2/18/2010
‘Christ has suffered: let us die to sin’
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 | Most Rev. John Vlazny
Archbishop of Portland |
In an Easter homily St. Augustine long ago stated, “Christ has suffered; let us die to sin.” Jesus encourages all of us to fast, to pray, and to give alms, the church’s traditional Lenten disciplines, not because they will make us look good to other people, but rather because they will help us “die to sin” and grow in our relationship with God and one another on our journey of faith.
Prayer and charity on behalf of those in need are practices most Catholics nowadays are still willing to embrace. But unless you are on a diet, let’s be honest, many of us look upon fasting as rather “old fashioned.” Fifty years ago all Catholics and many other Christians were accustomed to fasting. I suggest it is time to embrace that practice once again. Everyone knows that to stay in good physical shape it is important to establish some good habits in diet and exercise. To achieve and maintain good spiritual shape we need to develop some positive and consistent habits of virtue. Such are the disciplines of Lent, particularly fasting, which remind us that if we are going to get to heaven, we have to deny some of our strong desires and carry our crosses as Jesus carried his.
Maybe it’s not exactly appropriate to put prayer in the category of a discipline, but like all human activities, if we are going to pursue the ones that are truly good for us, we need to have some habits that enhance our participation in these activities. Habits of prayer are important for all Christian people, but especially for those who take their life in Christ as his disciples seriously.
They say that pagan prayer is simple. “Get what you want by flattery. But don’t promise more than you have to.” The gods of the pagans were apparently just like we are, open to flattery and bribery. Much like Jesus tells us in the Scriptures not to “babble like the pagans,” they were simply trying to gain leverage over the gods. When you and I pray we are not asking God to change. We are asking Him to help us change. God already knows all our needs. I remind myself often and I also like to remind others that ours is not the principal activity during prayer time. God’s activity is much more important than our own. That is why it is not so important to worry about what we have to say at prayer. It is much more important to make sure that our minds and hearts are open to what God has to say to us.
True prayer will eventually result in change. We become different when we become more prayerful. We all recognize the fact that, if we really open ourselves to the Lord, things will not be the same. Long ago Jesus taught his disciples how to pray and the “Our Father” became our family prayer. If we take what we say seriously, never again will we be so self-righteous or selfish. We will also be much more honest about our human weaknesses and be more prone to share forgiveness with one another. After all, how can we ask God to forgive us the way we forgive others if we ourselves are unforgiving?
The Christian Brothers founded by St. John Baptist De La Salle almost always begin their prayer together with the words “Let us remember that we are in the holy presence of God.” This is an invitation for us to take seriously at all times of the day, not just prayer time. The key to true holiness is living in the presence of God. Furthermore, listening to the voice of the Lord during prayer time trumps speaking to God. We must listen to the Holy Spirit speaking from within our hearts. I remind myself how important it is to call on the Holy Spirit before all the “challenging encounters” of daily life — moments like meetings, disagreements, confessions and especially fraternal correction. It is important to learn to depend on the Holy Spirit. But our dependence will be useless unless we listen.
The spirit of almsgiving, which is so prevalent during these 40 days, helps us to overcome our personal narcissism and assist others in their very real needs. I certainly was impressed by the many ways people of this archdiocese responded to victims of the terrible earthquake in Haiti last month. Lent gives us many opportunities for almsgiving: appeals for the church in Central and Eastern Europe on Ash Wednesday, Catholic Relief Services on the fourth Sunday of Lent, the Holy Land on Good Friday and the many other emergencies and real needs at the local level that will be occurring regularly during these difficult times.
On the first Sunday of Lent every year the gospel confronts us with the reality of temptation in our struggle to be faithful to the gospel. The author of temptation is Satan, the Prince of Evil. But too many of us these days tend to disregard or even deny Satan’s very existence. But there he is, right at the beginning of the Lord’s public ministry, all set to derail His mission. Satan is no fool. Whenever he realizes that there is someone quite capable of turning the corner on evil and bringing about lots of good, that person, like Jesus, can expect to face temptations. Remember that temptations are not a sign of our personal evil. But temptations are probably a sign of how much potential each one of us truly has for good.
During these early days of Lent the church encourages us not to let ourselves be deceived. We too can easily give into the ways of evil. But prayer, fasting and charitable concern for others, together with the sacramental grace of the Eucharist, will strengthen us and help us remain faithful to our responsibilities as disciples of the Lord and sisters and brothers in the Catholic family.
Yes, “Christ has suffered; let us die to sin.” But in that Easter homily St. Augustine also reminded his people, “Christ has risen; let us live for God.” Living much more for God and a lot less for ourselves will be the greatest assurance that one day we will live with God for all eternity. May we all die to sin a little more this Lent and live for God more faithfully the rest of our lives.
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