Thursday After Ash Wednesday, March 6, 2005

Thursday After Ash Wednesday, March 6, 2005

Today’s Readings, from the USCCB:

Reading 1

Deuteronomy 30:15-20

Moses said to the people: "Today I have set before you life and prosperity, death and doom. If you obey the commandments of the LORD, your God, which I enjoin on you today, loving him, and walking in his ways, and keeping his commandments, statutes and decrees, you will live and grow numerous, and the LORD, your God, will bless you in the land you are entering to occupy. If, however, you turn away your hearts and will not listen, but are led astray and adore and serve other gods, I tell you now that you will certainly perish; you will not have a long life on the land that you are crossing the Jordan to enter and occupy. I call heaven and earth today to witness against you: I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Choose life, then, that you and your descendants may live, by loving the LORD, your God, heeding his voice, and holding fast to him. For that will mean life for you, a long life for you to live on the land that the LORD swore he would give to your fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob."

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 1:1-2, 3, 4 and 6

R. Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.

Blessed the man who follows not the counsel of the wicked Nor walks in the way of sinners, nor sits in the company of the insolent, But delights in the law of the LORD and meditates on his law day and night.

R. Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.

He is like a tree planted near running water, That yields its fruit in due season, and whose leaves never fade. Whatever he does, prospers.

R. Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.

Not so the wicked, not so; they are like chaff which the wind drives away. For the LORD watches over the way of the just, but the way of the wicked vanishes.

R. Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.

Verse Before the Gospel

Matthew 4:17

Repent, says the Lord; the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Gospel

Luke 9:22-25

Jesus said to his disciples:

"The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised."

Then he said to all, "If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. What profit is there for one to gain the whole world yet lose or forfeit himself?"

 

Thursday after Ash Wednesday: The Crossroads of Choice

"Today I have set before you life and prosperity, death and doom." – Deuteronomy 30:15

Standing at the threshold of Lent, I find myself reflecting on choices – those made, those avoided, and those that lie ahead. The words from Deuteronomy resonate deeply: "I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Choose life, then, that you and your descendants may live."

That’s the thing about faith. It isn’t something that just is. It’s something I have to choose. Every single day. And when I look back at my life, at the thousand tiny decisions I’ve made, I don’t always like what I see.

The Weight of My Choices

Some choices are easy to justify. Others, not so much.

I tell myself I don’t go to Mass because I’m busy, because the Church doesn’t feel like home to me anymore, because I’m tired. But the truth? It’s easier to sleep in just a bit longer or watch pregame coverage on Sunday morning. It’s easier to pour a cup of milk and sit in the comfort of my own home than to step into a church where I sometimes feel like an outsider.

I tell myself I don’t have enough time for family. But I somehow find enough time to go out with friends, to sit at a bar, to watch the game, to escape into distractions. I tell myself I’ll make it up to them next time, but next time always feels like it’s just a little further away.

I tell myself little lies to get out of things I don’t want to do. I’m too busy. I have too much going on. I’m not feeling great today. But the truth is, sometimes I just don’t feel like showing up. And instead of being honest, I take the easy way out.

And then there’s the big one. The one I don’t like to say out loud.

I always want more. More money to pay off debt, more money to feel comfortable, more money so I don’t have to feel like I’m always trying to keep up. And I tell myself that’s normal, that it’s responsible, that I’m just trying to provide. But I also know this – I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about money. Wishing for it. Wondering why some people have so much and I seem to always need a little more. And that desire, that want, can start to feel like a chain wrapped around my heart.

But today’s readings remind me of something sobering.

"What profit is there for one to gain the whole world yet lose or forfeit himself?" – Luke 9:25

I could have more. I could chase more. I could make that my mission. But at what cost?

Because I already know what it feels like to lose pieces of myself in the pursuit of something that will never be enough.

What It Really Means to Choose Life

Jesus says, "If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me."

Not once. Not when it’s convenient. Daily.

And that’s where the real struggle is. Because my cross isn’t something dramatic. It isn’t a single, heroic sacrifice. It’s in the daily, seemingly small choices that stack up over time.

·         Choosing prayer over distractions.

·         Choosing honesty over convenience.

·         Choosing time with my family over time numbing myself with entertainment.

·         Choosing contentment over the endless pursuit of more.

·         Choosing to show up, even when I don’t feel like it.

These aren’t grand gestures. They’re the quiet battles that shape who I become.

And today, as I sit with this, I have to ask myself: What am I choosing?

Because I don’t think God is waiting for me to be perfect. I think He’s just waiting for me to take one step toward Him.

So today, I take that step. I don’t know if I’ll get it all right. But I know this – I don’t want to keep choosing things that leave me feeling empty. I want to choose life. And I want to mean it.