Be Our Guest / Fr. Patrick Beidelman

During Lent, keep Easter daily before your eyes

We know the routine. The penitential color of violet comes out on Ash Wednesday. We sing songs about God’s mercy, and about our need for forgiveness.

Almsgiving, prayer and fasting will be the tools of our trade these next few weeks.

On Ash Wednesday, we received the ashes—remembering that some things are temporary and other things are eternal.

We make our commitments to be better disciples—things we give up and things we pledge to do.

We know the routine, and it seems to me that there’s a part of us—a part deep within—that is grateful for it, this routine, which calls us back to the center, which helps us to open our hearts wider, and which helps us to remember and give thanks more consistently, more completely, for the love of the God who does not abandon us.

The sacrifices of Ash Wednesday and this Lenten season allow us to “double down” with the Lord today. However, this “doubling down” on our part is not a gamble at all.

In fact, our returning to the Lord and our preparation for our recommitment to him at the great celebration of Easter is a guaranteed—a sure bet for you and me—to grow in our friendship with Jesus.

For the Lord, who sees and knows what is really within us, what we really hope for, will be there to comfort and guide, console and heal, commission and strengthen.

Our righteous deeds not only show our devotion to and our desire to please the Lord, but also help to advance the kingdom of justice, love and peace that Jesus came to establish.

So we put our faith in action this Lenten season by using the familiar disciplines of prayer, fasting and charity, not only for ourselves but also so that Christ can work through us for the good of others and for his greater glory in the world today.

Because of that, the call of the Gospel challenges us to begin and to continue our efforts for repentance and renewal this Lenten season—not for praise and reward here and now, but rather so that God can work on us and help others to know, love and serve him more faithfully through the family of the Church.

As we evangelize others with our commitment to purity in body, mind and spirit, and as we employ the tools of our trade in our stepping back into this season of joyful repentance, let us be guided by the example of Jesus our brother. No matter what struggles lie ahead and no matter what baggage we carry with us now, let us seek to do it all in love.

Can we let love be our measure and guide that governs our efforts in this Lenten Season?

Not only do I think we can, I also believe that this is what the Gospel demands of you and me.

When we pray, let us do it with love, adoring and praising God for his blessings and care. Let us show our affection for him by turning to prayer with hearts that are overflowing with our love for him.

When we fast, let us do so in solidarity with the hungry poor and the hungry rich.

When we live charitably, let us do so not expecting a return on our investment, but rather let us do it to enhance God’s portfolio of salvation.

May God’s grace help our intentions to be pure and honorable. May we strive for integrity and shun hypocrisy so that we let ourselves belong to the Lord whether we are in public or private.

And let all we say or do flow from the very love of Christ, which has been placed in our hearts in order that the Lord of heaven and Earth may bring his God work of creation to fulfillment.

In his holy Rule of life, St. Benedict reminds his follows to remember their mortality and their need for God’s merciful love by exhorting them to “Keep death daily before your eyes.”

As we begin this Lenten season, the call of the Gospel and of the whole Church throughout the world—for us and for all people—is to “Keep Easter daily before your eyes!”

As we journey through these 40 days and we contemplate that this life is not the end of the story for us, let us—with great hope and gratitude—“Keep Easter daily before our eyes.”

For in the Lord’s resurrection is our resurrection. In his eternal life is our eternal life. In his perfect communion is our communion. So “keep Easter daily before your eyes!”
 

(Father Patrick Beidelman is the director of liturgy for the archdiocesan Office of Worship and vice rector of Bishop Simon Bruté College Seminary in Indianapolis. He preached this homily during the noon Mass on Ash Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2010 at SS. Peter and Paul Cathedral in Indianapolis.) †