Do I ever stop and evaluate my life and ask myself, “Am I doing what I was put here to do?” Or, “Am I shortchanging God, myself and others by living day-to-day without any real reflection, just trying to ‘get through’ another day?”

What is my real goal?

If you’re at a place in your life when you can look back (and many would rather not), you can see how far (or not) you’ve come as a person–the ways you’ve changed for the better, the choices you make, and how they differ from the choices you made when you were 20.

Lent is a time of reflection. A time to take stock in where we are, and where we are going.

It makes perfect sense, then, to attempt to cut down on some of the laxities, decadence, and frankly, self-indulgence that has become so intertwined with our American lifestyle.

Have I used someone or something as a means to an end? Have I talked badly about someone, or failed in some way the people God has entrusted to me? Have I chosen the easy path? Have given myself over to money, things or people for my security instead of trusting in God? Have I been hypocritical or looked down on others? Have I used God or religion to justify my own selfish inclinations?

These are all solid and painful questions to reflect upon during Lent.

Just as Sacred Scripture remains open to our own subjective interpretation without being tethered to the Church Christ founded, our brand of morality can become as twisted and subjective as we want it to be.

Our own morality can become a means to our own ends.

A broader perspective

Yet Christianity, when rightly ordered, helps us to see life in a broader perspective–and rightly so.

It releases us from the prison of “getting things perfect” in this life. Don’t misunderstand me, perfection in the sense of separating ourselves from our sins is a good goal–one we all should be striving towards.

But Christ teaches that this entire life here is in fact, a means to an end–it just depends on which end we want.

C.S. Lewis (1898-1963) said the people in hell wouldn’t be happy in heaven.

In his clever novella, The Great Divorce, the characters chose the lesser things, and God’s light and love were actually painful for them and, because of this, they rejected Him. For them, it was like looking straight at the sun: It burned.

Hell, in this sense, is yet another mercy of God. God doesn’t have to put us there–we choose it.

All are redeemed, few are saved

Matthew’s Gospel recorded Jesus saying, “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it. For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matt 7:13-14).

This is perhaps the most frightening thing Jesus has ever said.

Because Christ died on the Cross for our sins, we are all redeemed. That means, we all have the same opportunity to go to heaven.

But because we all have a free will, not all of us will choose God in this life, and therefore, some will end up choosing to forfeit heaven.

Though Jesus made it clear that some will be surprised who will be in heaven and who will not, there are no “accidental” wrong turns; in the end, it’s up to me: my way, or God’s.

That’s why Paul tells the new Christians in Philippi to work out their “own salvation with fear and trembling” (Phi 2:12). Paul knew Christ Himself gave him a mission, and that he was not “one-and-done saved”: Much was given, so much was expected of Paul until the end of his days (Luke 12:48).

“Which comes first…”?

So how do we clean up our act and get ourselves on the “narrow way” towards heaven?

Well, shouldn’t we just be more compassionate and tolerant of others?

Why isn’t correcting “societal ills” making people more moral?

That is the question of our time, and therein lies a deception that runs rampant both inside and outside the Church.

Which comes first? Morality or justice?

The real question the Christian must ask himself is: “Shouldn’t morality make people more just?”

Society cannot be just without God. That is, society cannot be made moral without an objective standard of morality.

Justice should flow from love of God and neighbor, not the other way around.

Why? Because when we become our own arbiters of justice, we can’t save ourselves from corruption. No one can; only God can do that.

When we decide for ourselves what is loving and just, we end up living in a society that calls good evil and evil good.

Living forever

Why is this so hard for us to grasp?

Simply put, there’s pleasure in living sumptuously … but there’s joy in living a self-disciplined lifestyle.

So which one do we want?

Pleasure is fleeting. Joy is permanent.

During Lent, the Church gives us all an opportunity to subject our selfish desires to our intellect,

to strengthen our will instead of living by our feelings (which are easily deceived),

to reconcile with God and others by asking God for the virtue of humility,

and to allow Him to regenerate us into the person He meant us to become.

C.S. Lewis had a talent for expressing deep truths in a way anyone could understand.

Since I mentioned him earlier I will close with a quote from his world-renowned book, Mere Christianity, that encapsulates his journey from atheism to Christianity:

“Christianity asserts that every individual human being is going to live forever, and this must be either true or false. Now there are a good many things which would not be worth bothering about if I were going to live only seventy years, but which I had better bother about very seriously if I am going to live for ever.”

I hope your Lent is going well!

Deos Gratius!