Follow-through

Yesterday was Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent.

For some of us, it was the beginning of a season of cherished devotions, such as attending Mass every day (people in the Diocese of Rome have a famous tradition of going to a different church each day of Lent).

For others, it was just the day we go to church to get ashes: something we do every year, even though we do not otherwise go to church very often. It is a tradition we observe, making a connection with the traditions of our childhood – if only for a day.

For them (and for all of us), today – the second day of Lent – is an opportunity to make a choice: to follow-through on what we did yesterday (if only out of habit) and make this Lent the time when we put our lives on a better track and in a better direction.

Today’s first reading (Deuteronomy 30:15-20) puts it clearly.

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...

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...

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....

May our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ give us the grace to follow-through, to make the better choices, to draw closer to God and to walk more perfectly in his ways, beginning on this second day of Lent and for the rest of our lives.