Life is hard,
so why make it harder?
Each one of us
has had battles in life.
Indeed
each one of us
still has battles in life.
And then Lent comes around
and we make life harder
for ourselves
by giving something up.
Why?
[PAUSE]
We know that it isn't
what we do for Lent
that is important,
but rather that we do something
for Lent.
But often
we give something up for Lent
in order to appear virtuous
in order to appear Holy.
And, because we know
that to parade our fasting
before others is foolish,
we try to keep our virtue
and our holiness
to ourselves
and just try to feel better about
being us.
Sometimes
we give things up for Lent
just to appear virtuous
and holy
not to anyone else
but ourselves.
And then we wonder
why we bother
when the day-to-day grind of living
hits us harder,
when we have given up
something we enjoy
that makes life
that bit sweeter,
that takes the edge off
of hard living.
Often,
when we get grumpier,
or more ready to complain,
that's a sure sign
that we're not keeping Lent well.
Maybe we're doing
the wrong thing for Lent.
[PAUSE]
We see Our Lord
preparing to go into Jerusalem
for the last time.
He tells us
of the suffering,
degradation,
and agony He must face
in order to accomplish
the work of salvation.
And then He hears blind Bartimaeus
crying out,
Bartimaeus who,
in the midst of his troubles
and sorrow
and sightlessness,
makes his life harder
by exposing himself to rebuke
and ridicule,
all because he has faith
in the One to Whom he calls.
And,
having come to Jesus
presenting his hardship,
presenting his misery,
fighting to walk that one last step
Bartimaeus is given something
more precious than just his sight.
He sees for the first time, yes,
but he gazes straight
into the face of God Himself.
That final effort
in his hardship
has given Bartimaeus
the gift
that every single human being craves:
sight of the Divine Smile.
This is how Bartimaeus is made holy
by Christ setting him apart for healing
and wholeness.
[PAUSE]
If we are using Lent to
become more holy
then that is good.
But,
as St Benedict says,
we should not seek to be called holy
but rather to become holy
in order for us to be rightly so called.
And that holiness
can only come
through pushing through life's hardship
so that Our Lord can make us holy.
The Lenten Fast
rather than being a hardship
becomes a liberation from
the rebuke and cruelty
of the world around us.
This is why
St Benedict suggests that
a monk should tell his abbot
what he is doing for Lent
and why.
As we have seen
Gesimatide is about
that preparation for Lent
to ensure that whatever we do,
we do it to become closer to God.
While discipline is tough,
we do need to do it
with a closet walk with God
being the sole reason.
And in that closer walk,
we bring our hardships,
aches, pains,
doubts, fears,
furies, tears
and sadness
for Him to heal.
[PAUSE]
In our Lenten discipline,
it is our faith that gets stronger
and our desire to be with Christ deeper,
because we know by faith
that He not only hears us
that He not only desires our healing
but that He also wants
our first sight
to be of Him
and His love for us.
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