lent for life
"Choose life, then, that you and your descendants may live." —Deuteronomy 30:19
On this second day of Lent, Jesus our Life (see Jn 14:6; 11:25) commands us to choose life. If we obey Him, the Lord will use our Lenten love to save the lives of many babies from abortion. By a life-giving Lent, we can save the lives of refugees, the starving, and the victims of injustices. If Jesus has His way, this Lent will mark the retreat of the culture of death and its replacement with a civilization of love.
If we accept Jesus as Lord of life and Lent, we will have abundant (Jn 10:10), eternal life (e.g. Jn 3:16; 20:31). Moreover, the Lord will work through us to lead many people to new life in Him, for "what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and suffer the loss of His immortal soul?" (Lk 9:25, our transl)
Lent can be so life-giving because it is a special opportunity to deny ourselves, take up our cross each day, lose our lives (Lk 9:23-24), and die to ourselves. When we, like a grain of wheat, fall to the earth and die, we bear much fruit and give much life (Jn 12:24). This Lent, die with Christ and thereby choose life.
Prayer: Father, may I have faith that You will use my Lent to do more than I could ever ask for or imagine (Eph 3:20).
Promise: "He is like a tree planted near running water, that yields its fruit in due season, and whose leaves never fade. [Whatever he does, prospers.]" —Ps 1:3
Praise: Joseph, a young man of nineteen, refrained from eating meat the entire forty days of Lent in order to get closer to the Lord.
Reference: (For a related teaching, order our book Living In Reality or our tapes, either a four-part audio series starting with AV 38-1 or a two-part video series starting with V-38.)
Nihil Obstat: Reverend Robert L. Hagedorn, August 1, 2002
Imprimatur: †Most Reverend Carl K. Moeddel, Vicar General and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, August 7, 2002