Thursday, February 19, 2026

 Thursday after Ash Wednesday

 (Deuteronomy 30:15-20; Luke 9:22-25)

 “Choose life.”  We have all seen bumper stickers with this anti-abortion message.  No doubt, people who feel burdened by an unexpected pregnancy find the message ironic.  To them life is being liberated from the responsibility of a child so that they may pursue their own felt needs.  Life, then, is one of those simple words with a range of meanings. 

 In the reading from Deuteronomy today, Moses exhorts the Israelites to “choose life.”  He has in mind following God’s commandments which bring prosperity to both individual and community. As always, Jesus intensifies Moses’ message.   In today’s gospel he says that life comes when people surrender themselves to God as he does.  This will often mean a renunciation of one’s personal desires.  But the life that Jesus has in mind is eternal happiness with God.

 We have already chosen Jesus’ way of life, but we have not always been faithful to it.  During Lent we make the necessary adjustments to renew our choice. It requires sacrifice for sure. To help us in the process we have the Lord himself in the Eucharist as well as one another.

 

Thursday, March 3, 2022

 Thursday after Ash Wednesday

(Deuteronomy 30:15-20; Luke 9:22-25)

At first glance it seems only ironic that one must die in order to live.  If one wants to have life, she should keep away from things that produce death.  But when we think about it, simulating dying can lead to more life.  Surgeons can cure remove life-threatening cancers after the patient becomes dead-like with anesthesia.

On a higher level, people will experience spiritual renewal when they put an end to wild living.  Dorothy Day lived as a saint when she left behind the bohemian lifestyle of her young adult years. In today’s first reading Moses urges the Israelites to choose life by adopting God’s law.  They will not be following their whims any longer.  Rather, they will discipline themselves with divine precepts which assure bodily and spiritual benefit.  In the gospel Jesus is even more challenging.  To live, he says, one must take up the terror of the cross.  It is a death-dealing instrument that accepted in self-sacrifice brings one to eternal life.

In its beginning Lent seems like such a long haul that we are reluctant to make any sacrifices.  Of course, as all time, Lent proceeds at a rapid pace.  With good effort each day we can see ourselves become stronger, kinder, holier.  At Easter, the journey’s end, we should have a glimpse of the glory of eternal life.

Thursday, February 18, 2021

 

Thursday after Ash Wednesday

 (Deuteronomy 30:15-20; Luke 9:22-25)

 Lenten mass readings do not follow any sequence.  We do not read consecutive passages from any Old Testament, New Testament, or gospel book.  No, the Church selects readings from diverse sources to help us make the most of this fruitful season.  Today, still at Lent’s beginning, the readings indicate a proposal for this time of penance.  Like the Israelites ready to enter the Promised Land, we are challenged to reform our ways.  

The gospel passage adds necessary perspective.  We are to take up our daily cross and to follow Jesus.  He will lead us on the way of discipleship.  It is a course of self-sacrifice for God’s sake.  We let go of our claim to time and energy for the sake of others with more urgent claims.  In short, we sacrifice ourselves to help the needy live with dignity.  Jesus leads us not only by modeling the concern we are to give but also by praying to God for help.

We may think that the Lenten experience ends with the celebration of Easter in six weeks.  But this is not the case.  The sacrifices which we took up anew yesterday only end with our own death and entrance into eternal life.  We might ease off on some of the laid practices that we have just assumed.  But the cross which we have taken up – our commitment to living like Jesus – is not to be laid down soon.  We bear it until we too reach the Promised Land.

 

Thursday, February 27, 2020

Thursday after Ash Wednesday

Deuteronomy 30:15-20; Luke 9:22-25

In a “Faustian bargain” one sells his or her eternal soul to the devil in exchange for temporal goods.  The term originates from a legendary man who bargained with the devil for unlimited knowledge and possessions.  Unfortunately, many people forfeit their souls at a much lesser price.  The readings today exhort us to avoid all such arrangements.

Moses is speaking to the people just before they enter the Promised Land.  He says that God will give them “life,” i.e., prosperity for them and their descendants.  They only have to keep to His ways.  In the gospel Jesus offers an even greater life.  His followers can secure an eternal reward by focusing on him rather than their own needs.  They are to live without complaints doing only good for others. 

