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If we believe in God, we have to believe that God is more powerful than we.
-Rev. John Phalen
Lenten Conversion of Heart
Rev. John Phalen, CSC, PresidentHoly Cross Family Ministries
Lent would be so much easier if it were a confrontation with the shortcomings of others. We would all be lining up to make sure that others know where they need conversion of heart, to point out the sliver in their eye while missing the log in our own.
But Lent is not about enlightening others on what is missing in their lives. It is rather about being enlightened ourselves. Lent assists us first of all to see where we fall short in living out the Gospel, and secondly to focus our attention on the person of Jesus Christ, our only Savior. The look at ourselves is directed at convincing us about how unable to follow Gospel instruction we are. Then the look at Jesus Himself shows Him to be the healer and life-giver, the one who gathers the people of God and makes up what is lacking in us.
The readings from Lenten weekdays demonstrate this pattern. From Ash Wednesday until Saturday of the third week of Lent, the Gospel texts are from the “Synoptics,” Matthew, Mark and Luke and the Old Testament readings complement them. The overriding message is the call to a life of Gospel conversion. We hear of beginning anew; fasting, prayer and almsgiving; of conversion; of mutual forgiveness; of overcoming hardness of heart; of love of enemies; of how justice is more important than ritual; of the call to holiness. These are all areas where we fail to observe the teachings of Jesus completely.
The main goal in this first half of Lent is to convince us as hard-headed Christians that we fall short of these Gospel ideals. We are in need of conversion of heart. We still have it in us to object when the laborer who endured the whole day’s hot sun, for example, is paid the same wage as the one who worked only from 3:00 PM!
Then in the second half of Lent, from Monday of the fourth week of Lent until Holy Thursday, the weekday readings come from the Gospel of John and paint a picture of Jesus Christ as the Son of God, who will give eternal life to all who believe in Him. Christ is the healer, the life-giver, the one who gives life through His encounter with death, and the One who gathers the scattered children of God. It is our encounter with His person and our conforming ourselves to Christ which redeems us. It is all by God’s grace and not simply our own efforts.
In Lent we are not at the “Spiritual Olympics,” where hard work and determination carry an individual through to faithful Christian living. Rather, in the first part of Lent we see clearly how we fail to live by Jesus’ teachings. Our pride and egos are humbled. And from that perspective, knowing our need for salvation, we can encounter again with cleaner hearts the One who is Savior and Lord.
May our conversion of heart this Lent go deep. May our encounter with the Savior revive us! And may the others, whose faults we know so well, be attracted to follow us in Lenten conversion of heart.
(I want to acknowledge the article titled “The Spirit of Lent” by Mark Searle
in Assembly vol. 8:3 for much of this analysis.)