Homily

On our Wednesday morning Bible study, we've been going through the Book of Psalms, for the past 11 years. And it is not always easy for us to put ourselves in the mindset of the Israelites in the centuries before Christ. Especially early on if I would ask "What does the writer of this psalm want?" I would often get answers like, "He wants God's grace," or "He wants to get to heaven," or "He is seeking greater faith." Actually many times what the psalmist wants is more cattle, more grain, more children, and longer life. Concrete, material things—for the Israelites so many times these things were God's grace, not that these were the only things, but these real goods of life, health and prosperity were top on their list of how God actually loves His people.

We kind of tend to think more on the "spiritual" side, and I think maybe a bit too much so. There is always the temptation to think that what is spiritual and cannot be touched or seen is better than anything that is material. The spiritual is always superior because it is, well, you know, spiritual! So we may decide that we want to grow in faith, or love God and our neighbor more and better, or find more patience with those who are genetically linked to us. These are spiritual goods. How then shall I achieve these spiritual goods? I will wait until they come unto me. I have intentions and desires and I will pray for them and they will come unto me.

The prayer part is good, but the intention and the desire are not going to produce very much in the way of virtue. This is one of the reasons the Church encourages us to wisely use material things to help us achieve spiritual goods. Notice in today's epistle St. Paul is talking about food and faith. And notice also that Jesus does not say, "If you fast," instead, He says, "When you fast..." It shouldn't be surprising that we have a 40-day fast when the Lord Himself fasted for 40 days. Food and drink are vital to our lives and regulating and modifying our diet in fasting helps us achieve spiritual weight. People will watch what they eat for reasons of health or appearance, and that's okay, but Christians watch what they eat at certain times to gain health for their souls.

Jesus also warns today against storing up riches and goods, so Lent is also the proper time to put some of our goods and our cash to good use for those who are in need. It is good to make an income but there is much stronger spiritual value in giving some of it away for people who are poor. Let us remember that it's not only cash that we can offer to other people, but also our time and attention. You yourself can be a gift to others, your care and thoughtfulness shown in a visit, or a phone call or a note can bring comfort and cheer to other people. Give cash for those who are poor, give of yourself to those who might be feeling poorly in body or spirit.

Find ways to achieve an extra Lenten prayer time, even if it's just for five or ten minutes in your day, set aside that extra time. It might be at work, or a lunch break, or a set time at home. It may not seem like much but it can earn great dividends, just this small extra deposit of our time to speak with the Lord.

Say the Prayer of St. Ephraim and make the prostrations, every day during the fast, apart from Sundays. Those prostrations are genuine spiritual exercises that remind us that we are sinners who hope and trust in God's mercy. If you cannot make the prostrations, then bow your head as low as you can in silence for a few seconds and then make the sign of the cross every time a prostration should be done. We use our bodies in prayer as well as our minds and hearts.

Change things up a little at home. Read the Gospel or the Old Testament reading for the day when you sit down to dinner—they are listed on the Church calendar. Find room for the cross or an icon on your table. We decorate our homes for Christmas and maybe some other days, why not for the Lenten season? There are some places where using the colors of red or purple can serve as a reminder for us of the Great Fast.

Your car can be a mobile chapel especially when you are driving by yourself. Put a reminder on the driver's seat and when you get into it say the Lord's Prayer. What does that cost, what does it take to do that? But watch and see how difficult it might be to do it, and do it regularly and consistently—and then think for a bit why that is so. This prayer will make you a better driver unless you're like me where even more help is required. As you are rolling along in your mobile chapel you might also take time to pray for the people you ought to be praying for and mention their needs to the Lord. It may even prompt you to pray for that person of unknown origin who has not noticed the light has turned green because he's on his cell phone and needs a little bit more time to share his opinion with another person. It could be good to mention him to the Lord.

Over the years I have suggested to a number of people that when they come home from work or school to take a minute of prayer in the car before getting out and going into the house. Use that physical space as a reminder for grace, and you can walk through the door better than you would have. But it's often very hard to break our habits, or to change them or start new ones (unless they're bad habits.) Ha!

You can use walking the dog as an extra prayer time. Put a note on the leash as a reminder. Put a note on your store card or bank card and while you are standing in line at the checkout counter you cannot only practice the "Judge not lest ye be judged," you can also pray the 100 "Lord, have mercies,"—and after you see your total bill you can continue on with "Lord, have mercy."

Feeling spiritual—ishy for Lent is probably not going to help us much. But using physical reminders, physical means, postures, gestures, scripture, icons, symbols, actions, places and times to help promote and nourish our growth in prayer and virtue are well worth our effort. Let's plan our Lenten life-style and work it out, because it leads to a Paschal life-style both here and for eternity.