The whole purpose of Lent is to reinforce the habits of self-denying love in order to have fullness of life.  Like any exercise worth our while, it takes effort.  But we share the experience with one another in the Church and also with Christ.  The burden becomes, paradoxically, a joy in such good company.

Thursday, March 7, 2019

Thursday after Ash Wednesday

(Deuteronomy 30:15-20; Luke 9:22-25)

Yuval Noah Harari lectures at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.  He has authored a couple of best-selling books critiquing Western Civilization.  In one he describes the driving forces behind contemporary life.  One force is that there is no morality other than what feels right to the individual.  Basically this position is a development of David Hume’s made during the Enlightenment.  A second force is evolution.  Nature including humanity evolves by chance with no final cause or purpose.  Of course, this idea is based on the work of Charles Darwin.  Finally, for now, Harari sees capitalism as humankind’s mechanism for satisfying human desires.  Capitalism has enabled more and more people to live in comfort while avoiding the scourges of war, famine, and disease.  Harari leaves no room for divine initiative, sustenance, or finality.  God for him is simply beside the point, and traditional religion a dampener to true human interests.  For Harari this is the contemporary human condition.  We buy into it with the air we breathe coming out of our mothers’ womb.

Needless to say, we do not accept Harari’s theses.  We know that there is a moral law which supports our necessary social institutions.  We further believe in God.  He is not just the Creator but the one who helps us through our daily struggles and will be there when all else is gone.  And we know that God wants us to take care of the needy so that everyone experiences His mercy.

Lent is our time of reorientation.  During this stretch of time we take a stand for life as Moses sees it in today’s first reading.  We acknowledge God as our Lord.  We pledge to leave aside our baser instincts of what feels right to obey His laws.  More than that during these forty days we take up our crosses to follow Jesus.  He will lead us beyond self-centered desires to the state of universal love which is eternal life.

Thursday, February 15, 2018

Thursday after Ash Wednesday

(Deuteronomy 30:15-20; Luke 9:22-25)

“Choose life.”  We have all seen bumper stickers with this anti-abortion message.  No doubt, people who feel burdened by an unexpected pregnancy find the message ironic.  To them life means not taking on the responsibility of birthing a child so that they may pursue personal ambitions.  Life, then, is one of those simple words with a range of meanings. 

In the reading from Deuteronomy today, Moses exhorts the Israelites to “choose life.”  He has in mind God’s righteousness that promises to benefit both individual and community.  By following God’s commandments not only the present generation but also future ones will thrive.  As is his custom, Jesus radicalizes Moses’ message.  He tells his disciples that life comes when they lose their lives for his sake.  This loss surely entails some sacrifice of personal ambition and may require prematurely letting go of biological life.  But these are small forfeitures in comparison to the promise of happiness in eternal life.

Made at Baptism and renewed in every Eucharist our choice has been for Jesus’ way to life.  But have we been faithful to that selection?  During Lent we test ourselves and make all necessary adjustments.  We should foresee ourselves securely on the road to full life by Easter.   

Thrusday, February 11, 2016

Thursday after Ash Wednesday

(Deuteronomy 30:15-20; Luke 9:22-25)

When Mexican forces besieged the Alamo, the commander of the fortress was William Travis.  He knew that the situation was dire.  According to a popular legend, he drew a line in the ground with his sword.  He then told the Alamo’s defenders that they had a choice.  He said that they could either leave the compound or they could cross the line he had drawn and fight the Mexicans until death.  In the readings today both Moses and Jesus figuratively draw such a line in the sand.

In the first reading Moses gives the Israelites a clear option.  They may choose life by fulfilling the Lord’s commandments in the land which they are about to enter.  On the other hand, they may ignore the commands, worship foreign gods, and find themselves perishing.  Jesus’ option is similar.  His disciples may either imitate his self-denial in pursuit of divine love, or they may follow their own often selfish instincts. 

Each Lent we are to renew our decision to follow Jesus.  Like athletes training for the Olympics, we follow him by disciplining our bodies.  We want them to respond effortlessly to the promptings of his Spirit.  Of course, it is hard at first.  Not drinking coffee or daily kneeling down to say the rosary seems like self-inflicted torture.  But we soon realize that the sacrifices have palpable benefits and that they do not last very long.  More importantly, we come to realize that Jesus supports us.  We don’t find Lent the drudgery that some imagine.  Rather we come to know it as the springboard of life.

