However, Lent is the time that we remember that the real meaning of life is not being the person that we want to be, but rather the person that God wants us to be. Instead of the self-made man, the Church gives us this holy season to recall that happiness is being the “grace-made man or woman.”
We need to turn down the volume of sound that comes from the world, rub our eyes to remove the glare of material things, and re-examine the price tag on what we consider priorities in life.
Once we were self-centered, but in baptism we became Christ-centered, and now God wants to remind us that he has hopes, plans and dreams for us far beyond our imagination.
In order to make the most of Lent, the Church echoes the voice of Christ who called us to deeper prayer. It is in prayer that we encounter the Lord and enter a conversation with Him. When two people are in love, they want nothing more than to be in each other’s presence and they hang on every word. The apostles did this when Christ spoke, and we are called, like the apostles, to quietly sit and listen to the Lord who wants to enlighten us.
People were very surprised that the Catechism of the Catholic Church dedicated so much attention to prayer. But the importance of prayer to our lives, our choices and our faith is paramount. Every saint was a man or woman of prayer, who lived in the same world as us — a world that was not always easy. Yet since God’s call to holiness is universal, we all must respond by being men and women of prayer.
Peace, joy, faith, hope and love are ours only when God is at work in our lives. Prayer is the opening up of ourselves to God, in ways that are both extraordinary and ordinary. Prayer is worship, gratitude, sorrow for our sins and our humble petition to better know, love and serve God. It is what opens out hearts to receive the sacraments and what allows those graces to continue to bear fruit.
Very few people set out on a journey without a destination in mind. Lent will lead us to the death and resurrection of Christ. By deeper prayer we can come to know better, and embrace more fully, the ways and plans of the Lord. To be a self-made person wins the applause of many, but prayer is the joy of belonging to Christ and being the person He has called us to be.
(This article courtesy of the Arlington Catholic Herald.)
