The Purpose of Lent – To Be Holy
We celebrate the season of Lent from Ash Wednesday until we begin the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday. What are we trying to achieve? What is it that we hope to accomplish during Lent?
I think the answer to this question is what we should always be trying to accomplish. Our goal for this Lent (and always) can be summarized with these words from today’s first reading, “Be holy, for I, the LORD, your God, am holy.”
“Be holy!”
What do you think it means to be holy?
Some people may want to respond by saying, “Holy is what the saints are but I’m not holy.”
Yes, the saints are holy. God wants you to be holy too. God does not say just a few people are supposed to be holy. What “the LORD said to Moses” was, “Speak to the whole assembly of the children of Israel and tell them: Be holy, for I, the LORD, your God, am holy.” You are part of the “whole assembly.” God wants you to be holy.
So, what does it mean to be holy?
One definition of “holy” given by the Merriam-Webster dictionary app on my phone is “having a divine quality” or “venerated as or as if sacred.” On our own, we do not have a divine quality. We are not sacred. I stress “on our own” because, not through our own doing, each of us is created in the image of God (see Genesis 1:27). God certainly is holy. Creating us in his image, we are all called to be holy.
Another definition of “holy” from my phone app is “devoted entirely to the deity or the work of the deity.” There is only one deity and He is our God. To be holy is to be totally devoted to God.
Are you totally devoted to God?
You should be!
It might seem impossible. Our past experience with sins shows that we fall short. This is why Jesus died for us.
How are we supposed to know how to “be holy”? God would not call us to be holy without revealing how. Today’s psalm response, “Your words, Lord, are spirit and life” (see John 6:63), reveals that the answer is found in God’s Word.
Why do we find God’s Word?
In the Bible, of course!
The entire Bible is God’s Word. It provides us with God’s direction on how we are called to live. Our first reading says, “You shall not steal. You shall not lie or speak falsely to one another. You shall not swear falsely by my name.” It also says, “You shall not defraud or rob your neighbor…or put a stumbling block in front of the blind, but you shall fear your God…You shall not act dishonestly in rendering judgment…but judge your fellow men justly…You shall not go about spreading slander among your kin…“You shall not bear hatred for your brother in your heart…You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
These are just some of the directions from God in our first reading. I encourage to reflect on the entire reading to see if it reveals to you something you need to work on.
Likewise, today’s gospel reading reveals us ways to be holy. We need to ask ourselves, “Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs?” These are the Corporal Works of Mercy (see my presentation, The Journey to Jesus: Acts of Mercy).
We are not all called to do the same acts of mercy. We are all called to do some acts of mercy for we are all called to love our neighbor as ourselves.
We don’t always do this. That’s why we have Lent, to get ourselves back on track with the Lord’s plan for us. What is God calling you to do to be holy this Lent?
Peace,
Fr. Jeff