As we move into Lent 2011 there is much for us to do penance for in America, and in our world. We are a nation with perhaps the greatest freedom ever seen in a secular culture, but we have not always used that freedom well. There are troubles all around the world, and we must be ready interiorly, and externally so that we can address them in a positive way. Jesus and the Church have the answer.

We are all most aware of the unrest in the Arab world. From Egypt to Iran, Tunisia to Libya, and Saudi Arabia to Syria democracy is being called for through protest and uprisings. In some areas this is cause for great hope. In others it is a cause for trepidation. Of course, the common fear is of fundamentalist and extreme Islam.  This fear is not unfounded. But as Christians we must ask ourselves if we have lived our own faith well. Has our unfaithfulness sometimes driven the Moslem world to radical conclusions about who we really are? Some of these conclusions are incorrect based on a lack of deeper understanding. But maybe they are sometimes more correct than we want to admit! We often have supported dictators in order to keep the oil and trade running. We are a culture addicted to the consumption of oil. Trade often trumps morality. And the violence and sexual immorality they see in our media leads them to believe that we are, indeed, “the Great Satan.” Christian pastors have agreed that these things are not of God, and have preached so for years. We have not listened. Maybe the Moslems are more correct than we care to admit.

Our national debt is beyond belief. As we all know from our own families, some debt is acceptable in a business to get it up and running. The same can be true of education and such. But if not paid back, the business is closed down. As a nation our 14 trillion dollar debt is not only over the line, but also astoundingly beyond belief. (Check out the Debt Clock online for a real eye opener!) But the debt is not all “their” fault. It is ours as well. It is time for our lifestyle to so radically change that we cease being a consumeristic people. This requires a change in the very essence of how we live. Radical? You bet! The monastic and community life tradition of Christianity has shown us the way to become producers as well as healthy consumers, and we can all adapt it to our own personal life if we only will. Again, consumerism is consuming the consumers, and destroying the consumed. We must repent.

The unrest and uprising is spreading to our own nation. Every state is facing budget cuts. We all applaud them when they apply to someone else, but often protest when it applies to us. We must all (and I mean all, not just the working classes) make sacrifices to cut back so we might get going forward again. I am truly afraid that we will see more protests that are not peaceful and respectful, but violent and bloody. It is easy to cross the line from protest to revolution. Our nation allows great freedom to protest and make our voices heard. But revolution is a messy and usually a bloody business. Christians must be at the forefront of peacefulness and mutual respect as we sort these things out.

Of course, abortion is the dirty little secret we are all avoiding nowadays. It is understandable that no one wants to really address it. We have argued and shouted, and lines have only hardened. Other issues certainly seem more timely. But before there can even be issues about freedom and economy and war, there must be a right to life. It is fundamental. And there is progress. The real answer to most all abortions is chastity based on true love. It can be addressed legally in part. But the deeper answer is personal, moral, and spiritual. We must win folks person to person by loving them into a true pro life position based on the love of God.

And the deeper issue is how well have we really given our live to Christ? We cannot address external issues without first addressing internal ones. We cannot speak the truth unless we do so in love, and we cannot speak in love unless we totally let go of our ego need to be “right” about the issues we hold dear. We must really die to the old ego driven self (even the religious one), and let Jesus be our life. He loves sinners and saints, believers and unbelievers. He proclaims the truth, but forgives all if they but repent. He is perhaps the hardest of all on those who claim to know God, but do not. Is that “us” at times? Probably so. We can make a god out of the very religion God gave us to bring us back to Him, and miss Him in the process. We can get stuck in the gifts, and miss the Giver.
This Lent let’s re-examine our own personal faith and life in Jesus. Let’s let go of the old self that is prone to argue and fight about morality, politics, and religion because of our old self will, and simply begin to live the good news of Jesus by letting God be God, and embracing His will. Then we can share and not argue, respond and not react, dialogue and not diatribe. This Lent let’s really repent, let the old self die with Jesus, and be raised up a whole new person in Christ. Then we will really have something to share with this most troubled world in which we live. 
Make a good Lent this year. Let's be part of the solution in Jesus Christ and the Church, and not part of the problem!!