What If

22 Mar

“What if we view this desert time of Lent as not just a time to reflect or to lament or to confess or to fast, but a time where we learn to be free?”  ~ Megan Westra

Reflect?  Been there.
Lament?  Done that.
Confess?  Got the t-shirt.
Fast?  You betcha.

A lot of people see Lent as a season of obligations and/or as a spiritual checklist of sorts to which we must adhere.  What if Lent was not just that?  What if Lent was a whole lot more?

When it comes to talking about Holy Days of Obligation, I often say that I think we have labelled those days incorrectly.  They should not be called days of obligation because people so often rebel against the very concept of obligation.  Instead, I say that they should be called days of opportunity.  We should take the opportunity to go to Mass that day to celebrate the solemnity.

What if Lent was not seen as an obligation?  What if Lent, on the other hand, was viewed as a wonderful opportunity to get closer to God?  In order to take this opportunity, we embrace reflection, sorrow, contrition, fasting, and so much more.  Then, we wouldn’t view them as things we have to do.  Instead, we would view them as things we want to do in order to be as close to God as possible.

What if we viewed each day of our lives as opportunity?  That opportunity would lead us to live in the true freedom of God.  Then, we would not worry about what others tell us what we ought to do.  We would be too busy living what we want to do, to be holy children of God.

What if we all lived that way?  What a different — and wonderful — world this would be!

FAITH ACTION:  Do not let the world bring you down.  Instead, live freely and joyfully as a child of God this day.