ever had the experience of lent that in reality, rather than being a tough discipline, ended up turning your life for the better in ways you hadn't counted?
Because that is typically my experience of this season.
There are certain disciplines we follow that kind of have us pull back from the day to day things we can get so obsessed with.
And in doing so we find not that we are feeling almost punished like some people think lent is, and instead can feel like burdens are taken off our shoulders.
We fast during Lent, and we abstain from meat on Fridays. And those things can seem to be a discipline when in reality they tend to just be healthier. For us, we get a side benefit.
And there's hardly been a season of Lent where I didn't lose a few pounds, even though that was not my intent.
Those things I give up, those things that can sometimes become our vices, while they can be difficult those first few days or perhaps even first couple of weeks.
Suddenly I find myself freed from things that were tying me down and everything seems brighter because of it.
And in being more charitable in doing works of kindness or mercy or charity I'm reminded of our connection with other people that it's not just about what I need or what my pleasures are or what my comfort level is but that we're all connected.
And in doing so I find I get just a little bit and I say little bit. I mean a little bit less grumpy than I usually am.
I begin to see people more as they are rather than those things that sometimes annoy me or bother me.
And I think that's a lot better way to understand this holy season that it's not about depriving ourselves as much as it is about freeing ourselves so that we can be a little bit more what God had intended for us which in reality is the ultimate way we find happiness.