Thursday, February 19, 2015

Thursday after Ash Wednesday

(Deuteronomy 30:15-20; Luke 9:22-25)

“Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,” writes poet Robert Frost discerning the direction he should take in life.  One road, he says, “bent in the undergrowth” as if it was so well traveled that one might lose oneself on it.  He took the other one because, he claims, it seemed less worn.  Is that second trail the road of life, which Moses exhorts the Israelites to follow in today’s first reading and which Jesus delineates in the gospel?

Moses also refers to a choice.  He exhorts the Israelites to choose wisely in what may be called a fork in the road ahead.  One prong will lead them to life and prosperity through love of God and compliance with His commandments.  The other will bring them to dissolution through self-indulgence and injustice.  Jesus explicates what God desires of humans: that they deny themselves for His sake.  He too mentions a choice.  One can gain the whole world and be imprisoned in it.  Or she can lose everything that she has and find herself in the company of Jesus, the resurrected one.

Lent is a period of grace to reflect on the choices which the readings today propose.  We are to spare ourselves of comfort so that we can focus on Jesus.  He gave up everything so that we might choose life with him.

Thursday, March 6, 2014

Thursday after Ash Wednesday

(Deuteronomy 30:15-20; Luke 9:22-25)

“Choose life.”  We have all seen bumper stickers with this anti-abortion message.  No doubt, people who feel burdened by an unexpected pregnancy find the message ironic.  To them life is being liberated from the responsibility of a child so that they may pursue their own felt needs.  Life, then, is one of those simple words with a range of meanings. 

In the reading from Deuteronomy today, Moses exhorts the Israelites to “choose life.”  He has in mind God’s righteousness that promises to benefit both individual and community.  By following God’s commandments not only the present generation but future ones as well will thrive.  As is his wont, Jesus radicalizes Moses’ message.  He says in today’s gospel that life comes when we choose to surrender ourselves to God’s love as he does.  This may mean even a renunciation of biological life, but his promise is for  unimagined, eternal in God.

We have chosen Jesus’ way to life.  But have we been faithful to that selection?  During Lent we test ourselves and make all necessary adjustments to renew the choice.  We can foresee ourselves safely back on the road to full life by Easter and happily partaking of it in the resurrection of the dead.

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Thursday after Ash Wednesday

(Deuteronomy 30:15-20; Luke 9:22-25)

According to a famous legend, when the Alamo in Texas was being besieged by Mexican forces, the officer in charge, William Travis, drew a line in the ground with his sword. He told the remaining defenders that each had to choose for himself whether to leave the compound, evidently with safe passage, or to cross the line and fight the Mexicans until death. In the readings today both Moses and Jesus figuratively draw such a line in the sand.

In the first reading Moses gives the Israelites a clear option. They may choose life by living according to the Lord’s commandments in the land which they are about to enter. On the other hand, they may ignore the commands, worship the gods of the native peoples, and lead dissolute lives. Jesus’ option is similar. His disciples may either imitate his self-denial in pursuit of divine love or they may follow their own often selfish instincts.

Each Lent we are to renew our decision to follow Jesus. Like athletes training for competition, we discipline our bodies to respond to what our minds enlightened by grace know is right. Of course, it is hard at first. Not drinking coffee or not daily kneeling to say the rosary seems like self-punishment with an unforeseeable end. But we soon realize that time passes quickly, that the sacrifices have palpable benefits, and that Jesus is at our side for support. Lent is not the drudgery that some imagine. Rather it is the springboard to new life.

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Thursday after Ash Wednesday

(Deuteronomy 30:15-20; Luke 9:22-25)

In the movie The Ninth Day Fr. Kremer, a priest imprisoned at Dachau, is given leave to bury his mother. Once home he can try to flee, but that would bring retaliation against other priests in the concentration camp. The Gestapo provides a more tempting offer. If Fr. Kremer can convince his bishop to collaborate with the occupying German army or if Fr. Kremer signs a letter of support for the Nazis, he could have his freedom without jeopardizing his co-prisoners. The priest rejects the offer. He recognizes that his bishop is heroic in his resistance to the Nazis and prefers to tell the truth and to give personal support to the other prisoners.

