DAY 2 Thursday after Ash Wednesday

There is a direct connection between today’s first reading and the Gospel. In the passage from Deuteronomy, Moses reminds the Israelites that sin has consequences. Every time we sin, especially mortal sin, we become less ourselves, and we allow spiritual death to get a foothold not only in our own lives but even in the lives of our descendants. The stakes could not be higher—a truth which becomes apparent in the Gospel, when Jesus reveals that it is precisely because of our sin that He must suffer greatly and be killed for our sake. So much for the bad news . . . What’s the Good News? The Good News is Good Friday, that earth-shattering destination toward which our Lenten journey heads. The Cross is the answer to man’s sin. Jesus died so that we wouldn’t have to; His physical death obviated our spiritual death. But the war is not over yet even if Christ’s final victory is assured. The effects of sin and death linger still, and our free will remains. But unlike sin, which makes us less ourselves, it is in and through the Cross that we truly find ourselves and discover the fullness of life. So we choose to take up our cross daily, and we follow Him. How can I develop a more acute sense of the evil of sin and the damage it does in my life? How can I also avoid excessive scrupulosity, realize that I can’t conquer sin on my own, and instead entrust everything to Jesus?

By Clement Harrold