We find ourselves once again in the season of Lent. It is a time traditionally marked by prayer, fasting and honest self-examination. It is a season that gently, but firmly, invites us to ask some important questions: Does any person, place, or thing come before God in our lives? Do we place too much value on money, status, influence, or comfort? Are we so preoccupied with work, success, or personal ambition that God becomes an afterthought?
Only you can answer what tugs at your heart. Each of us faces the temptation of “false gods” – the distractions, attachments and habits that quietly take God’s rightful place in our lives. Separating ourselves from them often means letting go of something deeper than simple comforts.
It may mean surrendering self-absorption: giving up the tendency to make life revolve around our own worries, achievements, disappointments, or desires. Lent softly calls us to lift our gaze outward: toward God, toward others, toward a love that is bigger than ourselves.
My friends, the truth is, we are walking contradictions. We doubt, yet we believe. We despair, yet we hope. Our hearts are capable of both selfishness and extraordinary generosity. We trust, yet sometimes remain guarded. Still, the God we follow understands these battles within us. He knows our weaknesses and our temptations, and He meets us there with mercy rather than condemnation.
That is why the Catholic Lenten practice of “giving something up” is not meant to be negative. If correctly understood, it is freeing. It is not about deprivation for its own sake, but about surrender – making space for God by releasing what weighs us down. When we loosen our grip on lesser things, we discover more clearly the beauty and purpose of a life centered on Him.
And so, as Lent leads us toward Holy Week, we once again hear Christ’s invitation – to turn away from the false gods that pull at our hearts and say, “Get behind me.” During Holy Week, we witness the ultimate surrender: Christ giving Himself completely in love on the Cross. There we see what true freedom looks like.
If we allow this season to shape us – through prayer, generosity, repentance and trust – Easter will not simply arrive on the calendar; it will rise within our hearts. And we will be able to say, with renewed strength, that no false gods hold power over us. Only the One who gave everything for us. The One who asks us to take up our cross and follow Him.