Praised be Jesus Christ! I recently read the book Walk-On Warrior, written by Marshfield native John Willkom. Some of you already know that he walked on at Marquette and the book makes it clear that playing basketball at the Division 1 level is not for the faint of heart. Many athletes dream of playing sports at the highest level, but little do they know what such dreams will require of them in terms of discipline and physical pain. A book like this confirms the idealism that mostly lies dormant in our hearts – so many of us have dreams that we shelve away for a variety of reasons as we pass through this life. The Church in her wisdom tries to animate these deep and often hidden desires and she does so most effectively by re- minding us that we’re made to live in Heaven. The problem is that spiritually we’re couch potatoes that could never abide the beauty and love of God in our present state. And so every Lent the Church challenges us to live more selflessly, to repent of pride and manipulation, and to truly imitate the life of Jesus Christ. When was the last time you made a heroic Lent? A priest named Father Rick Heilman in the Diocese of Madison has been challenging people to step up and really engage the season of Lent with more traditional spiritual practices. For example, he encourages fasting on bread and water at least once a week. Have you ever tried such a thing? The key is remembering why you’re doing it – Jesus Himself fasted for forty days in the desert so as to overcome temptation. Sadly, the meatless Fridays are not really leading people into heroic sacrifice and so fasting is a way to provide a counter-balance. Saint Bernard of Clairvaux accurately identifies our typical approach to preparing for Heaven: “Timid prayer does not pierce heaven, because immoderate fear binds the soul . . . being lukewarm, it (prayer) grows weak in its flight and falls because it has no strength. Prayer that is faithful, humble and fervent will undoubtedly pierce heaven and it will certainly not return fruitless.” By the way, Saint Bernard fasted and prayed a lot! What about some other penitential practices, you ask? Have you ever slept on the floor? Saint Francis slept on the ground for many years, often with a rock for his pillow. Now the goal is not to punish the body, but merely to discipline it. Athletes do this all the time and rarely are they criticized; when those who aspire to love God heroically do things to advance this noble cause, people get concerned and wax on about spiritual fanaticism. The best thing to do is let God inspire us and to try humbly to follow His lead. Some take cold showers as a form of penance – it’s a very effective way to save water, by the way! One thing about cold showers that makes such a practice more sustainable is to shower with warm water first, then turn to cold for the rinsing process – saying a set number of prayers is one way to place a limit on the experience. And then there are many things we can give up that are a daily reminder that we’re training to live in Heaven: alcohol, smoking, sweets, gossip, swearing, lying, cheating. When people say you don’t have to give up things anymore for Lent, it’s similar to saying that you don’t really have to practice to play basketball or in the band – just show up and everything will be fine! Silly human beings – we’re made for greatness but settle for so much less. Von Balthasar, the renowned 20th century theologian, put it like this: “It is as if modern man had had a tendon cut, so that he can no longer run toward his original goal, as if his wings had been clipped, as if his spiritual awareness of transcendence had withered. How can that have come about?” Fair question, don’t you think? In the immortal words of high school students everywhere, go big or go home – a worthy summons to make this Lent remarkable.
May God inspire us to discipline our will, so that we may choose Him and what He wants for us!
May God inspire us to discipline our will, so that we may choose Him and what He wants for us!
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