You are what you eat. You become what you think. Tell me who your friends are, and I’ll tell you who you are. Your habits shape your future. Watch your thoughts, for they will become your words… watch your words, for they will become your actions.

These proverbs of conventional human wisdom found across cultures speak to our human tendency to be consumed by that which we consider most important.

 

We are now at the end of Luke’s version of the beatitudes, the first main teaching of Jesus where he told the disciples how they were to live as people who accepted the arrival of God’s blessing, and he ends it with a clear explanation as to why he needs them to do as he said: it will keep them honest, authentic and free. The only way to full human authenticity is the way of Christ, to be devoted to all that he just taught them.

We become devoted, i.e. deeply loyal, committed, dedicated, to that to which we are convinced is true, important, and adds value to our lives. As a result, our devotions is what takes most of our thoughts, our energy, our resources, our actions, so much so that our identity is also shaped by that to which we are in a devotional relationship with.

 Devotion happens at all levels of our human experience. We are devoted to those closest to us: family, friends, a partner… we are devoted to the things that are life giving; our hobbies, careers. While these are important and are part of our human experience, Jesus demands that we prioritize a different type of devotion, devotion to him and the teaching he just gave us in the beatitudes… to prioritize spiritual devotions first.

That’s what we are praying for in today’s Mass: Grant us, O Lord, we pray, that your Church may be untroubled in her devotion. In a few moments, once we have presented the gifts of bread and wine on the altar you will hear me pray over the gifts, and I will be asking that our communion today may help us grow in our desire to serve God with devotion.

If what we are devoted to consumes our thoughts and actions so much so that it reaches the level of identity, and if in human wisdom we recognize things like: You are what you eat. You become what you think. Tell me who your friends are, and I’ll tell you who you are. Your habits shape your future. Watch your thoughts, for they will become your words… watch your words, for they will become your actions, then just like everything else as Christians who are spiritual first, our relationship with our devotion must also change, we must be devoted to the spiritual first, then the human.

Jesus says that choosing devotion to people first puts us in the risk of being blind. Blindness in the bible is a symbol of the lack of spiritual awareness. By the time Luke is writing this, the teachings of Jesus had been spreading primarily by word of mouth, and it was effective, many people were converting to the faith, many people where accepting the teachings and it was powerful enough to begin to shape their thoughts and actions, a new form of devotion was emerging by both the people teaching and those following them.

As it often happens, there were some who wanted to take advantage of the system for their own gain. In seeing how powerful the gospel message was that it was making people change their way of life and listen to the teachers, since the gospel was not yet written they began twisting the gospel and teaching what they thought would sound more attractive so that people would start thinking highly of them, devoted to them, giving rise to false teachers and blind followers.

It was a real risk because the beatitudes don’t make sense at a human level, and we are inclined to want to be human first, spiritual second. Jesus just told them to be devoted to the following teachings: blessed are the poor, the hungry, the ones hated because of their faith in me… damned are the rich, the ones who have it all… I expect you to love your enemies, turn the other cheek, give without expecting nothing in return…

The only way these things will make sense, the only way I will see how these things actually add value to my life, how they actually make me more authentic, is if I am willing to develop a devotion to them, to live them out, to allow them to become my priority, but that process of becoming spiritual first requires a process of conversion, which Jesus describes as building a culture of self-criticism, to be willing to notice the splinter in my own eye first. The first Christians realized that this required new action.  

St. Paul says “be firm, steadfast, always fully devoted to the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.”

At the spiritual level, we show our devotion to God in our religious practices, in how much we participate in acts of worship, prayer, and ritual, and allowing those signs of devotion move us to love more freely so that we can then see others as Christ sees them, and out of that need had emerged within the life of the Church all the different ways of showing our commitment to faith.

There are many religious practices, devotions, that have emerged in the Church. Some are unique to cultures or are personal devotions, such as feasts for specific saints, novenas, chaplets… but there are some that the Church does say are necessary for all of us to do in unity, and because the Church is the sacrament of unity between God and humanity, these are not optional, and we are about to enter into a time of deep devotion in the life of the Church beginning this Ash Wednesday which marks the beginning of lent.

There are three things that the Church is asking you to do during lent as signs of your devotion to Christ and his teachings, which are necessary to keep us from being spiritually blind to proclaim the resurrection with honesty and authenticity come Easter Sunday. 

First, be devoted to prayer. Jesus said “love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you.” During lent you are asked to develop a habit of prayer outside of what you normally do. If you are already praying, pray more. If you are not already praying regularly, commit to doing so during lent. That means be at Mass every weekend. If you have the ability to come to daily Mass, take that on as an additional spiritual practice. On Fridays, you are asked to join the church in praying the stations of the cross. It is ideal to do so in community so make time to be here every Friday evening of lent in the chapel to pray the stations together. If you cannot do it in community, then pray them at home, but do not neglect the devotion of praying the Stations of the Cross. Other important devotional prayers that the Church offers us is Eucharistic Adoration and the rosary. These are not just recommendations, these are things the Church has discerned are universal devotions that we need to do to keep us close to Jesus and his teachings, and they keep us honest.

Second, be devoted to fasting and abstinence. Jesus said “blessed are you who are now hungry.” You are asked to show your commitment to Jesus by choosing to deprive yourself of a little bit of pleasure so as to excurse and strengthen your will. The stronger your will, the more you will be able to joyfully choose what is good. On Ash Wednesday and Good Friday you are asked to fast which means eating only one full meal, and if you need to, two smaller meals that do not equal a full meal, and do not snack through the day. On all Fridays you are asked to abstain from eating meat as a form remembering the sacrifice of Jesus’s own body. He gave up his flesh, so we too show our gratitude and devotion by giving up meat. But may I suggest that you also choose to abstain from eating sugar and processed foods. We know now how important a proper diet is to our mental, bodily, and spiritual health. For all of lent, consider cutting off all processed foods, seed oils, juices, sugars and alcohol.

Third, be devoted to almsgiving. Jesus said “Give to anyone who asks.” Lent is a penitential season, it is a time where we become more focused in our interior life, to be self-critical, but we cannot neglect the needs of the poor and vulnerable. Lent is not all about me, though I do need to be less hypocritical and more authentic so that I can be of better service to you. A sign of our devotion to Jesus is when we are attentive to the needs of the vulnerable, so give with money and your time out of the generosity of your heart when an opportunity arises. Later I will be inviting you, in celebration of the jubilee, the 100 year anniversary of the chapel, and 175 years of the Archdiocese, to participate in the 100 for 100 campaign, where we invite all of you to donate 100 minutes of your time as a volunteer. More on that to come.

You are what you eat. You become what you think. Tell me who your friends are, and I’ll tell you who you are. Your habits shape your future. Watch your thoughts, for they will become your words… watch your words, for they will become your actions…

Family, the things we are devoted to makes a difference, whether we see them or not. A good person out of the store of goodness in his heart produces good, but an evil person out of a store of evil produces evil; for from the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks. During this lent, me your devotion to Christ, so that I may be blessed by God’s goodness in your heart.

 

+ Fr. Carlos