Read: Ephesians 2:1-10

“You were dead through the trespasses and sins in which you once lived” – Ephesians 2:1

Strong language. Question: was I really that bad? Answer: Well, yes, I have been guilty of seriously separating myself from the truth of being God’s child. It took me the first 26 years of my life to get around to commitment. What can be done for me, for anyone who stands outside? Ephesians said my off-course soul was correctable with no strings attached.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God – not the result of works, so that no one may boast.” – Ephesians 2:8

So how do we follow that? What comes next with God?

“For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.” – Ephesians 2:10

Lent is, among other things, good and freeing news. If there’s something to “give up” in Lent, it might simply be any trace of negativity. Remember: God wants this time with each of us.

Dear God, thank you for the grace, love, and gifts of life. Amen.
-Tom Worrell

Read: 1 Corinthians 1:18-25

“For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.” –1 Corinthians 1:25

One of my favorite authors, Fr. James Martin, S.J. of America Magazine, has quoted this many times in articles:

Good news! 1.) God is in control. 2.) You are not God.

It makes me laugh, but it also brings to mind the fact that I am not responsible for fixing every issue in the world today. I cannot make Israel stop committing genocide in Gaza, nor can I make Russia withdraw from Ukraine. I cannot make both parties behave and pass appropriate legislation in Congress. I cannot change people’s hearts and make them stop engaging in systems of oppression.

But God can.

The verse at the top of the page brings me hope because it reminds us that God is so much stronger and wiser than we are.

Help us to remember that you are in control, God, and fix these things that are impossible for us. Amen.
-Jen McCabe

Read: 1 Corinthians 1:18-25

“For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.” – 1 Corinthians 1:25

The imagined God of my childhood was strong and wise beyond comprehension. Learning the descriptors omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent helped place God in a far-off place removed from my everyday life. This God, somewhat like Santa Claus, knew when I was bad or good. So, mostly, I tried to be good.

Thankfully, I soon encountered believers in a personal God who loved me so much that God sent God’s Son to die for my sins.

“Foolishness” is a polite translation of the Greek word that Paul used in his letter to the church in Corinth. The translation of the Greek word “fool” to English is “moron.” God made what seems to many as a “moronic” choice to use the cross as a means of our salvation.

Not only did God eschew the rich and wise to carry God’s message but chose a poor Jewish peasant who ate with sinners and prostitutes, healed the sick and lame, and preached by the sea and on the mountain. Could anything be further from the established ways of the world where power and wealth guarantee success?

Like the church in Corinth, there is disunity in Christianity today. Christian Nationalism, differences over the “worth” of women, immigrants, the poor, and the homeless divide us. God calls us, through Jesus Christ, to focus on God’s wisdom and strength, not our own.

Dear God, help us to recognize our limitations and weaknesses and rely on You and Your wisdom, strength, and guidance. Amen.
-Cathey Frederick

Read: 1 Corinthians 1:18-25

“[T]he cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” – 1 Corinthians 1:18

I am surrounded by crosses. There’s a pyrographic cross I burned a few years ago that hangs above my retirement clock (so-called because it tells me what day of the week it is). I have several Cursillo crosses beside me, as well as some I crafted using wood from cottonwood branches that fell at a church I served in Montana – that broke when the wind blew – they remind me of our fallen nature. “Take up your cross,” says Jesus. Beside the office door is yet another cross I inherited from my parents’ estate when they passed away a few years ago. It hung in their living room for decades.

Crosses are iconic images for us who are alive in Christ. They are so commonplace we seldom give them any thought, but most of us can share stories behind every cross we own. For many people around us, friends, neighbors, celebrities, and athletes, the cross is simply jewelry; for Christians, though, it is a sign – perhaps the supreme sign – of our faith.

If Jesus had been gunned down, perhaps the symbol of our faith would be little gold AK-47s or AR-15s or a silver Saturday night special. Wouldn’t that be shocking? Wouldn’t that be horrible? Perhaps, if we understand that every man, woman, and child who is killed by firearms is as much a victim today as Jesus was in his day, we might carry these symbols as reminders that we kill Jesus and continue to kill him in so many ways with our own thoughts, words, and deeds.

The world sees violence as inevitable, and the use of violence as justifiable. We, as Christians, know better, or at least we ought to know better. It’s not enough to just hang our crosses, wear them, or carry them. The cross is scandalous and foolish. We wear them and display them as a reminder that there IS another way. We don’t carry on as victims; like Jesus, we carry on with a purpose: to bring life to all who hurt, and light to those who dwell in darkness.

Dear God, help me to be hope for others. Help me to help others discover that even when things are toughest, darkest, and scariest, You are there for them because I am there for them. Help me carry your cross, which I laughingly call “my” cross, in a way that brings life to others. Amen.
– Fr. Keith Axberg