Fr Kevin Kilgore

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Lent is a penitential season.

By now, I’m sure we’ve all thought of something we can abstain from – anything from coffee to Netflix. 

But if you’re still unsure, allow me to offer a bit of advice.

Most parents would agree that pacifiers are one of the best inventions ever. When babies are crying and all else fails, that little piece of plastic can calm them instantly. It’s like magic!

While we quickly outgrow them, there are all kinds of other pacifiers that we may cling to – snacking, shopping, working, complaining, television – things that offer us momentary relief, but not lasting nourishment. 

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What’s my pacifier?

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Whatever it is, that may be the perfect thing to give up this Lent.

Instead of watching an extra thirty minutes of mind numbing television, for example, spend that time reading the bible or in private prayer. Seek lasting nourishment from the Lord.

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We must also be on our guard, making sure that our fasting doesn’t lead to a poor attitude. I remember trying to give up coffee one Lent but became the quite the grouch!

That wasn’t beneficial to anyone; giving up the coffee was only half the penance. The other half was being charitable towards others while tired.

“When you fast,” Jesus says, “do not look gloomy like the hypocrites. They neglect their appearance, so that they may appear to others to be fasting. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you may not appear to others to be fasting, except to your Father who is hidden” (Matthew 6:16-18).

Fasting from our pacifiers – whether it’s coffee or Netflix – can be spiritually fruitful, but only if we do it with the right attitude.

Am I beginning Lent with the right attitude?

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Embrace this period of renewal. The Lord will never be outdone in generosity.

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If we venture into our kitchens this morning and do a “head-count” of all our dishes, we may find we have a few imperfect sets.

7 dinner plates, 5 saucers, 9 glasses, 3 soup bowls. But why?

Incomplete sets are the mark of a “lived-in” kitchen. Many of us have children or grandchildren running around, for example. I myself am clumsy from time to time.

Maybe a bowl fell off the counter last week; a glass broke in the dishwasher; a wet plate slid from our hands.

What do we do when a dish breaks?

We sweep it into the garbage.

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That’s how we deal with most things when they’re broken. 

That space heater that fizzled out this winter; that wobbly wooden chair; that old couch the kids jumped on just one too many times. 

Toss it. Drag it out to the curb. Throw it in the dumpster.

But what about a broken heart? A weak marriage? A fractured friendship? A COVID positive patient? A crumbling relationship with God? 

Are we to be disposed of like a broken bowl?

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The Japanese have a fascinating custom called Kintsugi. 

When a bowl is broken, they don’t throw it away; rather, they piece it back together using glue and gold.

They say that breakage and repair are all part of the history of that object. The focus is not on how the object broke, but that it was restored.

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Haven’t we all been broken like a bowl at some point in our lives? 

We’ve been diagnosed with cancer; we’ve struggled with addiction; we’ve lost our job, our home, our marriage, or even a child.  

Life has a way of breaking us. 

But broken hearts – and by extension, broken lives – can be put back together. That’s what our faith – and forgiveness – is all about.

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Throughout the Gospels, Jesus seeks out the sinful, the sorrowful, the possessed – and he heals them. 

“For I did not come to call the righteous,” he says, “but sinners.” 

The broken ones.

Ask any of those healed, Jesus has a way of filling those cracks and chips in our lives with the golden glue of his mercy.

In that sense, the Lord is the ultimate Kintsugi artist. He can piece anyone back together, no matter how much damage has occurred.

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Where are the cracks in my own life? Where do I need to be pieced back together?

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Often people associate Ash Wednesday with the passage of time; with death. 

But it’s about much more than that. It’s about new beginnings; restoration; resurrection.

As you come forth to have ashes sprinkled above your head, remember the words, “Repent, and believe in the Gospel.”

Turn to the Lord, trusting that he can – and will – piece us back together, because no life, no circumstance, no person is disposable in the eyes of God. 

We’re all made with glue and gold.  Those cracks in our lives are simply part of our story.

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Gospel: Mark 8: 14-21

The disciples had forgotten to bring bread,
and they had only one loaf with them in the boat.
Jesus enjoined them, “Watch out,
guard against the leaven of the Pharisees
and the leaven of Herod.” 
They concluded among themselves that
it was because they had no bread.
When he became aware of this he said to them,
“Why do you conclude that it is because you have no bread?
Do you not yet understand or comprehend?
Are your hearts hardened?
Do you have eyes and not see, ears and not hear?
And do you not remember,
when I broke the five loaves for the five thousand,
how many wicker baskets full of fragments you picked up?”
They answered him, “Twelve.”
“When I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand,
how many full baskets of fragments did you pick up?”
They answered him, “Seven.”
He said to them, “Do you still not understand?”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Jesus said to them, “Watch out, guard against the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.”

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Leaven, also known as yeast, makes dough rise. A tiny amount is all you need to permeate an entire loaf.

Jews often referred to the evil inclinations within us as leaven. When left unchecked, just a touch of evil – a single lie, a single malignant cell, a single evil thought – can take over an entire person.  

Today we call that leaven, Original Sin. 

It’s affected all of us. Our work as Christians centers around uprooting that leaven by doing good and avoiding evil. 

But the day we stop trying is the day that leaven starts growing again.

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Herod and the Pharisees have given in to the leaven. Their hearts are hardened towards Jesus; now they’re plotting to kill him. 

Jesus warns his disciples not to join them.

Although the disciples struggle to grasp the fullness of his teachings, they cannot give up. Rather, they must persevere with open minds and hearts. 

Eventually, the leaven of their doubt will give way to faith. Then, they’ll fully understand.

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In a sense, that’s what Lent is all about – growing in faith.

At times we struggle to understand the Lord; we struggle to understand his teachings and his actions in our lives. But like the disciples, the leaven of doubt must give way to faith.

Tomorrow we begin a penitential season of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. If we devote ourselves to these practices, then surely our hearts will not be hardened.

Rather, the opposite; we’ll better understand the Lord, seeing him clearly acting in our lives.

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