Lent - the Place of our Life. March 9, 2025

I remember listening to a gentleman talk about his life. He told about the success of his business, the disappointment in his marriage, that his last child had moved out, and that he was about to turn 50 years old. He said, “This is not what I thought my life would be like, when I turned 50. I’m just not sure where is my place in my life.”  “Where is my place in life?” The sacred season of Lent answers: “Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.” With these words the Church reminds us of our place in life. Remember, ‘we are dust’ is not a negative, not a put down statement. It is not an insult or a judgment. It means we look at the reality of who we are, where we have been, and where we are going.

St. Augustine says the Lenten observance “is an exercise of holy desire.” It does not require us to destroy or suppress our normal desires, but to raise and purify them. As we put ashes on our foreheads on Ash Wednesday, we want to live Lent as a time of cleansing and holy desire, with some renewal of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. It is not so much about how we give alms, how we pray, or how we fast. It is about where- the location. When we move into that secret place with God, we no longer depend on others to give us our identity. We no longer depend on others to give us our place in life. In that secret place we remember that we are dust. We begin to see that our identity, who we are, who we are in God. Despite the disappointments in our marriage, the success of our business, the children who grow up and move away, the frailty of our bodies, the pain of our losses, the changes and chances of life, the fear of the uncertainties of our times – we are, we always have been, and we always will be the beloved sons and daughters of God.

Welcome to Lent -The Place of our Life.