My favorite part of the Easter Masses is when, after the homily, we all stand to renew our Baptismal promises. It is at that point in the Mass that I take stock of how my efforts to deepen my relationship with Jesus through Lenten renewal have come to fruition. It is when I take the time to ask myself, have I become a better Catholic during the Lenten Season. Have I really been renewed?
Over the Sundays of Lent Deacon David Murphy and I gave a series of homilies on the topic of Christian atheism. We spoke about how Catholic Christians, like ourselves, are often a major cause for the rise of atheism in our world. We give rise to atheism because often we Catholics say we believe in God but then turn around and act as if God didn’t exist. Our homilies spoke about how despite God continuously showing his love for us through various signs we refuse to believe in that love. We say we want a personal relationship with God but we don’t listen to God speaking to us nor do we communicate with God in prayer. We act like atheists when we give into worry rather than turning our concerns over to God’s guidance. We pretend we believe in an infinite God but haven’t taken the any time to enrich our knowledge of the faith or of God since our last Confirmation class. We say that our Catholic faith is all about being open to conversion but we then say we can’t change our lives.
Hopefully, you have made this Lent a season of renewal and enrichment by acting more like a believer in Jesus Christ through our practice of almsgiving, prayer and fasting. Hopefully, we have shared some of our treasure as alms to the poor by filling our Lenten Folder as a donation to Food for the Poor. We have used each week’s bulletin inserts with their daily reflections from the words of Pope Francis to deepen our prayer life. Hopefully, we have fasted from our sinful patterns of behavior and become more like the person God called us to be.
Easter is a season full of hope! Hope that even if we haven’t made Lent as fruitful as we wished we would back on Ash Wednesday. God is still ready to support us in new efforts to be faithful every day. Christ has risen!! Christ has triumphed over death so that we might have eternal life! As we renew our Baptismal Promises at Mass today, embrace God’s grace and ask God to continue the good work He has begun in you. May it continue to grow in us so that we can all live up to the title of Catholic Christian.