Spring Training

Ever since I was a little kid, this has been an exciting time of year for me.  No, I wasn’t that excited about Lent.  I’ve always been a big baseball fan and spring training has begun!  All things are possible.  

But perhaps it’s some sort of God-incidence that Lent and baseball’s spring training overlap.  Just the ballplayers in Florida and Arizona are brushing up their pitching, batting and fielding skills for the regular season, we can use Lent to brush up our spiritual practices of prayer, almsgiving and fasting for our year-round roles as Easter people, those people who have been baptized and made one with Christ in his roles as priest, prophet and king.

In our priestly role, we are a bridge from the world to God.  Jesus, of course, was perfect in this role, since he was God-become-man.  To be effective in our priestly role, we must connect ourselves more closely to God.  Prayer, especially combined with the grace of the sacraments, is a most efficacious means of making this connection.  What can you do this Lent to enhance your prayer life or your participation in the sacraments that you might be a more holy, more priestly person?

A prophet is one who proclaims the word of God.  Jesus was the perfect prophet – so much so that we call him the Word of God.  “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1).   While we may not be skilled preachers, we can join Jesus as prophets by our acts of love.  What can you do this Lent to begin or improve your practice of almsgiving or other charitable acts that these prophetic acts may allow others to better feel the love that God has for each of his children?

As kings, we are just care-takers and stewards of God’s creation.  Jesus came to save not just us, but all of creation, and he entrusts the world to our care.  We cannot do this without being conscientious consumers of the world’s resources.  Fasting is an excellent way to become more conscious of what we consume – the food we eat, the water we drink, the air we breathe, the fuel we burn.  How can you use fasting this Lent to become more conscious of wasteful consumption and habits, that you might be a more just steward of God’s creation?

This Lent, may all of us, through prayer, almsgiving and fasting, more fully realize our calling to be priest, prophet and king  – a truly Easter people.