Blessed Are They Who Hope In the Lord

"If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.  For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.  What profit is there for one to gain the whole world yet lose or forfeit himself. 

The beginning of Lent always stirs within me great feelings of hope and suffering.  My friends and I will have our annual discussion of what we are giving up this year.  I am usually disinterested in the actual giving up on things since I tend to not dwell on things.  However, this year, I found myself addicted to what one friend deemed “Demon Coffee.”  The rest of the world calls it ‘Starbucks.’  So my Lent features the sacrifice of my morning cup of Joe from my favorite provider.  Giving up stuff for the sake of giving up stuff is completely contrary to the purpose of Lent.  Some of my friends like to profess that this is the time for sacrifice but I often disagree with them as some of my friends often misinterpret the value of sacrifice in the Lenten tradition.  The Church calls on us to fast whenever we are in need to spiritual graces and I am not just speaking of the fast from eating but rather the fast from anything which will distract us from the life to which Christ has called us to live.  Thus the sheer sacrifice of taking something away from daily life is arbitrary without purpose and intent.  Lent is a prescribed time for growth as we wait on the Risen Lord and the sacrifice of Lent is to remove the obstacles to growth in Christ. 

The Holy Father’s reflection for Lent this year calls to mind a beautiful thought and that is on the virtue of charity.  “Let us be concerned for each other, to stir a response in love and good works.”  Pope Benedict XVI draws from the Letter to the Hebrews to inspire us this Lenten season.  As Christ is ‘the Way, the Truth, and the Life’, we must use this Lenten season to draw ourselves away from the materialism which seems to pervade the society we have come to live in.  When we allow our vision to be obstructed by an iPhone, Xbox 360, or whatever shiny new thing is out there, we run the risk of overlooking our brothers and sisters in need.  Lent is the time to call to mind those who are in need and to give in Love so that we can receive in kind.  God calls us to follow him.  All we have to do is pick up our cross and go.