by Fr. Andrew Kelly
EIGHTH SUNDAY ORDINAL TIME — MARCH 2, 2014
Lent begins Ash Wednesday, March 5, 2014. Through the serious practice of the traditional Lenten disciplines of fasting, prayer and almsgiving, individual believers and believing communities will spend Lent pondering:
“Am I, are we, who we say we are? And if I, and we, are not who we say we are, then how do I, we, radically transform ourselves into who we say we are?”
The transformation cannot occur unless there is hunger and thirst (fasting), total dependence upon the Lord (prayer), and radical generosity toward the poor (almsgiving). These disciplines, if faithfully practiced, will reveal to both the individual and the community whether the God they believe in is the God Jesus Christ proclaimed.
Come Easter Sunday, individual believers and believing communities will know for sure whether Sunday’s Gospel (Matthew 6:24-34) means anything at all. Because during Lent, a choice must be made. This is the choice Jesus’ offers:
“No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth (mammon).”
Come Easter Sunday, who will the master be? The discovery journey begins Ash Wednesday.
(Father Andrew Kelly is a retired priest of the Diocese of Davenport.)