When Moses tells the people in the first reading to “choose life,” he hardly has in mind a gruesome choice like the one offered Fr. Kremer. Rather Moses recognizes that a full life of love and peace usually proceeds from following God’s ways. Still even Moses would recognize that God sometimes asks a person to sacrifice herself for the common good. Jesus ironically states this call to self-surrender in today’s gospel as a way to life. In the first century many Christians were faced with the dilemma of forsaking Jesus or experiencing death. The life he offers to the one those who choose to stick with him is not a carefree existence in this world but the resurrection of the dead.

During Lent we are to ponder what kind of life we want for ourselves. Are we going to opt for pleasure and power whatever the cost? Or are we ready to follow Christ’s way of service and sacrifice for the sake of others? When we take Christ’s option in Lent seriously, we realize that it leads to the feast of life itself, Easter Sunday.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Thursday after Ash Wednesday

(Deuteronomy 30:15-20; Luke 9:22-25)

When Jesus speaks of taking up one’s cross in the gospel, we usually think of accepting the hardships that are part of every person’s life. Even the rich get sick. Even the famous suffer heartache. We want to bear with disease and anxiety with the same patience and courage that characterized Jesus as he headed toward Jerusalem.

But when the gospel speaks of the cross at the beginning of Lent, another idea comes to mind. We think not so much of the trials thrust upon us as of the penances taken on voluntarily. We search for ways to deprive ourselves – perhaps from some food or drink that we enjoy and from the rest or entertainment that we defer in helping others. Certainly in our age of instant gratification such behavior appears bizarre and even masochistic to many, but we know differently. We understand that such sacrifice conforms us more to the one whom we not just admire and follow but who gives us salvation.

How does this happen? Jesus allowed his persecutors to torture him out of love for us. We show a parallel love by denying ourselves. It is the same spiritual motivation that people show in sympathy actions – a wife giving up wine in support of her alcoholic husband or even a union showing solidarity with another that is on strike by calling a work stoppage. Also self-denial makes us morally stronger, again like Jesus. We exhibit control over our sensual appetites as well as the capacity to better appreciate their fulfillment on the day of glory.

Homilette for Thursday, February 26, 2009

Thursday after Ash Wednesday

(Deuteronomy 30:15-20; Luke 9:22-25)

“Choose life.” We have all seen bumper stickers and tee-shirts with this anti-abortion slogan. No doubt, people who feel burdened by an unexpected pregnancy find the message ironic. To them life is being liberated from the responsibility of child-bearing so that they may pursue other concerns. Life, then, is a simple word with different meanings to different people.

In the reading from Deuteronomy today, Moses exhorts the Israelites to “choose life.” He has in mind God’s law that extends the well-being of both individual and community. Following the road of righteousness, both present and future generations will thrive. Descendants will cherish the memory of forebears who taught them the law and so, in a sense, keep their ancestors in existence. More importantly, the law will secure the bonds that hold the people together

Jesus radicalizes Moses’ message. As we hear in the gospel, he says that life is the outcome of his way of self-surrender. This may involve even a renunciation of biological life. However, it promises more than immortalization in the minds and hearts of descendants. It looks toward a transcendent, personal existence with God in eternity.

Homilette for February 7, 2008

Thursday after Ash Wednesday

(Deuteronomy 30:15-20; Luke 9:22-25)

“Choose life.” We have all seen bumper stickers and tee-shirts with this anti-abortion message. No doubt, people who feel burdened by an unexpected pregnancy find the message ironic. To them life is being liberated from responsibility so that they may care for other needs and pursue their desires. Life, then, is one of those simple words with various levels of meaning.

In the reading from Deuteronomy today, Moses exhorts the Israelites also to “choose life.” He has in mind God’s law that promises to extend the existence of both individual and community. Following these commandments of truth and justice, both present and future generations will thrive. Descendants will remember with gratitude forebears who passed on the law to them and so, in a sense, keep them in existence. Jesus radicalizes the message. As we hear in the gospel, he says that life comes when we choose to follow his way of self-surrender to God’s love. This may even involve a renunciation of biological life. However, its promise extends way beyond immortalization in the minds and hearts of descendants to a new realm of personal existence with God in eternity.

We have chosen Jesus’ way to life. But have we been faithful to that selection? During Lenten we test ourselves and make all necessary adjustments to renew the choice. We foresee ourselves easily back on the road to full life by Easter and happily partaking of full life at death.