The Word of God comes for our good. The command of God is life. The Lord tells Moses to inform the people of Israel to “Be holy, for I, the Lord, your God, am holy.”
If you and I were to be present when Moses delivered this important message to the Israelites, how would you and I respond?
The Lord went on to instruct the Israelites: “You shall not steal. You shall not lie. You shall not speak falsely to one another. You shall not swear or profane the name of the Lord. You shall not defraud or rob your neighbor…..” This list goes on and on (see Leviticus 19: 1-2, 11-18).
These words are a great source of examination of conscience during this Lenten Journey, a sacred period of penance and fasting.
Jesus in the gospel reminds us of the consequence of our actions or in actions to those around us. At the penitential act, during Mass, we recite the prayer “I confess to Almighty God.” At one point during the prayer, we say, “….I have greatly sinned, in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done and in what I have failed to do.” “In what I have failed to do” sin of omission.
What have I done? What have I failed to do? Who is at the center of your world: yourself or God? Something to think about this Lent: Is God at the center of my life?
In his book “The Road to Character,” David Brooks talks about what he called The “Big Me and The Summoned Self.” Mr. Books says, “We have moved from a culture that encouraged people to think humbly of themselves to a culture that encourages people to see themselves as the center of the universe.”
He says the only concern for the “Big Me” is: What can you do for me? On the way of contrast, “The Summoned Self” asks the question: What can I do for you?
Thomas Merton says it well: “It is true to say that for me sanctity consists in being myself and for you sanctity consists in being yourself…… For me to be a saint means to be myself. Therefore, the problem of sanctity and salvation is in fact the problem of finding out what I am and discovering my true self.”
Lent is a time to discover or rediscover one’s true self.
Hence, Socrates’ statement “Man know thyself.”
Saint Augustine says: “You have made us for Yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in You.”
“Restlessness” is something we all need to avoid. God does not want you and I to be restless. That is the reason He gave us instructions or commandments we heard today in our readings.
Dear friends, as we celebrate the memorial of Saints Perpetua and Felicity and ponder on the mysteries of Lent, we are called to make God the center of our lives. To succeed at this quest, we must have the courage and fortitude of Saint Perpetua and Saint Felicity, who died professing their faith as Christians.
Saint Perpetua followed her desire to become a Christian instead of her father, who tried to discourage her from taking that sacred step. During one of those persuasions by her father, Perpetua once asked her father, pointing to a water jug, “See that pot lying there? Can you call it by any other name than what it is?” Her father answered, “Of course not.” Perpetua responded, “Neither can I call myself by any other name than what I am — a Christian.”
Felicity was a friend of Perpetua. Both suffered the same fate and passion. Felicity was tormented though she was pregnant. It was against the law for pregnant women to be executed. To kill a child in the womb was shedding innocent and sacred blood. Felicity was afraid that she would not give birth before the day set for their martyrdom, and her companions would go on their journey without her. Her friends also didn’t want to leave so “good a comrade” behind. Two days before the execution, Felicity went into a painful labor. The guards made fun of her, insulting her by saying, “If you think you suffer now, how will stand it when you face the wild beasts?” Felicity answered them calmly, “Now I’m the one who is suffering, but in the arena, another will be in me suffering for me because I will be suffering for him.”
Let’s continue to keep our brothers and sisters in Ukraine and Russia in our prayer, especially during these difficult times. May Our Blessed Mother and Saint Joseph be their strength, Amen.
