Homily for Thursday after Ash Wednesday

In our first reading, from the Book of Deuteronomy, we hear the words: “Choose life, then, that you and your descendants may live, by loving the LORD, your God, heeding His voice, and holding fast to Him.

Our time on this earth, it seems, is a constant struggle to balance what we need in this life to live well and to be close to God, and the desire to attain all that we can in this life in terms of material wealth, and physical enjoyment. The keyword is “balance.”

Our readings today encourage us to seek, first, and foremost, the good things of the LORD. It is in these that we find true happiness; it is in these that we find true life in the LORD. This doesn’t exclude pursuing what we truly need in this life, but we must put God and our need for God at the forefront of all we do. May our prayer this day and throughout this season of Lent be that we put God before all else in this life and that our love of God pervades all that we say and do.+