“The highest reward that God gives us for good work is the ability to do better work.” ~ Elbert Hubbard
We are beginning the second week of Lent today. On Ash Wednesday, many of us gathered in church to pray and to receive ashes, marking another Lent. At the Mass, we may have made promises to ourselves and to God, promises that we would increase our prayer, promises that we would give up some things to mortify ourselves, and promises that we would take on additional good works to love our God by loving and serving His people.
Did you ever stop to wonder about Lent? The season comes to us annually. Every year, we begin it anew. Every year, we work through to the goal of a new experience at Easter. Each year, at Easter, we know that we will be asked to enter the season again the following year.
The naysayer might proclaim that what we do is worthless, that we have to do the same thing over and over again. The faithful among us, however, would recognize the annual cycle for what it is: a chance to do more.
“The highest reward that God gives us for good work is the ability to do better work.” I have often spoke about Lent being an opportunity to do “little”. In all our spiritual attempts, we are called to be a little bit more holy today than we were yesterday and a little bit more holy the next day, and the next. That way, by the time Easter arrives, we will find that we are a bit more holy than we were the previous Easter. We know that we will have the opportunity to continue that cycle when Lent comes again the following year.
The cycle of becoming a bit more holy day by day should not stop at Easter. One of these years, it should finally click in our heads that our call to holiness is a daily call. God gives us grace daily and He hopes that we use it daily for growth and renewal.
Some may not have begun Lent yet. Ash Wednesday may have come and gone as well as the first week of Lent. The wonderful thing about God is that He is always inviting His people to holiness. If you did not begin Lent on Ash Wednesday, it is not too late. Do not wait until next year. Begin today. God appreciates the effort to grow closer to Him no matter when we begin. Do yourself a favor and embrace God’s invitation to grow in faith and love.
Make some resolutions to get you through this Lenten season. Modify the resolutions you have already made if you find some of them too difficult or unattainable. Promise God that you will do your best to come to know Him a little bit more each day.
FAITH ACTION: Do more in prayer and good works today than you did yesterday.