Replace Your Sins with Something Good

I was getting a little pudgy around the midriff so I started to workout. Being new to the stair-master exercise machine it was a little rough to get going. I was sweating, breathing heavy and my heart was pounding. I was in pain but determined. After about twenty minutes, I looked down at the screen. It told me how many calories I just lost: 105. That's it? What is the worth of 105 calories, it's about three M&M's? I worked so hard and had so little to show for it. I thought of an analogy to that experience. Lent is like that machine. We have to work hard to burn off sin.

I recently gave a talk at Northeastern University on the topic of the Ten Commandments. I was told I had only twenty minutes. That is two minutes per commandment. I told them instead of going through the list, let me just give you an easy, practical approach. Pick one sin in your life. What is the one sin you would like to eliminate from your routine? How improved will your life be if you could just get rid of this one sin? Pick one. Do not attack the sin and do not try to fight it. Instead, replace it with something good.

I found myself getting a bit cranky. I knew exactly why: too much work and too many late hours. It is not good for your priest to be cranky. You go to confession and I might say, "You did what? For your penance say five hundred rosaries, on your knees." As I say, a cranky priest is not good. So what did I do? I took all my appointments after 9:00pm and all the other important things I do, and I replaced them with a good book that will help me fall asleep. Once I got more sleep, the crankiness went away. Don't fight your demons, replace them with something better. Why do you think God gave us so many good things in the world? So we could drive out the bad things and replace them with the good.

When you received ashes on Ash Wednesday, the priest said, "Remember that you are dust and unto dust you shall return." That is what the priest said, but this is what you heard: "The clock is ticking." This is our time to grab onto the good. This Lent, may you sweat off a few sins but also may you enjoy the good things that replace those sins.

Fr. Peter

February 21, 2010 | First Sunday of Lent