It’s Lent again! So now what? It is a period of 40 days – in biblical terms that means a significant period of time. What is this time for? That is the question!

One answer could be that it is time to listen and look. Perhaps that sounds easy and simple but it isn’t. That is why we are invited to do Lent together. We need to be reminded that these days are meant to be different for us so that we might be different! So who are what gets are best listening and looking? What catches our attention? What do we return to over and over again? What are we avoiding or closing our eyes and ears to? This is a time to “turn down the volume” and “tune in” more clearly to what is happening in our lives – especially as a baptized disciple of Jesus.

“How are you?” is a very common greeting – so common that we don’t expect anyone to really tell us or listen to our answers. Lent is a good time to ask “how are you” with

• Yourself
• The members of your household
• The earth we share with the other members of our planet
• The poor and hungry and homeless
• Your church
• Your faith
• Your God

As you listen and look at your life and the lives around you,

• What brings you life and hope?
• What brings you illness, destruction, and despair?
• When do you listen and look? (Sounds like prayer to me.)
• Would anyone be able to tell that you are a disciple of Jesus and a member of the Catholic Church? Would you want someone to be able to see this?
• What do you bring to life, to work, to your household and family and friends, to our planet, to the poor, to your church? Jesus teaches that it is in giving that we receive. Is that true in your life?

Do you like what you see? If you do, that is great. What can you do better? If you don’t like what you see, what will you begin to do differently? Name one thing! That is a great part of Lent – 40 days is a significant period of time. Experts say we need 21 consecutive days to create new habits. Let’s begin – together.