Lent is a time of growth. This is especially clear from this Sunday’s responsorial psalm: “Your ways, O Lord, make known to me; teach me your paths. Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my savior.” These weeks leading up to Easter are a time to let God guide us into new ways of living our lives, new efforts at self-discipline, and new habits of generosity and forgiveness.
Some of this growth is a “turning away” from things that lead us away from God. One friend of mine spent Lent fasting from anxiety. Whenever she began to feel fear or worry, she responded with a brief prayer: “Take my will and my life, guide me and show me how to live.” At her suggestion, another friend fasted from anger. Whenever he felt wrath growing in him, he prayed from Psalm 62:6, “My soul, be at rest in God alone, from whom comes my hope.” Both friends found that fasting from harmful emotions was more difficult than giving up candy or cigarettes. After they removed such distractions from their hearts, however, they found it easier to hear God’s quiet voice and experience divine love. This Sunday’s second reading emphasizes this practice. Christ leads us to God by showing us that giving up our lives allows us to rise in the Spirit. Just so, when my friends “put to death” something in their lives, they found in the Spirit new sources of life.
The growth of Lent is also a “turning toward.” It is not enough just to overcome our bad habits. To become like Christ, we must also develop the virtues he taught. Like him, we too must love our enemies, forgive our persecutors, show generosity to the undeserving and mercy to sinners. This takes tremendous faith—far more than comes naturally to most people. To live like Christ requires that we trust with all our heart that God exists, that God has taken an interest in our lives, and that God’s power will eventually overcome any harm others can do to us. Our faith in God’s care is the basis of the covenant revealed in this Sunday’s first reading, and it is our response to the divine compassion mentioned in the responsorial psalm.
This is what Jesus means in this Sunday’s Gospel reading when he cries out, “repent and believe!” Any who wish to follow him must be ready to turn away from destructive habits and turn toward practices that deepen their faith. This ethical growth may also inspire a deeper spiritual growth. A quiet heart that trusts in God will be ready to see Christ when he shows up in our lives. This is no easy task. In six weeks, when the Church starts the Easter season, we will hear a number of Gospel readings in which Jesus’ closest disciples fail to recognize him. They had not prepared their hearts to understand his risen life or their own role in it. We observe Lent to avoid the same fate. We grow and strive to become like Christ not just to be good people, but to prepare our hearts to catch sight of God’s subtle presence and to join in the task of bringing our broken world new life.