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Lent offers Catholics a chance for ‘spiritual recovery’Posted: 02.27.09 On Feb. 17, President Barack Obama signed into law his “stimulus” package. We pray that it might help more than it could harm. And, of course, the verdict on whether or not the “Federal Economic Recovery Package” is the “stimulus” that our now globalized economy needs will not be in for quite a while yet. However, most people understand that there is no “quick fix” to the world’s very complex economic and financial systems. And, there is no “quick fix” because our government’s stimulus spending only addresses the symptoms – and not the roots of this crisis that will affect the well-being of millions across the planet, perhaps for many years to come. Throwing money at the problem cannot fix what is essentially a moral failure. A vision of life based on the unbridled pursuit of profit, power and pleasure has led too many people to disregard the prescriptions of the Golden Rule. In recent months we have seen the laws of the market collapse because of the decline of ethics – in government, in business and, truth be told, in many of our own lives. And so, while on Feb. 17, we got “The Federal Economic Recovery Package,” on Feb. 25, the Church proposed her own recovery plan – a plan that goes beyond just treating the symptoms of the present crisis and invites us to go to the root of the problem. This “ecclesial” recovery package began on Ash Wednesday with the beginning of our Lenten Observance. Each year Lent calls us anew to the conversion of our minds and hearts. “Repent and believe the Gospel!” are the first words spoken by Jesus in the Gospel according to St. Mark (Mk 1:15). They are also the words we heard when we received the ashes on our foreheads on Ash Wednesday. Too often, the Gospel message is dismissed as being “unrealistic” – and so we make “realistic” compromises to the spirit of the age, and in doing so “mortgage” our souls. Yet, in the desert, Jesus rebuked Satan telling him that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. And, at the end of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus speaks to us of two possibilities for building the house of one’s life: on sand or on rock. As this economic crisis brings painfully home – with banks collapsing and money literally vanishing into thin air – those who set the foundations of their lives on things like success, career and money, built on sand. Only the Word of God is the rock solid foundation on which we can build our lives. Its message will always prove in the end more “realistic,” more enduring than the ephemeral allure of wealth and prestige. Lenten practice of prayer, fasting and almsgiving is the recommended “stimulus” for our needed “spiritual” recovery in the midst of much uncertainty and fear. With prayer, fasting and almsgiving we can recover a needed perspective of what our true priorities should be, as well as the sobriety and solidarity with which we should face the human challenges of this current economic downturn. Part of this spiritual recovery is, of course, the cancellation of the debts of our sins through our participation in the Sacrament of Penance. Since the Sacrament of Reconciliation or Penance is for the forgiveness of sins committed after baptism, it is a fitting way to prepare for the Renewal of our Baptismal Promises that will take place on Easter Sunday. And Easter is, after all, the celebration of the biggest “bail out” of all time – the redemption of mankind from the power of sin, death and the devil through the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Whatever our hopes for the “Federal Economic Recovery Package” might be, we can be sure of one thing: If we take advantage of the Church’s own stimulus package this Lent, our hope in Jesus will not disappoint!
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