Readings for the Friday after Ash Wednesday
“You are afraid of penance?… Of penance, which will help you to obtain Life everlasting? And yet, in order to preserve this poor present life, don’t you see how men will submit to all the cruel torture of a surgical operation?” – Saint Josemaria Escriva – The Way 224
In the United States we spend billions of dollars every year for health care. What once was a work of mercy is now a multi-billion dollar industry. So much energy, money, time and more is spent to preserve this “poor present life” only to have it slip away in the end. I am not saying that much should not be done to preserve and care for life but even the family of Lazarus knew that they would grieve once again. This life is not all that there is.
The question for today is what would happen if we put that much energy and emphasis, not on this “poor present life”, but on that life that will never end? What would happen if we were to let the Divine Physician heal us through penance this Lent? What if we were to let the Divine Physican keep us well in this life and eternal life by taking a daily dose of penance – taking up our cross daily?
James M. Hahn, Author 