Here we are in Lent… again. Each year we have another chance to be more intentional in following Jesus better and letting him transform us more and more into His image and likeness.
Even though it’s such a holy time and a blessing to have another chance to try to follow Jesus more closely, I always wonder “what’s going to happen this Lent?” This might sound negative but, based on previous Lents, there always seems to be some big sacrifice or suffering that pops up right as Lent starts. This year did not disappoint. 😊
A couple of months ago we had a leak that ruined part of our bathroom. We got the pipe fixed but the repairs to the bathroom got delayed for reasons beyond our control and ended up coinciding exactly with, you guessed it, the start of Lent! Since my mind never seems to stop, it occurred to me how this bathroom renovation is like Lent (an obvious jump since it is incorporated right into the start of it). All the ripping out, drilling, sawing, undoing and then rebuilding is like what happens in our hearts in Lent. Though we dread the work and inconveniences involved with the renovation (including not having a shower for a week), the old ruined stuff has to be ripped out in order to repair and rebuild a better version.
So it is for us as well. God remodels us in His image and likeness in Lent. We must allow God to take out all that is damaged and ruined in us so that He can re-create us into a better version of ourselves. Like the old saying goes, God loves us as we are but too much to leave us there. Also, there is the scripture verse about not putting new wine into old wine skins (Mt 9:17). God takes the clay of our hearts and remolds it into all the beauty of whom He has created us to be.
This Lent, let us ask Jesus to show us what needs to be repaired, removed, remodeled in us and let us allow Him to do the work He sees needs to be done in our hearts. After the sufferings of the Cross, Jesus promised us the beauty of the Resurrection. Mary, faithful to the foot of the Cross, pray for us.