Lent is not just a season of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving—it is a summons to die. Not a physical death, but a death to self, to sin, to everything that keeps us from the life Christ offers. Too often, we reduce Lent to external practices—giving up chocolate, attending an extra Mass, saying a few more prayers. These are good, but they are not the point. The point is conversion. The point is transformation. The point is to take seriously the words of Christ: "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me." (Matthew 16:24)
Lent strips away our illusions. It forces us to confront who we truly are before God—not who we pretend to be, not who we hope others see, but who we actually are. It reveals our attachments, our weaknesses, our resistance to grace. It asks us to look in the mirror and see whether we are actually living as disciples or merely wearing the mask of one.
This season is a journey into the desert, where all distractions fade, and we are left alone with God. There, we encounter our greatest temptations—the same ones Jesus faced. The temptation to comfort (“Turn these stones into bread”), the temptation to power (“All these kingdoms I will give you”), and the temptation to self-sufficiency (“Throw yourself down; God will catch you”). Lent forces us to ask: What am I clinging to instead of Christ? What do I trust more than God?
True fasting is not just about food; it is about detaching from whatever dulls our hunger for God. True almsgiving is not just about charity; it is about breaking down the walls of selfishness and seeing Christ in others. True prayer is not just about saying more words; it is about opening the heart to be pierced by divine love.
If Lent does not lead us to the Cross, we have missed its purpose. And the Cross demands everything. It demands that we let go of the sins we have justified for years. It demands that we stop living a half-hearted faith. It demands that we surrender the grudges we have nurtured, the wounds we have clung to, and the fears that keep us from holiness.
This is the invitation of Lent: to die before you die, so when death does come, it finds nothing left to take—only a heart already surrendered to God. If we enter into this season with courage, Easter will not just be a day of celebration; it will be the dawn of a new life, a resurrection within us no darkness can overcome.
Blessings,
Deacon Mike
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