Hey! Welcome to the first ECYD meditation of this Lent. Today is March 5th, Ash Wednesday. My name is Elijah Kehn, I’m a missionary in Atlanta, Georgia, and I’ll be guiding your meditation today.
Let’s begin with a prayer. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
Lord Jesus, I thank you for today. Thank you for my family, my home, and most of all, my faith. I really want to use this Lent to grow closer to you, and spend more time in prayer. Help me to see what you are telling me in this gospel today, so I can use it in my life. We ask this in the name of Christ our Lord, amen. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Today’s intention is for our families, that we may grow each other closer to Christ and show the love of our Lord to one another.
Today’s reading is from the Gospel of Matthew, chapter six, verses one through six:
Matt 6: 1-6
Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
A little context on the gospel: in Jesus’ time, there were the Pharisees. The Pharisees were supposed to lead the people towards God and show an example of virtue, but instead they became obsessed with their power. They were greedy and were focused on making sure everyone saw the good things they did so they would think they were holy. They would put other people down to feel better about themselves. Jesus didn’t like this. This gospel is about Jesus telling the people not to be like the Pharisees and show off their good deeds, but to offer them up to God instead.
Here are a couple of points to think about or to journal about:
How often do I do things only so other people will think better of me? Let’s take a moment to think about this last week.
Did I ever act just for the approval of others?
Were my good deeds for the glory of God or the glory of myself?
We should try our best to do good to glorify God, but we often let others’ opinions of us determine how we act and behave. Although we feel satisfaction when others notice our virtue, we gain many more rewards when we keep it to ourselves. This gives us so much more joy and brings us even closer to the example of Christ! Jesus always went to the mountain by himself to pray, and tells us to do the same.
Another thing Jesus tells us is that if we keep our deeds to ourselves, we will receive rewards from our father. Sometimes we can be too impatient to receive our rewards. We do good things, and it seems like we don’t get anything for it at all. But heaven is the ultimate reward! Comparing our time on earth to our time in heaven is like comparing the size of a penny to the size of a skyscraper! Take a moment and just try to picture heaven. What does it look like? Who is there? How do you feel? Make sure you use your imagination to its fullest to make it as amazing as you can. That is the reward! And even though you don’t get it right away, it is such a great reward that is worth the wait.
And this is something to think about when we are given the chance to do good. I challenge you to envision heaven in your mind when you do a good act that is hard for you, and to see how much easier it becomes.
Your challenge today is to sit down in silence for at LEAST five minutes and to decide on something to give up this Lent. It’s very important to treat Lent seriously to fully experience the joy of Christ’s resurrection! Think of something that might be taking you away from God, and remove it from your life. It could be something like giving up phone usage or video games. It can also be an extra thing you do each day, such as praying an extra decade of the rosary each day for a specific intention. Whatever it is, make sure it’s specific to you and your journey growing closer to Christ this lent, and make sure to offer up whatever you’re sacrificing for an intention.
Let’s end in prayer.
Lord, thank you for the opportunity to reflect on your word. As we start out our Lenten journey this year, we ask that you give us the strength to accept this challenge to grow closer to you and to become your apostles. Always remind us that you are present in our lives at every moment, and give us the grace to turn to you when we get worried or stressed. Now let’s dedicate this Lenten adventure to our Lord with the ECyD morning prayer. Amen. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
Thank you for joining us on today’s meditation! I hope this helped you a little bit. See you tomorrow, and remember, live today as a saint. Christ our King! Thy Kingdom Come!
