February 26th, 2023 - First Sunday of Lent

My friends, Lent is certainly a time to acknowledge our sinfulness, but not to obsess about it, not to beat ourselves up over it. As St. Paul puts it, the grace of God far surpasses the sin of human beings. And so our focus this season should really be on God.  

We always have our share of temptations.  We are tempted to despair because of personal hardships, to be vindictive and unforgiving to those who have done us wrong, to be indifferent when others are in pain, to be hyper-anxious or enslaved by fear when our health begins to fail, to be our own gods and live according to our own will. In all these temptations, our gracious God is right there with us, strengthening us to resist temptations like Jesus did. Let this Lent be a season in which we remember the goodness, the compassion of our God all the time, but especially when we are tempted to forget.