[The following homily was given by Arlington Bishop Paul S. Loverde on April 6. It is reprinted here in two parts.]
During Lent, we are being strengthened to follow Christ more closely, and by imitating Him, to do God's Will more faithfully. To do this demands denying our inner self every day and so the struggle becomes real in many different ways. For example, our struggle may involve overcoming some deep-rooted sinful inclination; or facing misunderstanding, slander and opposition; or accepting a situation which is difficult or nearly impossible to resolve, like a terminal illness; or coping with fear and anxiety cause by the war in Iraq or by the ever-present threat of terrorism. We imitate Christ in the real circumstances and events of our daily lives in good times and in bad, in joys and sorrows, in accomplishments and defeats, in times of great stress and in long periods of monotony and routine, in suffering and, ultimately, in death. In seeking to relive His life in ours, we are likewise seeking to fulfill God's Will in our individual situations each day. To identify with Christ in this daily struggle and to commit ourselves to God's Will despite difficulty and distress is without doubt to live out the imitation of Christ "“ the basic goal of our spiritual life.
Well do we conclude our reflection on imitating Christ with a prayer attributed to Saint Richard of Chichester: “"Merciful friend, Brother and Redeemer, may I know you more clearly, love you more dearly and follow you more nearly, day by day.”
