Checking Our Tool Chest On This 2nd Sunday of Lent

It's time to check our tool chest. We've been considering the "Tools of Good Works" in the Rule of St. Benedict for main theme during Lent. We've just scratched the surface after this first full week of Lent.

Reading through these is fine. As for commenting on them, well, that's ideally helpful in our considering how we can apply each to our own lives. Our focus during the week concerns applying each to our work life, but, of course, these apply to life in general.

Now that we've hit our rest station - this 2nd Sunday of Lent - maybe we can open up our own spiritual tool chest and take a look. What do we see? Do we find some of the tools we're considering during the week? 

What? You haven't read those weekly posts yet? OK. Let's look at the tools we covered on Tuesday and Thursday:

• To deny oneself, in order to follow Christ..
• To chastise the body.
• Not to seek soft living.
• To love fasting.

• To relieve the poor.
• To clothe the naked.
• To visit the sick.
• The bury the dead.
• To help the afflicted.
• To console the sorrowing.

Right off the bat, I find the very first tool sorely missing. Deny self? It's simply not the usual course for many of us. That's what happens when our first parents eat the forbidden fruit. And that Original Sin has been passed down to each of their progeny - that's us. Sure, it was given the boot when we were baptized. But the concupiscence that lingers continually attracts us to what's not good for us. 

Not that we think much of it not good. Much of us seems quite pleasant. On the side of the ledger that's not sinful we find a good night's rest, a good meal, good drink, pleasant company, leisure, easy work, etc. All of this, not being sinful, can simply be indulged or...

We can sharpen our tool of self-denial and hone our flabby self into a real soldier of Christ, one who will follow Him into the daily struggle against the world, the flesh and the devil.

Indeed, Lent is now given to us to carve out a clean chunk of time to make the effort here. Consider fasting, for example.

We can certainly apply this to food and drink. But we can "fast" from so many other items that provide reasonably pleasant enjoyment and benefit to us. 

All of that concerns only that 1st tool. There are 9 more to consider.

So what about your tool chest? Are any of these ready to use. Should any be included for use that haven't been used in the past?

Each can help us grow closer to God. And in the end that's the whole point of Lent. It's not about what we can or should do to chastise our bodies, deny our senses or imaginations, rein in our inordinate attachments. All of these are means to an end: growing closer to God.

So on this 2nd Sunday of Lent, let's simply check our tool chest and pull out what can be useful for us in this holy endeavor. And if we need some tools we haven't needed or used before, let's add those.

We'll be continuing with St. Benedict's "Tools of Good Works" and how we can utilize them to sanctify our work during Lent in the coming weeks. Maybe we'll see you there.

We adore Thee O Christ and we bless Thee

Because by Thy Holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the world.